262 THE BARCA. 



The Gray Mullet deserves notice as being one of the most daring and ingenious of the 

 finny race, and is, in fact, a very fox for artfulness. The idea of (constraint is most obnoxious 

 to i1, and its instincts of i'l'cedorM are so strongly develoi)ed that it endeavors to recover its 

 liberty in tlie most exfraoidiiuuy ways. 



If, for example, it has been inclosed in a net, it will at once dart to the side and try to 

 leap over tlie head-iop*! iiilo tli(^ ofjen sea. Moreover, if ow, fish succeeds in the attempt, the 

 I'emainder immediately follow their IcaxU'r, like a Hock of sheep jumpmg over a hurdle. If 

 the net is raised so high tliat the leap is imfjT'acticable, the fish tries to creep under it ; and if 

 that mode of (>scape be cut off, it examines every mesh, in hopes of finding some defective 

 spot through whicch it may insinuate itself. Mr. Couch mentions that he has seen a Gray 

 Mullcit, after trying all other modes of escape, deliberately retire to the greatest possible 

 distance from the wall of net, and then dasli furiously at the meshes, as if to break 

 through them. 



Tlie gcMus Mugil is vciy larg(% containing between sixty and seventy species. 



Mullets of the Florida waters are numerous. A novel method of taking them we wit- 

 nessed at ]*uii(a Rassa, on the (lulf (-oast. They ai'e about eigliteen inches in length, and 

 have very wide backs. Tht; siioals are few in number. Negro boys took them in this 

 manner: common "grains," or spear, secured to a long handle by a line, the latter is held 

 ui)right in the ])alin, the line retained ; the pole is tossed upwards to return spear first 

 directly over the broad backs of the fishes, and, as a rule, it strikes home. 



Tiiio fishes belonging to (he family of the Ophiocephalidfo, or snake-headed fishes, are 

 iihh\ (() leave the water for a time and tit crawl upon laud, deriving their j)ower from a curious 

 structure of thi3 breatliing organs. It has already been stated that a fish can breathe as long 

 as the delicate membranes of the gills are wet ; and that in those fishes which ai'e able to live 

 out of water for any length of time, a ])eculiar modification of the breathing organs is 

 requisite in ordcu' to supi)ly the needful moisture. In tlie family to which the climbing perch 

 belongs, a series of thin laminated plates are arranged in a cavity above the gills, thus retain- 

 ing a sufficient su]»i)ly of water between the lamina;. In the pi'esent genus, however, there 

 are none of these lamina;, but the water is retained in a simple cavity which commimicates 

 with the gills. 



Of this family the (!oka-mota, or Gaoiiua {Ophloc-'ephalus gachua), is a good ex- 

 ample. 



Tins fish is a native of the fresli watei-s of Eastern India and its archipelago, and in its 

 general shape and movements is so very snake-like that Europeans will seldom eat it. The 

 Coi'a-niota is common in the ponds and dykes of Bengal ; and is one of the fish i)o])ularly sup- 

 posed to b(^ rained fi'om the clouds, as it is gcmei-ally to be found on tlie grass after a, heavy 

 sliower. However this may be in otlier instanccss, it is tolerably clear that the Cora-mota has 

 been in concealment during the drought, and ventures into the fresh wet grass as a welcome 

 chaiig*' from the muddy ditches in which it has been forced to reside. It can also find a plen- 

 tiful su])ply of food on the moist iKM'bage ; and as on account of its i)eculiar foi'mation it is 

 able to move on land with considerable ease, its migrations will often extend to considerable 

 distances. 



The Cora-mota is remarkably tenacious of life, and vwn survive the severest wounds for a 

 wonderfully long period. The natives of India take advantage of this peculiarity, and with 

 the disn^gard of inllit^ting torture that seems to be in]ier(;nt in tin* Oriental mind, are in the 

 habit of selling tlie lish ])iecemeal, and cutting it up for sale while still living. Indeed, the 

 habllms of the market will not pay the best jirice if Ww fish does not flinch fnnn the knife. 



The color of this species is brown crossed with several dark bars. Its length seldom 

 exceeds a, foot. 



Another species of this g(!nus, tli(> Bauca {OpJdocephalus harca), is a much handsomer 

 fish, attains a considerable size, and is considered to be useful for the table. This fiah is one 

 of tlie mud-lovers, living for the most jiai't in holes excavated in thi; banks of Indian rivers, 

 and only putting out its head in search of prey. 



