On the Trail of the Sailfish 217 



fish, is low, and divided into two fins. There is a long ven- 

 tral fin on each side of the breast, made up of a single ray. 



There are two kinds of spearfish in the Atlantic, the one, 

 Tetrapturus imperator, the white spearfish, or Aguja blanca, 

 rather scarce along our coasts and in the Mediterranean. 

 This reaches a length of about seven feet, and is called by 

 the Cubans Aguja blanca, white needle, for it is very sharp 

 at the business end. The other species, Aguja de Casta, 

 reaches a length of ten feet or more. It has been taken only 

 in Cuba. 



In the Pacific Ocean is a third species. It reaches a 

 length of ten or twelve feet. It is rather common in Japan, 

 where it is called Mazara, and it is taken at Santa Catalina 

 Island every summer, and large schools have been seen made 

 up of hundreds of these swordsmen of the sea. In Cali- 

 fornia, it is called marlinespike fish. In Japan, it is much 

 valued as food, and the writer found difficulty in being al- 

 lowed to handle and measure it, for fear that the great fish 

 would in some fashion or another become hoodooed. 



The third group includes the sailfishes, much like the 

 spearfishes but with the dorsal fin raised high into a great 

 fan-like sail. The fin itself is blue with round black spots. 



The common sailfish, called in Cuba the flying needle, 

 reaches a length of eight feet or more, and is one of the most 

 magnificent of fishes. The story which follows relates to 

 the Aguja voladora, Istiophorus nigricans. 



" Look ! look ! senor," cried my oarsman, Manuel, who 

 was slowly and silently sculling me along the line of surf 

 not many miles from Havana. I was standing in the bow, 

 bareheaded and stripped to the waist, as the heat was un- 

 bearable and a dip overboard every five minutes made life 

 more endurable. 



Grains (a long spear) in hand I was on the lookout for 

 any game which might come by. As I turned at his ex- 

 clamation my eyes fell upon a strange object which re- 



