12 
TRINIDAD. 
rapid swimmers may make a variety in the cabin fare. 
At length, after much excitement, and many attempts 
(for dolphins are difficult to strike), one is exidtingly 
hauled on deck, and there he astonishes the landsmen 
by the variety and beauty of the shades of colour he 
assumes as he dies gasj)ing for breath. Poor fish ! — he 
is deprived of the only atmosphere he can breathe in, 
and he must die. 
Besides the excitement created by dolphins and por- 
poises, a shark following in the ship’s wake, showing 
his dorsal fin, or a number of fiymg-fishes, help to en- 
liven one on ship-board. The flying-fish is a veiy 
pretty little fish in itself, graceful in its flight on the 
surface of the waters, and most delicate in its flavour. 
They sometimes fly on board, generally at night, at- 
tracted by the ship’s lights, and in this way a few were 
obtained as a relish for one or two mornings. At our 
request, one of the officers rigged a sail in a scoop-like 
shape, and placed a light in it over the ship’s side, to 
see if we could not induce some of these sweet little 
fl3dng-fish to enter our net. But, though vjc were un- 
successful, it is by the aid of a light that large numbers 
of them are caught off the Island of Barbadoes. They 
do not fly so far south as Trinidad ; so though we have 
plenty of fine fish, we have none that fly. It is thought 
incredible with some, that fish fly. WeU, hi the proper 
sense of the term, they don’t fly ; yet through the aid 
of a pair of very wide-spreading fins, in proportion to 
their size, they shoot through the air swiftly for a him- 
