436 
THE ORDER OF FISHES— RAYS AND SKATES 
Sting Ray in his foot ; and in the Malay Peninsula 
I treated a Malay fisherman whose hand had been 
completely transfixed by the spine of a huge ray. 
STING RAY. 
Fortunately, this abominable creature is averse 
to cold, or even moderately cool waters, and is 
rarely encountered even as far north as Florida. 
On our coast, one may bathe for a lifetime without 
seeing even one; and in all waters they carefully 
avoid crowds of bathers. 
The gigantic creature known as the Devil-Fish 1 
1 Man'ta bi-ros'tris. 
is the largest of all rays, and to many persons, even 
the most truthful accounts of some of its doings 
will seem beyond belief. To begin with, its maxi- 
mum size of twenty feet across its “wings ” is al- 
most incredible. The towing of a good-sized fish- 
ing smack by a harpooned Devil-Fish, going for 
miles at race-horse speed, is another wonder of the 
deep. 
Many years ago, the planters on the coast of 
South Carolina found royal sport in harpooning 
this monster, and conquering it. In a volume en- 
titled “Carolina Sports,” the Hon. William Elliott 
has drawn this picture: “Imagine a monster 
many feet across the back, having powerful flaps 
or wings with which he drives himself furiously 
through the water, or vaults high in the air, his 
horns projecting several feet beyond his mouth!” 
If a Devil-Fish could leap out of water, — which 
there is good reason to suppose that it could do, — - 
it would look as Mr. Beard has represented it in 
his illustration. 
So far as can be learned, large examples of this 
creature are now rarely observed, and still more 
rarely captured. Its centre of abundance now 
appears to be off the Gulf coast of Florida; but 
it is also found on the coast of southern California. 
THE DEVIL-FISH. 
