DEVIL FISHING. 23 



for the first time, I witnessed the sporting of these 

 sea monsters on the surface, and conceived the idea 

 of taking them with the harpoon. How this pur- 

 pose was carried into effect, will appear from the 

 statement copied from the " Charleston Mercury," 

 and dated 17th August, 1837. 



BAY POINT, Aug. Vlth, 1837. 

 To JOHN A. STUART, ESQ. : 



I give you a hasty narrative of an affair which 

 took place yesterday, between your humble servant 

 and a devil-fish. It is due to you, as a native of 

 this region, to whom all the localities are familiar 

 as a sportsman every inch, to whom such narra- 

 tives will be a pleasure, and furthermore, as having 

 in some sort provoked the adventure, by a recent 

 boast of your own exploits in the fishing line. 



On Saturday, the August, taking advantage 

 of a short cessation in the storms that signalized 

 the week, I crossed from Bay Point to Hilton Head, 

 on a visit. In the course of the excursion, I saw 

 eight devil-fish sporting on the surface of the 

 water. One, directly in the track of my boat, as I 

 spanked away under a press of sail. He thrust up 

 both wings a foot above the surface, and kept them 

 steadily erect, as if to act for sails. I liked not the 

 cradle thus offered me, and veered the boat, so as 



