CHAPTER XXXIII 

 THE RAYS 



' Hugest of all fishes in the sea. 

 For they were formed by heaven's great king, 

 Before all other earthly thing.' 



The Voyage of St. Brandon (Mediaeval). 



DOUBTLESS it requires a stretch of the imagination to 

 include the rays among the game fishes, and I will concede 

 them to be on the fringe of the aristocracy of the fishes and not 

 common subjects of piscatorial eclogues. My reason for in- 

 cluding them, is that the weird bat-like creatures are among the 

 most powerful of fishes, and when played with rod and reel, often 

 gives the angler a surprising fight, which in any other fish would 

 result in encomiums and much praise. 



But in some way, in some quarters, the rays are looked upon 

 as vermin and classed with sharks. It is not advisable to draw 

 the Une too closely, especially in sea angling, as in certain localities 

 there may be a dearth of typical edible game fishes, when the 

 rays, skates, and their tribe save the day for the angler. 



I have had some exciting hours with various rays in the 

 Tropics, and have always found them fishes of extraordinary 

 strength, vitality and other qualities, which in other forms go 

 to make up what is known as a game fish. In all probability, 

 the ray or flat fish, which wiU make the most impression on the 

 angler is the torpedo. I have heard of men beiag knocked 

 down by them in IsTew England, and a ray I attempted to lift in 

 Italian waters gave me a shock which I still remember with 

 interest but not satisfaction. I believe I once hooked one of 

 these living batteries at Laguna Beach, in Southern Cabfornia, 

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