ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. TO5 
f) 
unprovoked assault on vessels at sea. Many of these are re- 
counted in a later portion of this memoir. Their movements 
when feeding are discussed below, as well as their alleged pe- 
culiarities of movement during the breeding season. 
It is the universal testimony of our fishermen that two are 
never seen swimming close together. Captain Ashby says that 
they are always distant from each other at least thirty or forty 
feet, 
MOVEMENTS OF SPEAR-FISHES. 
The spear-fish in our waters is said by the fishermen to resem- 
ble the swordfish in itsmovements and manner of feeding. Pro- 
fessor Poey narrate that both the Cuban species swim at a depth 
of one hundred fathoms, and they journey in pairs, shaping their 
course toward the Gulf of Mexico, the females being full of 
eggs. Only adults are taken. It is not known whence they 
come, or where they breed, or how the young return. It is not 
even known whether the adult fishes return by the same route. 
When the fish has swallowed the hook it rises to the surface, 
making prodigious leaps and plunges. At last it is dragged to 
the boat, secured with a boat-hook, and beaten to death before it 
is hauled on board. Such fishing is not without danger, for the 
spear-fish sometimes rushes upon the boat, drowning the fisher- 
man or wounding him with its terrible weapon. The fish be- 
comes furious at the appearance of sharks, which are its natural 
enemies. They engage in violent combats, and when the spear- 
fish is attached to the fisherman’s line it often receives frightful 
wounds from these adversaries. 
In Land and Water for August 31st, 1882, Col. Nicholas Pike, 
author of “Subtropical Rambles,” at that time United States 
consul at Mauritius describes the habits of a species of Zetrap- 
turus occurring in that vicinity. He states that they have the 
habit of resting quietly on the surface in calm weather, with 
their dorsals expanded and acting as sails. They are taken in 
deep water with hook and line or speared when near the surface, 
like swordfish. When hooked or speared they make for the 
boats, taking tremendous leaps in the air, and if care is not taken 
they will jump into the boats, to the consternation of the fisher- 
