492 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



LJtjlt 20, 1883. 



PHTT.ABELPQVtA FtstTF.TOIEN ~US~ A SCRAPE. A Sudden 



stop was brought to the sport of the Second Presbyterian 

 Club of Philadelphia while at Fortress Monroe a few flays 

 ago, whither they hid irons on the schooner Apple gale. The 

 interruption lo the usual round of amusements was bomghl 

 about by a was who caused to be printed a seemiu<>ly k-gal 

 document, purporjting to be signed by the sheriff of Kensing- 

 ton, ami countersigned by (he chief 'of police of that place 

 and Gov. Hpyt, to Hie effect that a crowd of men had stolen 

 from a wharf in Kensington the schooner Apples-ate, and 

 offering a reward for tlie arrest of the thieves and the return 

 of the vessel. This proclamation was secretly posted through 

 the streets at Fortress Monroe and Hampton, and. when the 

 club least expected it. they were confronted by the sheriff of 

 the county and a large posse, who mil, all hands uuder arrest. 

 They would have been taken to "jail had not a Baltimore to- 

 bacconist named Marburg gone their bail. The authorities 

 could not be convinced Until the next day that the club 

 had been victimized by a practical joker. 



Maine Trout Asd Land locked Salmon.— Lincoln, Julv 



18.— This is a very pleasant country for persons who wish 

 for a quiet summer resort; good 'hotels and attendance: 

 charming- drives; unexcelled perch and pickerel fishing 

 within sight of the village, and fair trout streams within a 

 few miles. Trout-lishinsr has been unusually aood this rear, 

 and land-locked salmon have been taken in larger quantities 

 from the Schoodie Lakes than for any year since 1871. Mv 

 score for trout this year, nine trips, occupying about one day 

 each, is 301; latest, two and a quarter pounds; smallest, 

 ten ounces. — F. C. P. 



Salmon Fishing.— Prince Edwards Island, July 11.— 

 The wet backward season here has kept the water' in the 

 streams high and cold, which has had the effect of making 

 the trout fishing the best known for years. So far as I can 

 learn but one salmon has been taken here this season above 

 tide water, and this one was jigged by a P. E. 1. garcon of 

 twelve years. Most of the salmon that enter the streams 

 here arc fall-run fish which accounts for so few being taken 

 by fly-fishers. It rains here six days in the week, and 

 the odd day is usually delightfully" cool and Pleasant'.— 

 Stanstead. 



Florida Red Snaiter.— Mai. John C. Reynolds, chief 



engineer of the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, 

 recently visited the red snapper banks near Carrabelle, where 

 his ] arty caught ninety-eight of these fish in one hour, their 

 aggregate weight exceeding 1,000 pounds. A railroad will 

 soon be completed lo Oorrobelle, which is on the west coast 

 east of Appalachicola. 



Colorado Trout.— An old-time Arkansas correspondent, 

 who is on a summer visit to Co'orado, writes from Del 

 Norte, Col., June 5: "Trout-fishing is good at present in the 

 Rio Grande. The speckled beauties are plenty, and take the 

 fly ravenously.' We hope to hear from "T." at greater 

 length. 



Mixxesota.— Pillsbury, Minn., July 7.— As usual fishing 

 is magnificent. Some very large bass, pike, and pickerel 

 have been taken.— J. Frank Locke. 



Jffwffatltnre. 



THE AMERICAN F1SHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



PROCEEDINGS ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE SWORD-FISH. 



BY G. BROWN GOODE. 



[CONTDTCED.] 



DISTRIBUTION ON THE COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ALLUSION has been made to the early accoimts of the 

 swore'- Ish on the coast of the United States both iu the 

 Work of Gate s >y arid the letters of Garden to Ellis and Linnceus ■ 

 a so, to >1 it mill's account of it in 1818. Though it is strange 

 that this very conspicuous species was not recorded more fre- 

 quently by early American authors, it is still more remark- 

 able that its light to a place in the fauna of the Western 

 Atlantic was either denied or questioned, as late as LS.%. by 

 such wen-informed authors as Bar John Richardson and MM 



ad ^ 



Ichthyology and Herpetology of 

 in 1(539, was the first American 



„, J. which the sword-fish was men- 

 tioned among the American fish. 



The range of the species on the eastern coast of America 

 can nowbs defined with some accuracy. Northward and 

 eastward these fish have been seen as far as Cape Breton and 

 Sable island Banks. 



