410 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JtmE 23, 1882 



right if his fads were as he states them. But the truth is 

 that Major V.'s poem was not printed in the June Century. 

 Thera was, it is true, a poem in that magazine, of which 

 "Down by the Dam" is a very close imitation, but we 

 think that" in true poetic merit our own contributor's verses 

 rather outshine the rhymes of the Century bard.] 



Bass Fishtnc. rx the Niagaba Kiver. — On Friday last. 

 Mr. L. Herdell. connected with the International Hotel, at 

 Niagara Falls, caught eighteen black bass and one small 

 white bass in the Niagara River, in two hours, with a fly. 

 They were all taken at a spot about ten minutes' walk from 

 the grounds where the late New York State Association for 

 the Protection of Fish and Game Tournament was held, 

 They ranged in weight, from hall a pound to a pound, and 

 were a flue lot of fish. The fishing in the river for black 

 bass, rock bass and pickerel is excellent, now. anil parlies 

 may be seen at any time busily engaged in landing the finny 

 beauties. — M. 



jUisJfcttltwe. 



THE AMERICAN F1SHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



PROCEEDINGS ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETTK&. 



1CONTTNUF.D], 



MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE SWORD-FI1 

 BY ft. BROWN GOODE. 



THIS essay upon the Sword-fish and its uses mates no claim 

 to be considered a contribution to knowledge. In the 

 course, of six summers' study of fish and fisheries on the coast 

 of New England and as many winters of research into iehthy- 

 ological literature, a. considerable quantity of notes concerning 

 the Sword-fish have accumulated in the writer's portfolio. 

 These are printed below, arranged in systematic order, with 

 the hope that they may stimulate mquiry by snowing at a 

 glance what is now known about the habits or this mysterious 

 fish and what it is desirable should be learned. Such of the 

 facts as have not previously been printed are for the most 

 part drawn from the experience of fishermen either by the 

 writer or by others who have kindl-v responded to letters ask- 

 ing for information by interviewihg then- local authorities. 

 Mr. John H. Thomson, of New Bedford; Mr. WiUard Nye. of 

 New Bedford; Mr. E. G. Blackford and Mr. Barnet Phillips, 

 of New York; and Mr. C. B. Fuller, of Portland, have aided 

 thus. Oapt. Benjamin Ashby. of Noank; Capts. R. H. Hiirl- 

 bert, John Rowe, and George H. Martin, of Gloucester; and 

 Capt. I. H, Michaux, of New Bedford, veteran swordfisher- 

 men, have been asked questions innumerable, and their words 

 are frequently quoted. As far as possible, all stutetne 

 have been confirmed by personal observation; but for this 

 there has been little, opportunity. Few fishes are so difficult 

 to observe, and a. student may pass summer after summer in 

 the attempt to study them with few results other than the 

 sight of a few dozen dorsal ens cutting through the water, 

 chance to measure and dissect a few specimens, a page or two 

 of estimates of annual captures, and perhaps the experience 

 of having the. side of his boat pierced by one of the ugly 

 swords. 



This paper is the fourth of a series upon "The Natural and 

 Economical History of American Food-fishes," the first on 

 the Scuppaug, and the, second, on the Bluefish. having been 

 published by Professor Baird in the Report of the United 

 States Fish Commission, Part I 1873); the third, on the Nfon- 

 haden, in Part V (1879) of the same report. "The. History of 

 the American "Whale Fishery," by Mr, Alexander Starbuck 

 in Part IV, is also properly to be enumerated in this series. 



POPULAR NAMES OF SWORD-FISH. 



