Big Game at Sea 



and hunt it down was more than the ordinary reef 

 negro could understand. 



The negroes of upper Florida, Georgia, and the 

 Carolinas, where the fish is also found, are equally 

 afraid of it; yet, in 1845, to ta ^ e one f these mon- 

 sters was considered in these States the highest phase 

 of sport, and the visitor to any of the hospitable 

 plantations near Hilton Head would be sure to be 

 invited to a sea-vampire or devil-fish hunt. The 

 sport was followed with great abandon, and one gen- 

 tleman had a record of sixteen sea-vampires taken 

 with the harpoon in one season, the fish towing him 

 from ten to twenty miles, and fighting from one to 

 five hours. 



The waters of Port Royal Sound were the breed- 

 ing grounds of the fish, and it is a singular fact that 

 the wild excitement embodied in the sport was dis- 

 covered in an attempt at retaliation on the part of 

 the planters whose property had been destroyed by 

 the rays. Those whose property abutted the Sound 

 had water fences which marked the limits of their 

 plantations seaward, and some had piers extending 

 out into the water. The heavy posts, which would 

 be in deep water at flood tide, were mysteriously 

 hauled up, and I am informed by a gentleman from 

 this section that the piles of wharves were occasion- 

 ally similarly treated. For a long time the cause was 

 unexplained, but finally a school of large rays was 

 seen to sweep along and collide with the piles. The 



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