— — Since my former, I found out the Fifher man, who 
brought that ^W/ar /^^j?? from Sea. i asked all thequeftu 
ons 1 could rbiuk needful eonceroing it. I uuderftood 
frorahira, that he never law nor heard of any but thofe 
few, that were taken by himlelf , which were not above 
fix or feven in all^ and thofe at leveral times, not far from 
the Shoals of Nantucket (which is an Ifland upon the Coaft 
of New England when he wasfiftiing for Cod, and fuch 
like Marchancablc fifli. This Stellar Fi/h^ when it was a- 
live, and firft puird out of the water, was like a basket, 
arid had gathered it felf round like a Wicker-basket , has 
ving taken faft hold upon that bait on the hook 5 which 
he had funk down to the bottom to catch other Fifti, and 
having held that within the furrounding brachia , would 
not let it go^though drawn up into the Veffel ; until by ly* 
ing a while on the Deck , it felt the want of its natural E- 
Iement,and then voluntarily it extended it felf into the flat 
round form 5 in which it appeared when prefented to your 
-view* 
What motion thefe fifties had in the water, could not be 
known to him, for the water was deep^Sc they could not be 
feen in any other form thanfo gather'd up together to hold 
fall the bait. The only ufe that could be dilcern'd of ail 
that curious compofure wherewith Nature had adorned it, 
feems to be, to make it as apurfenet to catch fome other 
fifli or any other thing fit for its food, and as a basket of 
ftore to keep fome of it for future (upply, or as a recepta- 
cle to preferve and defend the young ones of the fame 
kind from fifti of prey ^ if not to feed on them alio 
(which appears probable the one or the other i ) for that 
fometimes there were found pieces of Mackerel within 
that concave : And he told me, that once he caught one, 
which had within the hollow of its embracements a very 
fmall fifli of the fame kind , together with fome piece or 
pieces of an other fifli, which was judged to be of a Mao* 
kereK And that fmall one ('tis like) was kept either for 
its prcfervation or for food to the greater 5 bat being a- 
live, it feems moft likely it was there lodged for fafety, 
except it were accidentally drawn within the net, toge- 
ther 
