Terms, Five Dollars a Year. ( 

 Ten Dents a Copy. f 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 18, 1875, 



( Volume 5, Number 15. 



) 17 Chatham St. (CityHallteqr.) 



For Forest and Stream,. 



• " ■■ 



THERE are no more zealous fishermen than sailors, and 

 whose devotion is so ill rewarded. I have yet to see 

 that sailor who considers himself as fully and satisfactorily 

 equipped for a voyage without an assortment of fish hooks 

 in his "donkey" {anglice, chest,) mostly of the formidable 

 size, and the largest gauged with wire. His joy is complete 

 if he can add to these a spinning spoon, which he calls a 

 "squid," ox oiie of those nondescript images one often sees 

 displayed in the window of shops devoted to the sale of 

 Ishing gear, and which cause in the mind of the observer 

 Motions of unmitigated wonder at the sublime imbecility 

 >f the fish which could possibly mistake it for the image 

 f )f any living creature. He takes exceeding care of these 

 | reasures, stows them away in the inmost recesses of his 

 :hest, packed in grease or browned flour, that no speck of 

 •ust may mar their beautiful blue gloss, takes them out ou 

 sunday mornings to see if, in spite of his precautions, the 

 usidious sea air may not have penetrated to them, and 

 laving carefully inspected each one he spreads them in the 

 ^un, and gazing upon them and smoking his pipe the while, 

 lie heart of him is exceeding proud. He cannot help feei- 

 ng, and to the observing eye showing, a sense of supe- 

 iority to the shellback devoid of fish hooks and destitute 

 "if squids. But he shows this in a negative way, by a man- 

 . ler which seems to say that he could be proud of these 

 reasures, but that he is saved from this by good breeding 

 nd a high sense of the beauty of humility when evinced 

 »a the demeanor of fortune's favorite. And, after all, he 

 ';ever catches any fish. Not that he don't try to. He fishes 

 ,pou all possible— I had nearly added, and impossible— oc- 

 casions. I recollect that on my first voyage one of my 

 iliipmates was the proud possessor of one of the before- 

 il&iitioned Images (if that can properly be called an image 

 /Inch represents nothing but itself,) which was supposed 

 Jjj be an accurate counterfeit of a flying-fish, and to be, 

 "aerefore, singularly well adapted to the beguilement and 

 ,j, estruciion of dolphins, bonita, and all other vovacious 

 sh which prey upon those persecuted little creatures. If 

 ny dolphin was ever capable of detecting any likeness to 

 flying-fish (or anything else) in this effort of genius, his 

 ' ower of perceiving resemblance must have been such as 

 if [lie English language is impotent to describe, and to ap- 

 . roach it, believing it to be alive, would exceed the courage 

 ; f most creatures, marine or terrestrial, My own opinion 

 i ihat it would put a first class scare on an average right 

 ,;7kale. But in this fetich Harry (the owner) believed with 

 n ardor and constancy that time could not cool or failure 

 \ liake. It is my belief that between Boston and Hong 

 uoug Harry was perched on the head-gear about three 

 | undred hours, and dragged his flying-fish (?) through two 

 J 1 uousand utiles of salt water— and never a bite. Once he 

 l ame into the forecastle with a gleam of joy in his eye and 

 j old me how "one bonita come mighty close and looked as 

 frf he might bite." That was the sole reward of his exer- 

 tions. 



; Upon all other subjects Harry was as good natured a 

 " A ittle fellow as ever knotted a rope yarn. You might bor- 

 row, use, abuse anything else he had ; you might criticise 

 jiimself with any reasonable degree of severity; you might 

 ^ensure his seamanship, asperse his moral character, or 

 loubt his assertion that he owned a farm in Connecticut 

 .jthis last, however, must be elapsed "extra hazardous,") 

 1 nd still entertain a reasonable hope of escaping any worse 

 < onsequences than a broadside of salt water blessings; but 

 past one reflection on that flying-fish, "one look of scorn, 

 lime word of insult," and you would assuredly get your 

 iiead punched, if Harry's utmost exertions could afford 

 'y'ou that trifling accommodation. With the grains or the 

 . parpoon a dolphin or porpoise is occasionally captured, and 

 Diying-fish are sometimes taken in considerable numbers by 

 IJnspending a lantern in the rigging just above the rail. 

 j!jlimicg in their flight at the light, they clear the nearest 

 jjail, but bring up, head on, against the farther one. The 

 [elocity of their flight must be considerable, for the colli- 

 fclmosfc invariably kills them, shattering the head, ia» 



deed, often as far back as the eyes. The dolphin is most 

 frequently captured with the "grains," an instrument not 

 unlike Neptune's trident, but having as high as nine 

 prongs, arranged in two rows at right angles to each other. 