Captain Rowa states that during a trip to George's Banks 

 lie has seen them oil" L'he.bucto Head, near Halifax, where 

 the fishermen claim occasionally to have taken them' with a 

 seine. 



Capt. Daniel O'Brien, of the schooner Ossipee, took five 

 sword-fish on his halibut trawl, in 200 fathoms of water be- 

 tween La Have and Brown's Bank-, in August 1*77 



Gtpt, JeromoB. Smith. o£ the Schooner Hattie Lewis, of 

 Gloucester, killed a swordfish off Cape Smoke, near Bidnev 

 Cape Breton, (11) ' 



Mr. J. Matthew Jones, of Halifax, N. 8., writes, in 1877: 

 'The sword-fish is by no means common on our coast, and 

 only makes its appearance at intervals along our harbors and 

 bays. One was taken in 1864 in Bedford Basin, at the head 



r & Va 



been named i 

 bonitos and i 

 tropies, pnrsu 



tra? 



ath 



seas; thus Thym 

 both site; of the 

 which is coram o 

 extends to the Ii 

 same species. 1 

 also Hi • 



e founu 

 laud in 

 termed 



Llchia 

 not oidy 

 rh other 



rrihbean seas, also 

 New Cl dines bet! 

 C the Atlantic, and 

 eutioned above as 



of Halifax Harbor. September fi. 1866, an individual weigh- 

 ing 200 pounds was taken in a net at Devil's Island. Novem- 

 ber 12, lSOii, the Rev. J. Ambrose sent me a sword, 3 feet and 

 ('.inches long, from a fish taken at Dover, N. S., a few days 

 previously.'' 



The sword-fish has. once at least, penetrated into the Gulf 

 ot ,St. Lawrence. In ;Sop:. ember, LSr.7, Capt. J. W. Collins 



B-ol the crew of the- schooner Mary Ellen, of Truro. 



Mass., and harpooned a sword-fish four miles southwest of 

 the eastern part of Prince Edwards Land. 



On the coasts of Blaine. Massachusetts, and Rhode Island 

 they abound in the summer months. Southward they are 

 less frequently seen, though their occurrence off New York is 

 not unusual. I have never known one to be taken off New 

 Jersey, and in our Southern waters thev do not appear to 

 remain. U liter and hugger vaguely state that thev some- 

 times enter the Chesapeake Bay. (12) This is apparently tra- 

 ditionary evidence. 



Dr. Yarrow obtained reliable information of their occasional 

 appearance near Cape Lookout, H. C.(13) 



Mr. A. W. Simpson states, in a letter to Brofessor Baird, 

 that sword-fish are sometimes seen at sea off Cape Hatteras, 

 in November and December, in large, quantities. They some- 

 times fititl their way into the sounds. 



An item went the rounds of the newspapers in 1S7U to the 

 effect that a sword-fish tour feet Ion-' had been eauturod in 

 the St. John's River, near Jacksonville. After personal in- 

 quiry in Jacksonville, I am satisfied that this was simply a 

 scabbard-fish or silve y hair-tail ITrichiurus Zrwfere.vi. 



Professor Poey states that the fishermen of Cuba sometimes 

 capture the J Vs ch> enpada when in pursuit of Aqujas or spear- 

 nshes. (14) 



They have also been seen in Jamaica. 



Liitken gives instances of the capture of young sword-fish 

 at various points in the open Atlantic. 



OCCUKKENCE IN THE PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEANS. 



We have no record of their occurrence on the eastern coast 

 of South America, but the species is found on the Pacific coast 

 of the same continent, and north to California. 



Professor Jordan writes: "Occasionally seen about Santa 

 Catalma and the C'oronados, but never taken, the fishermen 

 having no suitable tackle. One seen by us off Santa Monica 

 in issxi, about eight feet in length." 



Mr. Willard Wye, of New Bedford, Mass., kindly communi- 

 cates the following notes: Captain Dver. of this port says 

 that sword-fish are plentiful off the Peruvian coast, a mrmber 

 being often in sight at one time. The largest he ever s cw was 

 one caught by himself about 150 miles from the shore and 

 which he estimates to have weighed 900 to 1,000 lbs '■ the 

 ship's crew subsisted on it for several days, and then salted 

 400 lbs. 



