18 
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM JOURNAL. 
are brought within sight of each other, or if 
one sees his image in a looking glass, the little 
creature becomes suddenly excited, the raised 
fins and whole body shine with metallic colors 
of dazzling beauty, while the projecting gill 
membrane, waving like a frill around its throat, 
adds something grotesque to the general ap¬ 
pearance. In this state of irritation it makes 
repeated darts at its real or reflected antagonist. 
The Siamese are as infatuated wi f h their com¬ 
bats as are the Malays with their cock fights, 
and stake large sums, and even their liberty and 
family upon the issue. The license to exhibit 
these fish fights is “favored” and yields a large 
revenue to the crown. The Bearded Drum Fish 
has probably caused more noise in the world than 
any of its associates. Queer, muffled, “boom”- 
like sounds are frequently heard rising from our 
northern waters, and upon placing the ear near 
the surface it appears to come from four or five 
different locations, so peculiar is the conducting- 
power of the water. Now it will come softly 
and gradually increase, and eventually burst out 
in a loud “boom, boom." The originator of 
the queer sounds is the above-mentioned fish, 
and the supposition is that the strange sounds 
are produced in the fishes’ efforts to beat off the 
parasites that infest it. 
Another faithiul satellite of Euterpe is per¬ 
sonified in the noisy Maigre. It makes a strange 
cooing noise that can be heard at a depth of 
twenty-five feet. The name of C’yro is given to 
one genus of this fish by the Italians, from the 
croaking noise they produce. In Central Amer¬ 
ica they are known as the Elroncador, from the 
same reason, and in the Mediterranean Sea the 
bell-like sounds are laid at its door, while oth¬ 
ers believe they are produced by a shell moflus- 
men, and people have been unable to sleep on 
board vessels, from the notes of this aquatic 
drummer. This fact is mentioned by Schoepff, 
in the Berlin transactions. Lieut. John White 
mentions, in the narrative of his' voyage to Chi¬ 
na published in 1824, that when his ship was 
anchored in the mouth of the river Camboya, 
the crew were amazed at the strange sounds that 
arose from the water, resembling the bass of an 
organ, mingled with the tones of a bell, the 
croaking of an enormous frog, and the clang of 
an immense harp. The sounds swelled into a 
general chorus on both sides of the ship, and 
were attributed bv the interpreter to a ‘■Scull” fish. 
No wonder the people of olden time believed 
in the “silvery notes” of the mermaid. Baron 
Humboldt mentions a similar occurrence which 
he witnessed in the South Sea. 
“About seven o’clock in the evening the 
sailors were terrified by an extraordinary noise in 
the air like the beating of tamborines, followed 
by sounds which seemed to come from the ship 
and resembled the escape of air from a boiling 
fluid. ” Such is this strange creature, and one is 
almost led to believe that a fish language awaits 
the “ linguist of the future. ” I have often caught 
at Key West a fish called from its noisy prof^Hi- 
ties the Grunt, and they evidently do credit to an 
old porker. I shall never forget the first one I 
captured ; thinking my bait was non est, I pulled 
in and found to my astonishment a Grunt fairly- 
hooked. He seemed to know that he was in a 
bad fix and intended making the best of it, as he 
made not the slightest jump—but no sooner had 
I laid him on the wharf than he commenced 
grunting and groaning in such a pathetic and 
mournful manner, that in a few moments he 
had completely won my sympathies and I tossed 
him back, and with a grunt and a splash he 
went on his way rejoicing. 
Numerous of other forms could be men¬ 
tioned showing the wondrous capacity of the 
great sea—that teems with life from huge forms 
down to the mite that is, born, reproduces mil¬ 
lions, and dies in an hour in one drop of water. 
C. F. HOLDER. 
A FISH HUNT. 
The Geographical Magazine gives the follow¬ 
ing interesting account of a Fish Hunt off the 
Ftero Islands ■: 
The most profitable fishery of the Fsero Island¬ 
ers is that kind of large dolphin, called by them 
grind-hval (Delphinus globiceps), and by the En¬ 
glish “bottle nose.” The Scotch, Dr. Brown 
tells us, call it the “ caaing whale,” caa signify¬ 
ing to drive, from the ordinaiy method of cap¬ 
ture being by driving them on shore. The 
head of this cetacean is short, thick, and nearly 
globe-shaped. The body is long, of a black 
color on the back and sides, with the belly 
marked by a white line. The Delphinus globi¬ 
ceps habitually comes to the Faero Islands during 
the spring and autumn, generally when it is 
misty and drizzling, which kind of weather the 
Faero Islanders called grindemorke or grindtveir. 
This fishery is a veritable blessing to the Is¬ 
landers. Part of the blubber is salted for do¬ 
mestic use,' but most of it is destined for the 
manufacture of oil. The flesh is eaten salted, 
well dried, or fresh. It is tougher than beef. 
The bladders are made into straps for the thole 
pins in the gunwales of boats, and many other 
parts ot the animal are utilized. In their ordi¬ 
nary conversation the islanders call a single Del- 
phinus globiceps a hval (whale), while a school of 
them is called grind. 
When a boat of fishermen sights 
the open sea a sailor’s jacket is hoisted at the 
a grind on 
of a bay in which, when the grind has been 
hunted, the boats can easily surround and har¬ 
poon them. Part of the population staid on 
shore, and assembled at a spot where they could 
have a clear view over the sea. 
