THE WARTY GHOUL 143 



with reference to a few of the more conspicuous of the 

 denizens. 



The Warty Ghoul 



Beware of the stone fish {Synanceia horridd), the death 

 adder of the sea, called also the sea-devil, because of its 

 malice ; the warty ghoul because, perhaps, of its repulsive- 

 ness ; the lion fish, because of its habit of lurking in 

 secret places ; the sea scorpion for its venom ; and by the 

 blacks " Mee-hee." Loathsome, secretive, inert, rough and 

 jagged in outline, wearing tufts and sprays of sea-weed on 

 its back, scarcely to be distinguished from the rocks among 

 which it lurks, it is armed with spines steeped in the 

 cruellest venom. Many fish are capable of inflicting pain- 

 ful and even dangerous wounds, but none is to be more 

 dreaded than the ugly and repulsive " stone fish." Haply, 

 it is comparatively rare. Conceal itself as it may among 

 the swaying seaweed as it lies in ambush ready to seize 

 its prey, or partially bury itself in the mud, it seldom eludes 

 the shrewd observation of the blacks. With a grunt of 

 satisfaction it is impaled with a fish-spear and placed 

 squirming on a rock to be battered to pulp with its prototype 

 — a stone. Uttei destruction is the invariable fate of any 

 stone fish detected in these waters, the belief of the blacks 

 being that in default fatal effects follow a wound. But a 

 black who suffers the rare chance of contact fortifies his 

 theoretical cure of pulverising the offending fish by immersing 

 the injured foot or hand in running water for a whole day, 

 the popular treatment for all venomous wounds. As to 

 the effect of the wound they say, " Suppose that fella nail 

 go along your foot, you sing out all a same bullocky all 

 night. Leg belonga you swell up and jump about ? Bingie 

 (belly) belonga you, sore fella. Might you die." One 

 boy described the detested creature — " That fella like stone. 

 Head belonga him no good — all hole." A graphic way of 

 detailing a rugged depression in the head, which conveys 

 the idea that the bones have been staved in by a blow with 

 a hammer. 