 These numerous points aiford at once a better chance of 

 striking the narrow beck of the dolphin, snd a surer hold 

 when struck, than the single point of the harpoon. The 

 dolphin is a wonder of speed and proportion. In front his 

 head presents a cutting edge to the water not much thicker 

 than an ordinary paper knife. From this the thickness of 

 the fish increases by a very gradual convex swell until it 

 reaches its maximum— about five or six inches — about the 

 same distance behind the gills, from whence it diminishes 

 in a still finer line to the deeply-indented tail. The entire 

 length is about five feet. 



You generally notice a dolphin first during a light breeze. 

 Your attention is attracted by a rather small fish which is 

 playing around the vessel. The perfect grace, the utter ab- 

 sence of effort in his evolutions charm the eye. So far as 

 you can see he moves without any muscular exertion what- 

 ever, simply his volition seems to carry him whither he 

 will. The breeze is freshening, but the swifter motion of 

 the vessel does not in the least incommode him; with the 

 same ease he is still ahead, abeam, on either bow; still the 

 breeze strengthens, the clipper has about as much as she 

 wants to carry whole sail. The mate glances a wary eye 

 at the royals and orders, "Everything clear to let go and 

 clew up royals; stand by flying- jib halliards and down- 

 haul." The ship is making thirteen, fourteen, fifteen knots. 

 You have kept your eye on the dolphin. What at first 

 looked like a fish became at first a dark spot, then a streak, 

 as the speed increased ; but fish, ^pot, or streak he is still 

 ahead, alongside, or astern, just as suits him, and as easily 

 as ever. You begin to feel as if you would like to beat 

 him or make him work a little for his victory, anyhow. 

 Just then he ranges alongside, not two fathoms off, and for 

 four or five minutes keeps his nose in line with the main 

 channels. You think he is getting enough; that though he 

 has the go you have got the stay, Just as you arrive at this 

 comforting conclusion something— a rope's end dropped 

 overboard, another head above the rail, nothing but his own 

 sweet will, perhaps— starts him again. The fish is gone. 

 For an instant you see a dull streak in the water extending 

 toward the bows. Now that is gone, too. Dolphin, Esq., 

 has taken leave, has passed you as if you had been at 

 anchor. Yes, and would have done had you been making 

 thirty knots instead of fifteen. Sometimes, however, he 

 receives an invitation to stop too pressing to admit of any 

 "regrets." In one of those intervals when he is maintain- 

 ing his position alongside, the grains eomes hissing through 

 the air, piercing his marbled back and scoring his silvery 

 sides, and in a few seconds from the time when he was so 

 gracefully and joyously sporting in the blue water he is 

 gasping out his life in the lee scuppers, while his cruel cap- 

 tors stand admiring the beauty of the tints developed by 

 his death agony . 



"Last scene of all," the cook's galley, where he fills the 

 forecastle pans and cabin plates with his white but rather 

 coarse and insipid flesh, affording a grateful variety (in the 

 forecastle, at least,) to the monotonous round of beef and 

 biscuit, lobscouse and duff. A word of warning here. Be- 

 ware of dolphin taken on soundings; the flesh of such is 

 often poisonous. A piece of silver placed in the kettle 

 with it while cooking is said to furnish an infallible test, 

 turning black if the fish is bad, but retaining its natural 

 color if it is harmless. 



The porpoise, less elegant in form and speedy in its mo- 

 tions than the dolphin, is nevertheless very amusing to 

 watch in its gambols. While its propensity for playing 

 just in advance of the cutwater and directly under the 

 head- gear gives a much better opportunity of striking the 

 porpoise, its size and strength render the capture a much 

 more exciting affair than is that of the dolphin. The por- 

 poise is always taken with the harpoon ; the feeble grains 

 could not withstand for an instant the frantic efforts of the 

 powerful and frightened animal, Even with the harpoon 

 it is necessary to run the line in sharply directly the iron is 

 fast, as if the opportunity is given him to get a good surge 



or two on it he will either tear the iron out, or worse yet, 

 part the line and make off with the harpoon . The flesh of 

 the porpoise is extremely dark, and not very palatable, but 

 the liver is a bonne, bouche not to be despised even ashore. 