Captain Allen also states that while cruising in the Pacific 

 for whales he has found the sword-fish very abundant on the 

 coasts of Peru and Chili, from the immediate coast 300 miles 

 out, though outside of that limit they are seldom seen. They 

 are most plenty duiingthe mohth of January, when they are 

 feeding ou the" common mackerel, with wlh'ch those waters 

 at that time abound. The largest he ever caught weighed 

 about 000 lbs. ° ° 



Both Captain Allen and Captain Dyer have made several 

 voyages as masters of whaling ships, and are perfectly fa- 

 miliar With swoid-flsh on our coast; both speak of seeing 

 pienty of bill-fish in the Paci ic, but they never had taken the 

 trouble to catch them. Ciiather mentions them in Ms book 

 on the Fishes of the South Sea. 



In 1871 Dr. Hector discovered a sword-fish snout in the mu- 

 seum at Auckland, New Zealand, and his announcement of 

 the discovery was followed by the publication of two other 

 instances of its occurrence in this region. (15) 



SWOKD-HSH ENTERING RIVERS. 



Sword-tish have been known to enter the rivers of Europe 

 We have no record of such a habit in those frequenting our 

 waters. (10) 



Aelian's improbable story that thev were taken in the Dan- 

 ube in winter has been mentioned. Southey and others relate 

 that a man was killed while bathing in the Severn, near 

 Worcester, by one of these fishes, which was afterwards 

 caught. 



Couch states that a sword-fish, supposed to weigh nearly 300 

 pounds, was caught in the river Parrett, near Bridgewater. in 

 July, 183-1, (17) ' 



According to De la Blanchere, one of them was taken, in 

 the ninth year of the French Republic, in the river of Vannes 

 on the coast of Rhuvs. (18) 



century 

 Underneath it is painted the following inscription: 



"ANNO. 1696. DEN IS. JULI. 1ST. DXESEE. 

 FISCH. EIN. SCHWBBTFISOH. UENANNT. VON DIESEK. 

 ST.ADT. FISCIIEBN. IN. DER. WESER. GEFANGEN. 

 UND. DEM. 20. EJUSDEH. ANHEltO. NAEHER. 

 BREMEN. GEliliACJHT. WOflDEN. SEINE. GANZE. 

 1 ..HVGTE. WAE, 10. FUSS. DAS. SCHWERT. WAR. 

 7M- VIBTEIi. LANG. UND. 3 ZOLL. BREIT." 

 GEOGRAPHICAL EANGE OF THE SWORD-FISH FAMELT. 



Although it may not seem desirable at present to accept in 

 full the views of Dr. Liitken regarding the specific unity- of 

 the spear-fishes and the saii-nsh.es of the Atlantic and Indian 

 oceans, it is convenient to group the different species in the 

 way he has suggested in discussing their geographical distri- 

 bution. 



The sword-fish, Xiphiws r/laditts, ranges along the Atlantic 

 coast of America from Jamaica, lat. lsdeg. N.,'Cuba, and the 

 Bermudas to Cape Brenton, kit. -tideg. "Not seen at Green- 

 land, Iceland, or Spitsbergen, but occuring. according to 

 Collett, at the North Cape, lat. iideg. Abundant along the 

 coasts of AY estern Europe, entering the Baltic and the Medi- 

 terranean. I can lmd no record oi the species on the west 

 coast ol Atnca south of the Capi Verdes, though Liitken, who 

 may have access to facts unknown to me, stares that 'they 

 occur clear down to the Cape of Good Hope, South Atlantic 



_ 12 List of the Fishes i if Maryland. By P. It. Cider and Otto Lugger. 

 1 S-r ep0 (i| 1 -i ' . -.ie i,-LUH'si'f Fisheries of Maryland, J anna cy. 



13 Notegon lac Xatural Hist. ay o :-. v _,,j. jj. <_;., alK i vicimtv 

 ■_■■'■ ■■■-'. ' >! , ,i! lings of the Acaaemy of Natural 



14 Synopsis 1',-eiiiin lubeneium, C aloga Razonadodo los Feces 

 dela l^aue Cuoa, in Bepertoriq Btsieo Natural de la Isla de Cuba, Ii, 



., J5 'HeptoTj Trags. Ne* Zealand Inst, vii. [1,874)1876, p. 846; Button, 

 !! - MlfOhee emon, ibid. p. am 



■ai'.-iiaie.- approach very ne::r the shore, however, as is 



. -MeKenziela 

 live upon the 



;olT' 



ystandei 



Deluded several "Cu- 



ll Oapt. E. H. Hulbert. 