The names by which the fish under consideration is known 

 all have reierence to res most prominent feature, the prolonged 

 snout. The "Sword-fish" of our own tongue, the •'Zwoord- 

 Jis" of the Hollander, the Italian ",S'i/?o" and "jpfesce-cparfa" 

 the Spaniard's "Espada? , "Espadarte", and varied by "Pe-- ■ de 

 epada v in Cuba, and the French "Esixidon". "Dard". and 



Epea ci>, ::•:»?■ ars simply variations of one the; . it petitions 

 of the "GHaavas" of ancient Italy and "Xiphias", the name by 

 which Aristotle, the father of zoology, called the same fish 

 twenty-three hundred years ago. The French "Mmpereur" 

 and the "Imperador" and "Ocean King-fish" of the Spanish 

 and French West Indies cany out the same idea: the Roman 

 emperor was always represented holding a drawn sword in 

 msnand. The Portuguese names are &guUta and Agulhao, 

 mending "needle" or "needle-fish." 



ZOOLOGICAL NAMES OF THE SWORD-FISH. 



This species has been particularly fortunate in escaping the 

 numerous redescriptions to which almost all widely distributed 

 forms have been subjected. By the writers of antiquity it was 

 spoken of undents Aristotelian name, and in the. tenth edition 

 of his Systema Natures, at the very inception of binomial 

 nomenclature, Linnaeus called it Xiphias gladius. By this 

 name it has been known ever since, and only one additional 

 name is included in its synonymy, Xiphias Rondeletti Leach 



POPULAR NAMES OF ALLIED AMERICAN SPECIES 



The Sword-fish has been so long and so well known that its 

 right to its peculiar name has seldom been infringed upon 

 The various species of Tetrapfurv.fi have sometimes shared its 

 title, and this it not to be wondered at, since they closely re- 

 semble Xiphias gladius, and the appellative has' frequently 

 been applied to the family Xiphiidcr— the Sword-fish family— 

 which includes them all. - y 



The name. Bill-fish, usually applied to the Tetranturu-; a/In- 

 dus, a fish of the Sword-fish fauiily often taken on four coast 

 and described below, is objectionable, since it is in many dis- 

 tricts used for the various species of Bskmidts the "Gar 

 fishes" or "Green bones" (Belong truncata and others! which 

 are members of the same fauna. Spear-fish is a much better 



. ^'he Sail-fish' ■ ITishiphorus znurivmiw. is called by sailers 

 m the south the ••Boohoo" or "Woohoo". This ig evidently a 

 corrupted form of "Guebucu", a name apparently of Indian 

 origin, given to the same fish in Brazil. It is possible that the 

 mruptio-us is also called "Boohoo", since the two genera are 

 not sufficiently unUke to impress sailors with their differences^ 

 Bleeker states that in Sumatra the Malays call the related 

 species, H. gladvus, by the name Joohoo (Juhu), a curious co- 

 incidence. The names may have been carried from the Ma- 

 lay Archipelago to South America, or vice versa, by navi- 



tu ,su b,./,, 's specially known as the Aguja blunr,,, r. ajM- 

 atts as the .-'. w Ida u wra 



TTo^ ^,^ St , n ' :lieS T 1 r ,0, ' ida the Scabbard-!ish or Silvorv 

 Hair-tail (Mehiurw tepturus), a form allied to the Xinhias 

 though not resembhng it closely in external appearance is 

 often called "Sword-fish". The body of this fiYh isshaiie,! 

 like the blade of a saber, and its skin has a bn'4t meta H • 

 luster like that of polished steel; hence tlu name 



The various specirs of Si ieklebacks f/'nt'/'riWiuix urn 



O. rwveboracerisis, and Pugostew occidentalis are k 

 "Little Sword-fish" by toe boys of Portland Me ai 

 cinity. The spines, damaging in the extreme ' 



^^L'Sf^^wi 3 °f cur ^"Shout the t ttipical and south; 

 Sctm4"I -.• ,la'\r<n'i vV',y.^ U ll,M '-' Mri1 a 

 tors. In Marcgrave'b time the Portuguese bt Brttdfcal led it 

 jfftcitdo, reierring to its snout, and Roehefort, in his Histoiw 

 of the West. Indies, calls if the Beeasse de Mer; a her/me oeml 



uleatus, 



all fingen 



a long-snouted bird Uke a woodcock or a snipe, while in the 

 Malay Archipelago the Dutch call it Zee-jnip or "Sea-snipe." 

