nm 



lasrr 



304 



AUDUBON 



i 



\ I 



One morning, that of the 22d of June, the weather 

 sultry, I was surprised on getting out of my hammock, 

 which was slung on deck, to find the water all around 

 swarming with Dolphins, which were sporting in great 

 glee. The sailors assured me that this was a certain 

 "token of wind," and, as they watched the movements 

 of the fishes, added, "ay, and of a fair breeze too." I 

 caught several Dolphins in the course of an hour, after 

 which scarcely any remained about the ship. Not a 

 breath of air came to our relief all that day, no, nor even 

 the next. The sailors were in despair, and I should prob- 

 ably have become despondent also, had not my spirits 

 been excited by finding a very large Dolphin on my hook. 

 When I had hauled it on board, I found it to be the larg- 

 est I had ever caught. It was a magnificent creature. 

 See how it quivers in the agonies of death! its tail flaps 

 the hard deck, producing a sound like the rapid roll of a 

 drum. How beautiful the changes of its colors ! Now it 

 is blue, now green, silvery, golden, and burnished cop- 

 per ! Now it presents a blaze of all the hues of the rain- 

 bow intermingled; but, alack! it is dead, and the play 

 of its colors is no longer seen. It has settled into the 

 deep calm that has paralyzed the energies of the blus- 

 tering winds, and smoothed down the proud waves of the 

 ocean. 



The best bait for the Dolphin is a long strip of Shark's 

 flesh. I think it generally prefers this to the semblance 

 of the Flying-fish, which indeed it does not often seize un- 

 less when the ship is under way, and it is made to rise 

 to the surface. There are times, however, when hunger 

 and the absence of their usual food will induce the Dol- 

 phins to dash at any sort of bait; and I have seen some 

 caught by means of a piece of white linen fastened to a 

 hook. Their appetite is as keen as that of the Vulture, 

 and whenever a good opportunity occurs, they gorge 

 themselves to such a degree that they become an easy 



