Not Knowable at Home 323 



birthplace from the fattening sea. The destruction 

 was complete, almost instantaneous, and was indeed 

 a heavy blow to the high hopes that had been raised. 

 Of course the Barracouta were not at aU to blame. 

 They did but obey their predatory instincts, but it 

 certainly was most unfortunate that they should have 

 fallen in with so helpless and withal so valuable a 

 company of young fish, when there were m57riads 

 of others in the sea just as pleasant to their taste, and 

 that would never have been missed by anybody. 



Of the life history of the Barracouta there is little 

 to tell, for the usual reason — utter inability to get at 

 the facts. But there is considerable ground for believ- 

 ing that in Australasia and South Africa at least, 

 the scaleless variety follow much the same routine 

 of domestic arrangements as do the mackerel at home. 

 Only of course in vastly reduced numbers. For it 

 must not be lost sight of that so voracious is the Barra- 

 couta, and to such an imposing size does he grow, that 

 his numbers must be kept down, or he would speedily 

 depopulate the seas which are his favourite resort. 

 Compared with the dolphin, bonito, and albacore, 

 I should not call the Barracouta a swift fish. I 

 consider him, for instance, no match for the flying-fish 

 in point of speed, and I think if he were driven to feed 

 upon flying-fish alone, his numbers would speedily 

 dwindle. But there is always to be found in the 

 ocean for such fish as the Barracouta a never-failing 

 supply of squid, and upon these unhandsome but 

 most useful molluscs the Barracouta of the deep sea 

 must largely depend. 



Those which we caught in the Indian Ocean had 

 their maws fairly full, but not of flying-fish. They 

 were small fish about the size of a sprat, but evidently 

 belonging to some variety of the mackerel tribe, and 



