The Dolphin 347 
ship made her course again under the stiff breeze, 
with cordage whistling —the music of Arion in 
the Afgean Sea. The dolphins came in schools 
and raced along under the cutwater, darting by 
it, performing mighty feats of valor. It was an 
easy matter to observe and catch them, and 
swinging from an improvised seat on the dolphin 
striker the men supplied the galley with these 
splendid fishes. 
Few fishes are better known than the dolphin, 
yet as rarely seen at close quarters, though I have 
often taken them from the bows of ships at sea, 
and the sport is a common one among sailors. 
The real dolphin is a well-known figure in my- 
thology. It was Arion who, captured at sea by 
pirates, when sentenced to death, asked permis- 
sion to play upon his harp. The notes drifted 
away over the sea so sweetly that they attracted 
a school of dolphins, and when Arion was tossed 
over he fell upon the back of one and was carried 
to the shore; hence we see in the heavens Arion’s 
harp and the dolphin forming the well-known 
constellation of that name. 
The dolphins (Coryphenide) are pelagic fishes 
living on the high seas and offshore on the Amer- 
ican coast from Virginia to the Rio Grande, often 
