640 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



with a line that is not much larger than 

 some eye-glass cords." 



GIGANTIC "DEVIL-FISH" 



Among the rays are several members 

 which reach colossal proportions. The 

 largest and best known of these is the 

 so-called "devil-fish" (Manta vampyrus) 

 of our South Atlantic coast and the trop- 

 ical waters of America, which occasion- 

 ally strays as far as Cape May and is 



jaw has about a hundred rows of small, 

 paved teeth. Many years ago the pur- 

 suit of this fish was a favorite pastime 

 of the Carolina planters, and William 

 Elliott, in his "Carolina Sports by Land 

 and Water," said: "Imagine a monster 

 from 1 6 to 20 feet across the back, full 

 3 feet in depth, possessed of powerful 

 yet flexible flaps or wings with which 

 he drives himself furiously in the water 

 or vaults high in the air." There are 



A DEVIL-FISH : SPECIMENS OF THIS FISH WEIGHING TWO TONS AND MORE HAVE 



BEEN CAUGHT 



common south of Cape Hatteras. It is 

 shaped like a butterfly or bat, and has 

 been called the "ocean vampire." Pro- 

 jecting from either side of the head is 

 a horn-like appendage, which in reality is 

 a detached part of the pectoral fin or 

 "wing." These horns, to which the name 

 "devil-fish" owes its origin, are some- 

 times 3 feet long and are freely movable, 

 being used for bringing food to the 

 mouth. The mouth is peculiar in having 

 no teeth in the upper jaw, while the lower 



well-authenticated instances of this fish 

 entangling its horns in the anchor ropes 

 or chains of small vessels and towing 

 them rapidly for long distances, to the 

 mystification of the people on board. The 

 pearl divers of the Caribbean Sea greatly 

 dread this fish, and call it manta, meaning 

 blanket, in the belief that it devours peo- 

 ple after enveloping them in its enormous 

 wings. The "devil-fish" is often seen 

 lying quietly at the surface or slowly 

 flapping its wings; at such times it is 



