SWORDFISH 



they have once learned its charms. An old swordfish 

 fisherman, who had followed the pursuit for twenty 

 years, told me that when he was on the cruising- 

 ground, he fished all night in his dreams, and that 

 many a time he has rubbed the skin off his knuckles 

 by striking them against the ceiling of his bunk 

 when he raised his arms to thrust the harpoon- into 

 visionary monster swordfishes. 



The Spear-fish or Bill-fish 



The bill-fish or spear-fish, Tetrapturus indicus 

 (with various related forms, which may or may not 

 be specifically identical), occurs in the western 

 Atlantic from the West Indies (latitude 10° to 20° 

 N.) to southern England (latitude 40° N.); in the 

 eastern Atlantic, from Gibraltar (latitude 45° N.) 

 to the Cape of Good Hope (latitude 30° S.) in the 

 Indian Ocean, the Malay Archipelago, New Zea- 

 land (latitude 40° S.). and on the west coast of Chile 

 and Peru. In a general way, the range is between 

 latitude 40° N. and latitude 40° S. 



The species of Tetrapturus which we have been 

 accustomed to call T. alhidus, abundant about Cuba, 

 is not very usual on the coast of southern New Eng- 

 land. Several are taken every year by the sword- 

 fish fishermen. I have not known of their capture 

 along the southern Atlantic coast of the United 

 States. All I have known about were taken between 

 Sandy Hook and the eastern part of Georges Banks. 



The Mediterranean spear-fish, Tetrapturus balone, 

 appears to be a landlocked form, never passing west 

 of the Straits of Gibraltar. 



173 