 The Malays of Amhoyna called it the Ikan-layer or Fan-fash, 

 in allusion to the fan-like movements of its dorsal fin, while 

 those of Sumatra called it Tlcan-jrgan or Sail-fish. The French 

 Ynilier and the Dutch Zeyl-jisch and Bezaan-jiseh mean the 

 same; a bezaan being the sail upon the mizzen mast of a ship. 

 The names "Boohoo" and "Woohoo" have already been re- 

 ferred to. The family name is "Myl-meen , \ signifying "Pea- 

 cock-fish". 



POET'S DESCRIPTIONS OF TETRAPTORUS ALBIDUS AND TETKAF- 

 TURUS AMPLUS. 



It is quite probable, that the larger species of Tetraplurus, 

 T. ampins, Poey, which frequents the waters of Cuba, in com- 

 pany with the' species now so often seen on our coast, may 

 yet "be found on the coast of the United States. It seems 

 desirable, therefore, to quote, here, in full, translations of 

 the original descriptions. These species should both be criti- 

 cally compared with the Tetrapturus Oeorgii, described by 

 the Rev. H. T. Lowe from Madeira. 



"It is very strange that the fishes known at Havana by the 

 names Aguja and Aguja dr Paladarhave never been described 

 in icbthyological works. Their size would naturally attract 

 the attention of travelers, and since they are very common for 

 four months in the year it would have been very easy to 

 obtain them. Their flesh is palatable and always whole- 

 some. They may have, been confounded with T. belong of the 

 Mediterranean, especially since the Xiphias gladius, here 

 known as the Emperador, is often taken in our waters. 



It is only necessary to glance at the figure of T. belone given 

 by Cuvier and Valenciennes and to carefully follow the 

 description, to be satisfied that it is another species. The Hhlio- 

 plwrus amerieaims, which we call Aguja prieta or Aguja 

 mladera, is also found on our shores. Of the true Tclrap- 

 tvres we have two species, very distinct, the Aguja blcmea 

 (Tctrapturus albidus) and the Aguja de Casta (Tctraptuiiis 

 ampins). 



Tetrapturus albidus is abundant during the month of June 

 and up to the middle of July ; some are taken in August. 

 The ordinary weight is 40 pounds, though they are. sometimes 

 taken of 100'pounds weight. 



Tetraptwriis ampins makes its appearance at the end of 

 July, and is most abundant during August. Its ordinary 

 weight is 200 to 300 pounds, but it reaches a. much greater size, 

 and is often taken weighing 400 to 500 pounds, and even 800; 



The. males are the smaller. These two species swim at the 

 depth of 100 fathoms. They journey hi pairs, shaping- their 

 course toward the Gulf of Mexico, the females being full of 

 eggs. 



Only adults are taken. It is not known whence they come, 

 where they breed, or how the young return; it is hot even 

 known whether the adult fishesreturn by the same route. 



When the fish has swallowed the hook it rises to the surface, 

 ma kin g prodigious leaps and plunges; exhausted at last, it is 

 dragged to the boat, secured with a boat-hook, and beaten 

 to death before it is hauled on board. 



Such fishing is not without danger, for the Teirapli'.re some- 

 times rushes upon the boat, drowning the fisherman or 

 wounding him with his terrible weapon. 



The. fish becomes furious at the approach of sharks, which 

 are its natural enemies. They engage in violent combats, and 

 when the Tetrapture is attached to the fisherman's line it 

 often receives frightful woimds from its adversary. 



The ovaries are large; the ova are small and yellow, and 

 nearly one-eighth of an inch in diameter. 



The Cuban fishermen agree in admitting under the name 

 Aguja blanca two species, one called Cabezona (large-headed) ; 

 the other smaller, the nape lower. I agree with them to some 

 extent ; yet, although I have drawn and measured many in- 

 dividuals of the two kinds, I do not dare to describe them as 

 distinct, since I find remarkable variations, which lead me to 

 suspend my judgment. I only describe one individual from 

 those considered the large-headed variety." 



For the more technical part of the description of these two 

 species see Appendix. 



