SWORDFISH 



Savannah, where they attracted much attention in 

 the market. In 1873, according to Mr. E. G. Black- 

 ford, a specimen in a very mutilated condition was 

 brought from Key West to New York City. 



No observations have been made in this country, 

 and recourse must be had to the statements of ob- 

 servers in the other hemisphere. 



In the Life of Sir Stamford Raffles is printed a 

 letter from Singapore, under date of November 30, 

 1822, with the following statement: 



The only amusing discovery we have recently made is that 

 of a sailing-fish, called by the natives "ikan layer," of about ten 

 or twelve feet long, which hoists a mainsail, and often sails in 

 the manner of a native boat, and with considerable swiftness. 

 I have sent a set of the sails home, as they are beautifully cut 

 and form a model for a fast-sailing boat! When a school of these 

 are under sail together they are frequently mistaken for a school 

 of native boats. 



The fish referred to is in all likelihood Histiophorus 

 gladius, a species very closely related to, if not iden- 

 tical with, our own. 



The Cutlass-fish 



The cutlass-fish, Trichiurus lepturus, unfortunately 

 known in eastern Florida and at Pensacola as the 

 swordfish; at New Orleans, in the St. John's River, 

 and at Brunswick, Georgia, it is known as the 

 "silver eel"; on the coast of Texas as "saber-fish," 

 while in the Indian River region it is called the "skip- 

 jack." No one of these names is particularly ap- 

 phcable, and, the latter being preoccupied, it would 



12 1^7 