nd wtth cneaid of 



when- it was visited liy mane speeta- 



l and sold, it measured ten fi 

 i tue en.i or its sword to the Up ca (he tail, the sword Iteeli being three 

 ieei m leneui. it ts the firal Instance known of one of theseflsh 



penig so near the shore, and » hy it should hate been there at that 



.'eiej.-rvor/eec/owe. A< : K 

 tsD'Mti :■'. »~kp 



, 17 History of British Fishes, ii, p. 148 

 18 Dictionnaire General des Pfiches. 



m mid-ocean, west coast of South America and north to 

 Southern California, lat, Sldeg.j New Zealand, and in the 

 Indian Ocean off Mauritius. Good authorities state that 

 .sperm-whales, though constant! v passing Cape Horn never 

 round the. Cape of Good Hope, "Can tkis'be true inthe'ease of 

 the sword-fisn? 



The_ sail-fish, Mstipphai its gladius (with H, omrricanim and 

 II. one: talis, ipn-s, louabh- species, and II, pulehelllis an 1 H. 

 immaculatns, young), occurs in the Bed Sea, Indian Ocean, 

 Malay Archipelago and soutl, ,,, r as the Cape of 



Good Hope, lat. §o defc .--. : in the e ;ii on -, at Lrn^ii 

 lat. 80 deg. S, to 0, ana norl b to SoUthB i"- ndlat' 



J3de& PT.: inthePacine to Cforthwesfcern Jaean 5t30clM 

 to 10 deg, N. In a general way the m c ;e I said to be 



in tropical and tempera t ■ ■ , | . s. and 40 



deg. N., and in the western parts ,.. i ' 



Ihe bill-ash or spear:-:. /,/,,,,,:,,.„« indiats iwith the 

 various doubtful species mentiotne ;. occurs in the West- 

 em Atlantic from the West indies, lat. 10 deg. to 20 detr 

 N,, to Southern New England, lat 42 deg. N ; in the 

 Eastern Atlantic from Gibraltar, lat. -.". fie™ \~ <-,-, the Cn™ 

 of Good Hope. lat. :io deg S. ; in the clicn n,^. th^Malfr 

 Archipelago, New-Zealand, lat, 40 deg. 8., and on the west 

 coast of Chili and Peru. l„ a ,,; , :.. 



tween lat. 4U deg. 1ST. and let. 40 if -j. 8. 



The species of Tefrupturus which we have been accustomed 



'' ", J -""'"'"' " ' - i Cuba, is not very unusual 



on the coast of Southern .NewLugland. Several are taken 

 every year by the sword-fish fishermen. I have not known 

 ?r - t J he i u ;, captlire ;, i 7 1 V I .= ll "- J Southern Atlamic coast of the 

 United States. Al I have known about were taken between 

 Sandy Hook and tue eastern part- ot Geor-e's Bank 



The Mediterranean spear-tish. Tel rapuCn,* hclone, appeal? 

 to be. a land-locked form, never passing west oi the Straits of 

 Gibraltar. 



STRIPED BASS FOR CALIFORNIA.— Red Bank. July 12 



—Caught, this A. M.. 150 small bass, striped, tor California 

 lush Commission. Have on hand lid, three and a half to five 

 inches m length, all well and hearty. May finish this week. 

 TV hi report.— G. H. Wild. 



Ihe Sennet 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 

 April 3, 4, 5 and fi, 1SS2. Western Pennsylvania Poultry Society'? 

 Fifth Annual Bench Show. !'iit.sbu:-h, I'm. Entries for 'the Bench 

 bhpwJperny.for Enghari setters whelped on ot after March 1,1888, 

 close- December llss-J. Chas,^ - ., Superintendent I. B. 'stay- 

 ton, Secretary, Allegheny c. ; . I . J 



FIELD TttlALS. 



Septemher 4.-National American Kennel Club Field Trials on Prairie 

 Chickens, Fairmont, Minn. Entries for the Derby close July- 1, for the 

 All-aged, Sept, 1. Jos. H. Dew, Columbia, T,-mi.', Secretary. 