EAELT ALLUSIONS TO THE SWORD-FISH IN EUROPE. 



The . Sword-fish was known to Pliny, who writes: "The 

 Sword-fish, called in Greeke Xiphias, that is to say in Latin 

 Glaudius, a sword, hath abeake or bill sharp pointed, where- 

 with he will drive through the sides and piankes of a ship, 

 and bouge them so, that that they shall sinke withall. The 

 experience whereof is scene in the ocean, near to a place in 

 Mauritania called Gotta, which is not far from the river 

 Lixos.'l. 



Many other classical and medireval writers made curious 

 allusions to the Sword-fish. A very good summary of their 

 views is given by Bloch, and is here quoted. The scepticism 

 of this author is sometimes a little excessive : 



•'This fish is found in the North Sea and the Baltic, but is 

 rare in those, waters. In the Mediterranean, however, it is 

 very abundant. It fives for the most part in the Atlantic, 

 where in the winter it is found in mid-ocean. In spring it 

 appears on the coast of Sicily, where its eggs are deposited on 

 tae bottom in great numbers. However, according to what 

 I have been told by the illustrious Chevalier Hamilton, it is 

 never seen in that region more than three or four feet long. 

 The larger ones, often weighing 400 or 500 pounds, and 

 eighteen to twenty feet long, are found on the coast of Cala- 

 bria, where they appear in June and July. Plinv remarked 

 that they often exceed the dolphin in size. * * * 



" Various writers have spoken of the ' Emperor of the Sea' 

 as occurring in the Baltic. Olearius and Schelhammer record 

 its capture near Holstein; Schoneveld mentions one from 

 Mecklenburg: Walbaum one from the vicinity of Lubeek: 

 Hanover and Klein one from the vicinity of Danzig; Hart^ 

 mannone from near Pillau; and Wolf another taken near 

 Konigsberg. 



"One mentioned by Schoneveld as taken near Mecklenburg 

 was so large that it required two strong horses to draw it 

 from the water. The body, without the sword, was eleven 

 feet lr.ng, the sword three. The eyes were as large OS tens 

 eggs, and the tail was two feet broad. Of four seen by Pro- 

 fessor Koelpin during his stay at Gre.ifswald, one measured 

 more than three, and one-half feet in circumference. * * * 



"These fish, according to the story of the Chevalier Hamil- 

 ton, always appear in pairs as they approach Messina, a 

 female and a male together."' 



[Then follows a description of the method of capture, very 

 similar to that given below.] 



"This fish fives upon marine plants and fish. It has such a 

 terrible defensive weapon that other voracious fishes do not 

 dare to attack it. According to Aristotle, it. is. Uke the tunny, 

 tormented by an insect, and in its fury leaps out of the sea 

 and even into vessels. According to Statins MuJlcr, the skin 

 is phosphorescent at night. Although such large fishes are 

 not. usually well flavored, this one is considered palatable, 

 Pieces of the belly and the tail are .especially esteemed, and 

 hence they are expensive. The fins are salted and sold under 

 the. name 'oallol * * * 



'Aelian errs in saying that it enters fresh water, and in 

 cataloguing it among the fishes of the Danube. 



"Oppian and Ovid'consider it. on account of its sword, onp 

 of the most tenable denizens of the sea. It. is not at all prob- 

 ble that, as Pliny and many other later ichthyologists have 

 rritten, it pierces the sides of vessels with its sword and 

 sends them to the bottom; its sword is not sufficiently strong, 

 "Salviani, who gave the first figure of the fish, was wrong, 

 like many writers who followed him, in giving two dorsal and 

 two anal fins. 



"Gesner, Aldrovandus, and Jonston have represented the 

 species with two ventral fins. Bellon and Boniare were 

 wrong in classing it among tho whales. Subsequent authors 



1. Holland's Fliny, ii. . page 4 



have failed to find the scales represented in the figure given 

 by the former and the teeth of which the latter spoke. "3 



ALLUSIONS TO THE SWORD-FISH IN AMERICA BY EARLY WRITERS. 



