436 



THE OEDER OF FISHES— BAYS AND SKATES 



Sting Ray in his foot; and in the Malay Peninsula 

 I treated a Malay fisherman whose hand had been 

 completely transfixed by the spine of a huge ray. 



STING HAY. 



Fortunately, this abominable creature is averse 

 to cold, or even moderately cool waters, and is 

 rarely encountered even as far north as Florida. 

 On our coast, one may bathe for a lifetime without 

 seeing even one ; and in all waters they carefully 

 avoid crowds of bathers. 



The gigantic creature known as the Devil-Fish 1 

 1 Man'ta bi-ros'lris. 



is the largest of all rays, and to many persons, even 

 the most truthful accounts of some of its doings 

 will seem beyond belief. To begin with, its maxi- 

 mum size of twenty feet across its "wings " is al- 

 most incredible. The towing of a good-sized fish- 

 ing smack by a harpooned Devil-Fish, going for 

 miles at race-horse speed, is another wonder of the 

 deep. 



Many years ago, the planters on the coast of 

 South Carolina found royal sport in harpooning 

 this monster, and conquering it. In a volume en- 

 titled "Carolina Sports," the Hon. William Elliott 

 has drawn this picture: "Imagine a monster 

 many feet across the back, having powerful flaps 

 or wings with which he drives himself furiously 

 through the water, or vaults high in the air, his 

 horns projecting several feet beyond his mouth!" 



If a Devil-Fish could leap out of water, — which 

 there is good reason to suppose that it could do, — 

 it would look as Mr. Beard has represented it in 

 his illustration. 



So far as can be learned, large examples of this 

 creature are now rarely observed, and still more 

 rarely captured. Its centre of abundance now 

 appears to be off the Gulf coast of Florida; but 

 it is also found on the coast of southern California. 



THE DEVIL-FISH. 