At first a drizzling mist obscured the view, but 
towards 9 a. m. the sky cleared, and there was 
no sign of the grind. The general opinion was 
that it would not be reached before noon. The 
tide did not turn before n, and the chase ought 
not to be begun until the current is in its favor. 
Towards n a. m., to the great joy of the eager 
throng of spectators, three boats came in sight, 
and soon afterwards fourteen were counted, but 
it could not be made out whether they were ac¬ 
tually chasing the grind. They appeared, how¬ 
ever, to be ranged in a semi-circle, and conse¬ 
quently occupied in the chase, and a moment 
afterwards a line of foam was "discovered in front 
of the boats, which resembled the meeting of two 
tides. It was the grind. The rapidity of their 
movements, and the constant blowing of these 
cetaceans, caused the line of loam. 
The boats had begun to assemble near the 
grind soon after dawn, and it was decided that 
Midvaag would be the most convenient place to 
make lor. It was necessary to surround the 
grind while the tide was ebbing. With the turn 
of the tide the chase commenced. The boats 
were ranged in a semi-circle, propelled by oars, 
and steered in accordance with the directions of 
the harpooners. The animals, to avoid the 
boats, keep in front. As the water shallows, all 
possible precautions are taken to' prevent their 
escape to the open sea. 
Soon after noon the entire grind, followed by 
71 boats, manned by 670 seamen, entered the 
Bay of Midvaag, which is surrounded by high 
mountains. First came the cetaceans, followed 
sight hasten to assemble near the grind and range 
round it, to prevent its escape before a large 
number of boats has come up, in order that the 
chase may be conducted with the necessary cer¬ 
tainty and energy. Sometimes the grind is very 
wild, which makes the chase difficult. It occa¬ 
sionally happens that the fishers pursue the grind 
for several days, surrounding it many times, and 
yet, notwithstanding all their patience and toil, 
they are obliged to abandon it. It occurs, not 
unlfequently, that the grind is first sighted, blow¬ 
ing in the offing, from the top of a cliff. If 
this is on a part of the coast where the 
boats cannot be seen, the news is sent to the 
nearest village, messengers carry it from village 
to village, and long before they arrive their cries 
of “ Grindebo! Grindebo!” arouse the whole 
population. Every man capable of handling 
an oar runs to the boats, some armed with knives 
and harpoons. The knife is long, with a large 
steel blade, and is suspended to the waist-belt 
in a leathern sheath. The harpoon consists of 
a blade of two edges, about three inches wide 
and twelve to fourteen long, with a handle eight 
or ten feet long, attached to a line in the boat. 
In a few moments the boats are ready to hurry 
to the chase. The are manned by ten oarsmen 
and a coxswain. 
Admiral Irminger describes one of these grind 
hunts in which he himself took part. It was in 
1844 that he found himself at the village of Mid¬ 
vaag, in the Island of Vaagoe. At five in the 
morning of the 29th of June he was aroused by 
the cries of “ Grindebo! Grindebo!” It was a 
perfect grind day, that is to say with a cloudy 
and misty sky. The grind had been seen at 
three in the morning by a fishing boat about 
twelve miles south of Vaagoe. An extraordina¬ 
ry commotion agitated thewillage. The boats 
were ready almost in a moment, and soon after 
they were out of sight. The village of Mid¬ 
vaag was selected, with reference to the direction 
of the wind, as the point at which the drub (kill¬ 
ing), as the Faero Islanders call it, should take 
place. Midvaag is situated on a coast which 
rises gradually from the sea, and at the bottom 
hoisted the jacket as signal. Pursued and pur¬ 
suers flew over the sea with the rapidity of an 
arrow, the sailors pulling at their oars as if then- 
lives depended on the result. 
Notwithstanding the fine weather the sea was 
violently agitated, not by the wind, but by the 
rapid movements of the terrified animals, and 
their blowing caused a deafening noise. The 
excitement was intense. As soon as the grind 
was about 400 yards from the bottom ol the bay, 
the harpooners in the bows of the foremost boats 
began to lance their harpoons. Soon the foam¬ 
ing waters were reddened with blood. The 
slaughter soon became general, the harpoons 
flew about on all sides. Here a wounded ani¬ 
mal sprang furiously into the air, the troubled 
waters crimson with its blood. There a whole 
troop rushed blindly against the boats. In two 
and a half hours after they entered the bay, two 
hundred and forty-nine cetaceans were dead 
upon the beach, the largest being twenty feet 
long. A day or two atter the hunt the dead 
bodies of some of the victims appear on the sur¬ 
face of the sea, being those that had been killed 
in deep water. These are called driv-hvaler or 
floating whales. 
The slaughter over, the boats return and the 
men rest from their fatiguing work. Many have 
pulled thirty-two miles from the place where they 
received news of the discovery of the grind, 
showing not only the rapidity with which the 
news spread, but also the energy of these brave 
people. Five hours after noon the ebb com¬ 
menced, and the carcases were left high and dry. 
Then the division was made according to estab¬ 
lished rules. The largest share belongs to the 
boat that hoisted the signal, and the head and 
the fattest part of the animal are the recompense 
of the man who first sighted the grind. The 
division finished, the boats return each to its own 
village, well laden with flesh and blubber. The 
flesh is cut into long strips, and hung up to dry ; 
and having separated the. blubber destined for 
domestic use, the rest is boiled. A barrel of oil 
is obtained from each animal. 