The ancient city of Siena, secluded and almost forgotten 

 among the hills of Northern Italy, should have a peculiar 

 interest for Americans. Here Christopher Columbus was 

 educated, and here, in the height of his triumphs as a dis- 

 coverer, he chose to deposit a. memento of his first voyage 

 across the. seas. His votive, offering hangs over the portal of 

 the old collegiate church, closed for many years, and rarely 

 visited save by enterprising American tourists. It consists of 

 the helmet and armor worn by the discoverer when he Ii est 

 planted his feet on New World earth, his weapons, and the 

 weapon of a warrior killed by Ids party when approaching 

 the American coast—the sword of a. Sword-fish 3 



It is not probable that Columbus or some of his crew sea- 

 faring men of the Mediterranean, had never seen the Sword- 

 fish. Still, its sword was treasured up by them, and has 

 formed for more than four centuries a.nd"a half a striking 

 feature in the best preserved monument of the disc] 

 America. 



The earliest allusion in literature to the existence, of the 

 Sword-fish in the Western Atlantic seems to occur in JoBSfr 

 lyn's Account of Two Voyages to New England, printed m 

 lb74, m the following passage: 



"First Voyage:— The Twentieth day, we saw a great num- 

 ber of Seabats, or Owles. called also living fish, they are about 

 the bigness of a Whiting, with four tinsel wings with which 

 they fly as long as they are wet, when pursuedbv other fishes. 

 Here likewise we saw many Grandpisces, or Herrin°--hot>-5 

 hunting the scholes of Herrings, in the afternoon we gas? a 

 great fish called the Vehuella or Sword-fish having a long 

 strong and sharp Ann like a Sword-blade on the top of his 

 head, with which he pierced our Ship, and broke it off with 

 striving to get loose, one of our Sailers dived and brought it 

 aboard " 



A half century later I find a reference in Catesby's work 4 



Pennant, though aware of the statement, made by Cafeeaby 

 refuses the species a place in his List of the Fishes" of North 

 America,5 supposing him, to refer to the orca or Mgh-fmned 

 killer- whale: "I am not certain whether Calesby does not 

 mean the high-finned Cachelot by his Sword-fish; vet as it is 

 found in most seas, even to those of Ceylon (Mr. Loten.) 1 

 give it a place here." 



Catesby's testimony was soon confirmed by Dr. Alexander 

 Garden. This enthusiastic collector, through whose corres- 

 pondence with Linnasus so many of our southern plants and 

 animals were first brought to knowledge and named, writes 

 to John Ellis, from Charleston, S. C, March j; 1 ;■:,-:, ■. "I have 

 sent you one of the rostrums of a fish found on the Florida 

 coast, which I take to be a species of the Ziphias rosfr. apice 

 ensi forme, pinnis ventralibus nullis.Ci I have been told that 

 they are frequently found on the Carolina coast, though I 

 have, never seen any of them, and I have been all afong the 

 coast to the Florida shore."? 



Another allusion occurs in a communication by Prof. S. L. 

 Mitchill, of New York, to the American Monthly Magazine: 



"An individual of this species was taken, off" Sandy Hook, 

 by means of a harpoon, on the 10th of June. 18 IV. 

 day it was brought to New York Market and cut up Like 

 halibut and sturgeon for food. The length was about 12 feet, 

 and girth, by estimation, 5. * * * The stomach contained 

 seven or eight mackerel. The flesh was remarkably firm, it 

 was purchased at a quarter of a dollar the pound. 1 tasted a 

 chop of it, broiled, and found it savory and excellent, ft re- 

 sembled the. best sturgeon, without its' strong and oil; 

 While I ate it I thought of veal cutlet. * ** T have been 

 informed by my friend John Penny that a, SwOrd-fish 16 feet 

 long was exhibited at New York in the. year 17B1."8 



DISTRIBUTION OF XIPHIAS GLADIUS IK THE EASTERN ATLANTIC. 



