OCEAN FISH AXD OCEAN FISHING 8i 



That they fly on to the deck of deeply-laden 

 ships at night, attracted by the binnacle lamp, 

 there can be no doubt, though it has been denied ; 

 and it is also true that they have been known to 

 come through the big square ports of old-fashioned 

 craft. 



Sometimes, in a very light wind, the Barbados 

 method of luring them is resorted to. A boat is 

 lowered, and rotten fish pounded up, contained in 

 a bag, is let down over the bows into the water ; 

 the oil exuding creates a dead calm, attracting the 

 fish that are waiting for a fresh breeze to spring 

 up. They rise to the surface, and if dead silence 

 is maintained, approach the boat, and are simply 

 scooped up with a large landing-net ; but if there 

 is the least noise they instantly make off. In 

 Barbados, so successful is the method that the 

 boats have been known to sink from overloading, 

 but when safely landed they sell at the rate of 

 six pounds for a penny. But at sea few captains 

 allow their boats to be let down for this kind of 

 fishing. 



There are several varieties of these gaudy 

 oceanic fish — the common, the sea-swallow, the 

 mesogaster, and the guinea-man. This last is a 

 large kind with four wings, which are merely an 

 abnormal prolongation of the pectoral fins. South 