I was once ou board the same craft with a native of Manila, 

 who, having accumulated in the whale fishery a sum suf- 

 ficient to render him a ''bloated aristocrat" among his 

 primitive people (£ e. } about $1,500,) was returning to his 

 native country with the laudable design of spending the 

 remainder of his days amid the scenes of his boyhood as a 

 gentleman of elegant leisure. He had paid his passage and 

 "grubbed" at the second table in the cabin, and was pene- 

 trated with a sense of the dignity which all these advan- 

 tages, present and prospective, conferred upon him. He 

 was in the habit of promenading the decks with a demon- 

 strative air of having nothing to do inexpressibly aggra- 

 vating to the men, by whom, u%der ordinary circum- 

 stances, he would have been decidedly snubbed and put 

 down, and this abnormal state of affaire produced rather a 

 coolness between Rogers (the Manilamau) and the "gentle- 

 men rope haulers" who received a consideration for their 

 presence on board, insomuch that at times remarks vitupe- 

 rative of "blubber hunters" in general, and of "Kanaka 

 blubber hunters" in particular, were made in his hearing 

 in a manner which, to a sensitive mind, might have hinted 

 at a personal application. Luckily his was not a sensitive 

 mind, and no more serious complications arose. But there 

 were times when Rogers forgot his dignity and the hands 

 their aversion for Kanakas and blubber hunters, and these 

 seasuns of truce were whenever a school of porpoises made 

 its appearance. Rogers was a matchless harpooner. Never 

 did a truer eye measure the distance for a throw, or a surer 

 hand send the iron on its murderous errand. No sooner 

 was the first puff heard or the first glimpse caught of a 

 gray back darting through the water than he was over the 

 bows and down on the back ropes, steadying himself by a 

 breast/line attached to the martingale, the iron in his hand, 

 and his keen eyes following every motion of the agile crea- 

 tures. Everybody on deck but the man at the wheel rushes 

 forward. Some man the line attached to the harpoon, 

 while one or two old hands stand by the cathead ready to 

 pass a running bow-line over the prey as soon as may be 

 after he is struck. Lookout now; here they come; they 

 will either cross the bows, or better yet, pause there to play 

 their usual gambols. One or two of the leaders dart past 

 like lightning. Rogers 1 eyes flame, but his arm does not 

 move. "Why the don't he throw?" mutters one im- 

 patient youngster. Even as he speaks the main body comes 

 up, and turning nearly at right angles to its former course, 

 they commence to leap and dive just in advance of the 

 rushing prow. There comes a big fellow toward the sur- 

 face right in front of the dolphin striker. The brown ai m 

 rises higher, descends, and the iron flies straight as a Title 

 ball to the centre of his back. The wounded animal leaps 

 a dozen feet clear of the water. "Haul in," roars Rogers, 

 and in comes the line despite the frantic plunges of the 

 prey. "Quick, there, with the bow-line, the iron's draw- 

 ing; over his head with it. Ah! there it jams. We've got 

 him hard and fast. That night we have porpoise liver for 

 supper, and nobody says "Kanaka" or "blubber hunter" 

 for three watches or more. A porpoise is about as large 

 game as can well be taken with the iron from a vessel in 

 motion. On this same ship and passage there was an at- 

 tempt made to go a little better than a porpoise, which 

 ended rather disastrously. 



The most Irish Irishman I ever met was Barney, who, to 

 use his own words, "Favored the port watch wid" his 

 "powerful assistance and instructive conversation." Bar- 

 ney was the genius of blundering incarnate. If you could 

 imagine any possible way of making a hopeless mull of any 

 given job you might be sure Barney would take that way— 

 if he didn't take some worse one— and if you couldn't 

 imagine any way, in nine cases out often he could, and 

 did. Withal as good a fellow as ever lived ; brave as a lion 

 —was once popularly supposed to be— and as open-handed 

 and kind-hearted as a genuine Irishman always is. Barney 

 was a lake sailor, and this was his first passage on salfe 

 water. The exploits of Rogers with the iron h.ad greatly 



