A Dangerous Neighbour 31 1 



bought it and hung it up beneath the boat on the 

 skids. Being at that time of an age when inquisitive- 

 ness is the normal frame of mind, i.e. about thirteen, 

 I soon found an opportunity of examining it. It was 

 about three feet long with scarcely any bulge to its 

 body, which was about eight inches wide and five 

 inches thick, tapering off very little to the tail. Its 

 head was very much like a pike's, with a lower jaw 

 considerably prolonged beyond the upper one, an 

 enormous gape and cruel-looking canine teeth. Indeed, 

 but that it was more symmetrical, it reminded me very 

 much of the head of a crocodile. The eyes were very 

 large and well situated for seeing in every direction, 

 being set prominently, one on either side of the widest 

 part of the wedge-shaped head. The fins were rather 

 small for the size of the fish, all except the caudal or 

 tail-fin, which was large, fleshy and lightly forked, 

 having a very wide area of propelling surface. The 

 body was covered with medium-sized scales, which 

 were easily detached, showing in a marked degree 

 its difference from the mackerel family, whose scales 

 are very few and most firmly attached to their bodies. 

 Its colours were simple, a dirty brownish black above 

 and livid white below, the two meeting at the lateral 

 line. It was long afterwards when I first saw a hake, 

 a very common fish around our south-western coasts, 

 and I was immediately struck by the great resemblance 

 between it and a Barracouta — so great that I feel 

 sure they must belong to the same family, although 

 I do not believe the hake has anything like the ferocious 

 character of his great southern congener. 



While I stood studying the contour of this, to me, 

 new and strange fish, the cook, an elderly negro 

 belonging to the island, saimtered up, and after 

 handling the fish, began in an impartial sort of way 



