DEVIL FISHING. 101 



the harbor witli its former velocity, and ^tlie,, same 

 scene was repeated when it approached the shore. 

 These mysterious flights across i#ie -harbor, we/c 

 repeated several times, in the presence of hundreds 

 of spectators, and suddenly ceased." 



This description, taken from De Kay, and 'pub- 

 lished but three years since, shows how very 

 imperfect is the knowledge of the naturalists, even 

 of the present day, in regard to this fish. The very 

 first characteristic, viz : " Tail longer than the body, 

 and armed with one or more spines," is incorrect in 

 both particulars. In the first specification, viz., 

 that the tail is longer than the body, the description 

 is at variance not only with, fact, but with itself ; 

 for we read further on, that the "length to the 

 base of the tail, is ten feet ; to the end of the tail 

 sixteen ;" so that the length of the tail is, to that 

 of the body, as six to ten. This corresponds with 

 what I have myself observed ; and in all the speci- 

 mens which I have examined (and they amount to 

 almost twenty),'there was not one which was armed 

 with a spine, serrated or otherwise. The socket, or 

 groove, where such a formidable weapon may have 

 been placed, was found, it is true, in all ; but the 

 spine in none. It was placed below the caudal fin. 

 and just where the spine is usually found in the 