The Sword-fish is abundant in the Mediterranean!) even as 

 far east as Constantinople. Aelian said that it was frequent 

 in the Black Sea, entering the Danube. Unfortunately, this 

 is neither confirmed nor. contradicted by any later .writer 

 whose woi'ks I have seen, except Bloch, whose skepticism is 

 as unreliable as the statements of Aelian. Aelian says that 

 this species, with several others, is frequently taken in the 

 Danube at the breaking up of the ice in spring. This is M 

 contrary to the known habits of the fish that, It throws dis- 

 credit on the whole story, for the present at least From the 

 entrance to the Mediterranean they range south to Cape 

 Town. Berthelot saw great numbers of them off the Canaries. 

 They have been frequently noticed on the coasts of Spain and 

 France. They occur sparingly in summer in the British wa- 

 ters, even to the Orkneys and the Hebrides. They occasion- 

 ally reach Sweden and Norway, where Linnaeus observed 

 them, and, according to Lutfeeu, have been taken on the coast 

 of Finmark. They are known to have occurred in Danish 

 waters and to have found their way into the Baltic, thus gain- 

 ing a place in the fauna of Russia. ' A number of instances of 

 the occuirence of Sword-fish in the Baltic are mentioned 

 above. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



2. Bloch, Iehthyologie, ill., pp. 24-26. 



Si. For this fact, which I do not rarhetnbeT to have ever sef>n on 

 record, I am indebted to my friend Got N, D. Wilkins, of the Detroit 

 Free Press, who visited the Locality m l ffl 



i. Historia Katuralis Carolina;-, ete., 1731. 



5. Arctic Zoology, vol. hi., 1784, p. 3B-J. 



B, The name by which this Ash was designated m tho earll.-r 

 editions of Linna?us's writings. 



7. A selection of the correspondence of Unmuus and other natural 

 ists, from the original manuscripts. By sir fames Edward smith 

 M D., F. R. S., etc., ete.. president; of the Linntean Soeiet v. In two 

 volumes. London. Printed for Longman, Hurst. Bsos. flrma nnd 

 Brown, Paternoster Row, 1881. (Vol i..p 853.1 



8. American Monthly Magazine, ii., ISlB, p. 812. 



Jlmwerfi to ^orrespattdent^ 



G. M. G., Halifax, N. S.— Brentano, Union Square, New York, 



A. De S., ~Sew York.— 1. Yes. 2. Consult our advertising columns. 



W S. H.. Waterbury, Conn.— Write to the Orange Judd Co., Nai- 

 York, for tke books on cattle. 

 G.. Columbus. O. F.iu- sporting engravings write to Currier & 

 . i-...::.u street, New York. 



B. J. C, San Francisco, Oil. Read ' Tminii. . 

 which gives the method of curing gun shy dogs. 



Toronto Yacht Club.— 1. Vt'e send the paper postpaid Tor S-J per 

 o reblue barrels cost^ 3H doubl-, $2 single. 



yea 



Fued. Lewis, Boston.— The ;u -m i; 

 order, and accurate to the (Mais 

 beyond 



2 single, 

 ade, not liable fo gej out at 



H. S. A. Iowma, Mich.— The company are not now manuj 

 arms. For the rifle write to Harris, Proad way, whose address will 

 be found in his advertisement elsewhere. 



E. W, C, Jr.. Germantown, Pa,- Lu. i edition Of Wallace's Guide 

 to Adirondack cosrs .50 cents. We can supply it Best ., 

 map is that compiled by S. R. Stoddard , Gflene Falls, .\. V . 



T. L. G.. Columbus. O.— The book "Bunting and Trapping'! wi ir 

 ten by Copt. F. C. Barker and J. S. Dar.forth, is publi- 

 Lothrop A: Co., 33 Franklin street, Boston. It. will have an early re 

 ■new in our columns. 



W. T. S., Mt. Summit,, pnd.— Field glasses cost from S13 to $150; 

 the opticians commend those eosiing a html 840. A pair ot opera glasses 

 will probably answer your purpose quite sabisfact' eilv. A good pair 

 can be had for from $6 to §10. See our edi torial page. 



