TALES OF FISHES 



swordfish met with its misfortune in our waters, or 

 whether the shark brought this trophy from beyond 

 the sea, is an unsolved problem. 



Lutken speaks of a very young individual taken 

 in the Atlantic, latitude 32° 50' N., 74° 19' W, 

 This must be about one hundred and fifty miles 

 southeast of Cape Hatteras. 



For many years from three to six hundred of 

 these fish have been taken annually on the New 

 England coast. It is not unusual for twenty-five 

 or more to be seen in the course of a single day's 

 cruising, and sometimes as many as this are visible 

 from the masthead at one time. Captain Ashby 

 saw twenty at one time, in August, 1889, between 

 Georges Banks and the South Shoals. One Glouces- 

 ter schooner. Midnight, Capt. Alfred Wixom, took 

 fourteen in one day on Georges Banks in 1877. 



Capt. John Rowe obtained twenty barrels, or four 

 thousand pounds, of salt fish on one trip to Georges 

 Banks; this amount represents twenty fish or more. 

 Captain Ashby has killed one hundred and eight 

 swordfish in one year; Capt. M. C. Tripp killed 

 about ninety in 1874. 



Such instances as these indicate in a general way 

 the abundance of the swordfish. A vessel cruising 

 within fifty miles of our coast, between Cape May 

 and Cape Sable, during the months of June, July, 

 August, and September, cannot fail, on a favorable 

 day, to come in sight of several of them. Mr. Earll 

 states that the fishermen of Portland never knew 

 them more abundant than in 1879. This is prob- 

 ably due in part to the fact that the fishery there is 

 of a very recent origin. 



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