 TT ^? v £ u ? bol '. 1 ."-;r- Ea l tern Fi ' ri '' T'-ial-s club Fietl trials on Quail, near 

 High Point A. C. Entries f.,,- lie, Derby close July 1. For the AU- 

 nIw Yo.-k Seer tar* -November l. F. N. Hail. P. O. Bos 884, 



December 4— National Amerieau Kennel Club Fietl Trials on Quail 

 Grand Junction, Tenn. D. Bi-vson. Memphis, Teim. Seeretarv 



December 11— New Orleans itun elm. Field r, | ,}-, ., L i . J;u ] "ripelou- 

 sas, La. Entries close December 11. J. K. Benand, Secretary New 

 Orleans, La. Entries for ihe Club Cup close December 1. 



A ROANOKE 'COON HUNT. 



FOR the special benefit of Mr. Shaw, who advertises in 

 Forest xsv Stream for a 'eoon dog, and to whom I had 

 offered my Logan as a perfect one, 1 \yA\ relate, a hunt I had 

 to-day (June •}]) with Logan and mv pack in substantiation 

 of that character. 



The Roanoke, from Hyde's Island, just above the site of the 

 former Gaston Bridge (which, alas, fell a sacrifice to furies in 

 our late seetional strife/, to Push's Island, a distance of some 



aided i 



ith 



illy 



at the 



> fiom 



a In 

 days, 

 leav- 



te my 

 This 



house, and to indu 

 a 'i.'oou about 

 and off the pack will dash 

 y before I get to it. I have 

 or paddle as the varying 

 necessary in visiting eac-b 



five mih 

 a quarter'ti 



rafts, serving as a most - - - 

 I have kept as a 'coon 

 March I begin to hunt tli 

 I ride to the Roanoke wi 

 iug, however, my hoz - s 

 purpose hollow occasion! 

 admonition is quickly ur 

 to the river, and into it c 

 a canoe in readiness, and 

 character of the water 

 island. 



The hounds swim from island to island, and if a 'coon has 

 even touched one they will uoiify you. 1 then stop my canoe 

 and await results. Every island whl be visited by the most 

 practiced of the pack until the 'coon's quarters" arc found; 

 then the entire pack and huntsman hurry to that point the 

 raft is quickly searched and th on ,, , , . : vbed. In 



most cases he slips our ai m»e tmguard . irafl 



takeswaterandmo.es-.. bh onsidi \. i wn stream, 



a terrible water engagement follows. Ikeep in close prox- 

 imity to prevent the 'coon's drowning anv oi the hounds, for 

 he will scat himself upon their heads, 'sinking them under 

 water, and will keep them there until they are drowned. 

 But this is nor easily aocqrttplished when you have a pack, as 

 he is immediately di.-. -■ . . , - j semie one of it and ihe 

 promised victim relieved". 1 bis scene will be repeated many 

 times before the 'coon is killed or secured, and some half 

 dozen of the pack thus head-ridden will have expeiieneed its 

 effects 



,Je and female together. The 

 he. river for the upland woods, 

 r young, in August she makes 

 yith her entire utter, generally 

 pealed visits 

 I 



viil 



-1 ; 



four, and feed 

 she remains i 



all seasons e>f i 



The, distemp 



I did ne 



After ordinary 



of the lioanoke, and 



e. The male 

 ngth of time, and at 



eoon 

 adcr- 

 took 



•. It 

 it is 

 ery 



.he past winter that this 

 The present hunt was my first, 

 .s heretofore, I rode to the ' banks 

 notice to the pack of the 

 was in pursuit of, by repeated and loud admonitions of 

 about." It was astonishing to see how readily 1 was 

 stood, old lessons recollected, and how eage .-• :. ■- ; , 

 to the water, and that too before 1 could right my car 

 happened a coon had been on the nearest island, whi 

 le They winded from the bank. At all event! 

 practiced hound went earnestly to work, and swam from 

 island to island, searc hin g each diligently. The 'eoon .vent 

 U] the Ro'Ni' he eel i be pack hunted down. Alter a tiuit- 



- ffi - - I h - below, they crossed oherivorand went 



up its southej d bank for halt a mile. At this point 1 supposed 

 the hunt a fruitless one, and called in the pack by a gentle 

 "Hoope. hoope, hoope," and recrossed the river. Every dog 

 understood menu! . .ua. There lay between us and 



the northern shore several islands not hunted over. 



eiioke here is lour hundred or more yards wide, and 

 the first island from the southern bank, the lei II of 

 tance. I could move in the canoe much taster- than the dogs 

 could swim, and did so, reaching an island just above the one 

 alluded to some time in advance of th 

 for the nearest island, Fannie, Miaohiefi Fancy and 

 all went into it and got on the raft and gave no evidence that 



