10 CEPHALOPODA. 



It is the opinion of almost all whalemen, that the sperm whale 

 feeds whollj^ on squid. Capt. Daniel McKenzie, of New Bedford, 

 says : " The smaller kind they eat is found near the surface, and 

 is from 2 to 3 feet in length; the larger kind, which probabl}' 

 have their haunts deep in the sea, must be of immense size. I 

 have seen very large junks floating on the surface entirely shape- 

 less." Capt. Francis Post says : " Whales in the agony of death, 

 frequently eject from their stomach pieces as large as the bulk 

 of a barrel, and these in large quantities. Large pieces of squid 

 are often seen floating on the sea, which whalers consider indi- 

 cate good whale-ground." — Am. Naturalist.^ vii, 90, 18t3. 



Cuttle-fish are used so extensively for bait at Newfoundland, 

 that half of all the cod taken is fished with them. The cuttle 

 occurs '• in vast abundance, but at different times on different 

 coasts; for example, at St. Pierre in July, on the southern coasts 

 of Newfoundland only in August, and in Bouna Bay first in Sep- 

 tember. Its vast shoals present a curious appearance, by their 

 strongl}' twisted, compact form. When they approach, hundreds 

 of vessels are ready for their capture. At this season of the 

 year, the sea on the coast of St. Pierre is covered with from 400 

 to 500 sail of English and French ships, engaged in the cuttle- 

 fish fishery. During violent gales of wind, hundreds of tons of 

 them are often thrown up together in beds on the flat beaches, 

 the decay of which spreads an intolerable effluvium around. It 

 is made no use of, except for bait ; and as it maintains itself in 

 deeper water than the capelan, instead of nets being used to take 

 it, it is jigged — a jigger being a number of hooks radiating from 

 a fixed centre, made for the purpose. The cod is in best condi- 

 tion after having fed on it. Another method of taking them is 

 sometimes resorted to. Fires are made all along the shore during 

 the night, when the Loligo, attracted by the light, approaches too 

 near for his safety, and is left on the strand b}^ the recess of the 

 tide, when the fishermen go to gather them." — Edinb. New Phil. 

 Journ., viii, 395. 



In the Polynesian Islands, the natives have a curious contriv- 

 ance for catching cuttle-fish. It consists of a straight piece of 

 hard wood a foot long, round and polished, and not half an inch 

 in diameter. Near one end of it, a number of beautiful pieces 

 of the cowrie, or tiger shell, are fastened one over another, like 

 the scales of a fish, until it is nearly the size of a turkey's egg, 

 and resembles the cowrie. It is suspended in a horizontal posi- 

 tion by a strong line, and lowered by the fisherman from a small 

 canoe till it nearly reaches the bottom. The fisherman jerks the 

 line to cause the shell to move, as if it were alive, and the jerking 

 motion is called " tootoofe," the name of the contrivance. The 

 ciittle-fish, attracted by the cowries, darts out one of its arms, 

 and then another, and so on, until it is quite fastened among the 



