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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. LIII 



It is shaped like an eel, and is no larger. It attacks fish larger than 

 itself, or turtles larger than a shield; it resembles a weasel seizing a 

 pigeon or still larger animal by its throat, and never leaving go until 

 it is dead. Fishermen tie this fish to the side of their barque, holding 

 it with a slender cord. The fish lies at the bottom of the barque, for it 

 ■ must not be exposed to the bright sun, from which it shrinks. 



The most extraordinary thing is that it has at the back of its head a 

 sort of very tough pocket. As soon as the fisherman sees any fish 

 swimming near the barque, he gives the signal for attack and lets go 

 the little cord. Like a dog freed from its leash, the fish descends on its 

 prey and turning its head throws the skin pouch over the neck of the 

 victim, if it is a large fish. On the contrary, if it is a turtle, the fish 

 attaches itself to the place where the turtle protrudes from its shell, and 

 never lets go till the fisherman pulls it with the little cord to the side of 

 the barque. If a large fish has been caught (and the fishermen do not 

 trouble about the small ones), the fishermen fasten stout cords to it and 

 pull it into the air, and at that moment the hunting-fish lets go of its 

 prey. If, on the contrary, a turtle has been caught, the fishermen 



reach of their companions, men the prey is in the barque, the hunt- 



they turn it loose after another fish. I have elsewhere spoken at 

 length concerning the method of training it.'^ The Spaniards call this 



This remarkable story of Martyr's has been repeated 

 by many writers from his day almost to this and espe- 

 cially by the Spanish chroniclers of the early political 

 and natural history of the West Indies. Many of these, 

 however, add to the original story certain details which 

 will be of interest to include herein. 



The first of these is the historian Oviedo, whose 

 ''Sumario" was published but five years (1516) after 

 Mart\'r's "Decades of the Ocean," and whose "Chron- 

 icles ' ' were first published in 1535. My excerpt is taken 

 from the Salamanca edition of 1547, but there is no rea- 

 son to think that this particular account differs from 

 that found in the earlier editions. We will let Oviedo 



- This account does not seem to have been preser\'ed. At any rate it is 



