BARBADOS-ANTIGUA EXPEDITION 67 
port, but simply to give a few notes regarding some of the more 
striking species that were jotted down by the writer, and his 
son Willis. 
Among the market fish at the time of our visit, the most im- 
portant by far is the flying-fish, which occurs in great abundance 
off the coast of Barbados during the summer months. It is a 
beautiful fish about ten inches long, slender in shape, bright 
blue above and silver-white below. Quite a fleet of flying-fish 
boats had moorings near Pelican Island, and we passed these 
little craft frequently while dredging. These boats are very 
deep for their size and carry more sail than is always safe. The 
competition being severe, the boats first reaching the fishing 
grounds, and then the landing, have here as elsewhere, a decided 
advantage over their rivals. Their most striking pecularity is 
the downward slant of the bowsprit which gives them the ap- 
pearance of constantly sticking their noses under the water. 
The fishermen explain this peculiar rig by saying that it gives 
greater stiffness to the jib-stay, so that it can carry a larger jib 
(which is indeed often of relatively enormous size) and thus in- 
erease the speed of the boat. These craft are often capsized and 
not seldom sunk by the sudden squalls and heavy seas. In this 
event there is relatively little loss of life, as the men are almost 
always good swimmers and can stay up for hours to wait rescue 
by other boats; or they can swim ashore if the distance is not 
too great. They sometimes cruise as much as thirty miles from 
the island, I am told. The method of fishing is peculiar. The 
bait is in small fragments like uncooked hash and is thrown 
in considerable quantities on the surface of the water. If a 
school of flying-fish is in the vicinity, they are sure to discover the 
bait and swarm around it in thousands, when they are caught 
in large scoop-nets sometimes many hundreds or thousands 
being secured in a comparatively short time by a single boat. 
After making a catch, the boat runs to the shore in the short- 
est possible time, and there is great excitement at the landing. 
The fish are ladled into large hampers holding several hun- 
dred each. Then women with immense trays on their heads 
heaped with the beautiful fresh fish, race through the streets at 
a dead run, some of them going several miles to the more distant 
part of the city, crying their wares as they run. Of course the 
