Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

are shaking themselves free of their brown sheaths with surprising quickness. The fountain too sparkles merrily in the sunshine, and seems to be calling for its playfellows, the gold-fish, to disport themselves in its basin.

Clémence stands waiting in the middle of the court-yard; her mourning dress looks sad in contrast to the brightness overhead, but there is no sorrow in her sweet earnest dark eyes.

Every now and then they are turned to the arched passage with an expectant look in them.

She is not looking at Eulalie, who stands outside the window of the little sittingroom, with her arms akimbo, chatting with Madame de Vos. The cook of the "Ours d'Or" has evidently softened toward the visitor; she is actually instructing her at this moment on the best method of cooking chaffinches.

A sound of wheels at last rattling over the round stones of the Place, Eulalie retreats precipitately into her kitchen. It does not comport with her self-respect, that her master should find her chatting with her old foe. Madame de Vos too shuts

down the window to keep up her character as an invalid.

Clémence has gone to meet her father under the archway; he draws her hand fondly within his arm, and they come back together into the court-yard.

Clémence looks full of expectation.

"It is all right," Monsieur smiles down into her questioning eyes. "I had a long talk with Louis and also with Rosalie. They seem very happy. The most hopeful sign about her is her loving gratitude to thee, Clémence: she says, if she is happy in this new life with Louis, she owes it all to thy unselfish love."

66

'Hush, my father;" but Clémence's soft eyes are full of tears.

"I am not afraid of spoiling thee, my darling," he kisses her forehead, "but I should like to know thy secret, Clémence; it could have been no easy matter to win poor froward Rosalie to feel as she now feels-that a wife is made for a husband, not a husband for a wife."

"I have no secret," laughs Clémence, softly; "I only love Rosalie dearly, and I think she believes it now."

[From St. Paul's Magazine.

CLEVER FISHES.

BY FRANCIS FRANCIS.

WHETHER We owe many of the matters we are about to glance at to fishes or no, it is certain that the fishes possessed them long before we did, and though man may be said to have invented them, yet in his savage state he must have taken more or less of hints from nature, and have adopt ed the methods which nature pointed out to him as the most effective in hunting or war (which were his principal occupations) whenever they could be adapted to his needs and appliances. However this may be, it is certainly singular that we should find so many existing similarities of a peculiar kind between the habits and attributes of men and fishes. For example, there is scarcely a sport we practice or a weapon of offense that we use which has not a parallel among fishes. As to weapons-daggers, spears, swords, are all possessed by fish in a very high state of natural perfection, and even guns have a representative institution among fishes. Shooting Fish would no doubt be looked

A

upon almost as a lusus naturæ by the average Englishman, who rarely includes ichthyology amongst his studies-a fact which is very much to be lamented, for we have large national interests bound up in that science; in fact, we owe a great deal more to fishes than any other nation, not even excluding the Dutch, some of whose cities were formerly figuratively described as built on fish-bones, and a professorial chair of Ichthyology at the universities would be by no means an unwise institution. It is not many years since that a review which was published in an influential paper, dealing, amongst other things, with this special point, contemptuously dismissed the fact of there being such a thing as a shooting fish as a traveler's tale. The ignorance amongst the general public on every thing relating to fish is at times perfectly surprising. have seen small worthless bass passed off as gray mullet; I have seen even nasty gravid pond roach hawked about as gray mullet; I have seen large bass actually

I

sold for salmon at one of our fashionable watering places. After this, if the Londoner constantly buys coarse, dry, tasteless buil-trout as fine Tay salmon, it is not to be wondered at. The Eton boy hastening home for the holidays provides himself with a tin tube and a pocketful of peas. We beg the present Etonian's pardon; we should have said he used to do so formerly, when there were boys at Eton, and, backed by some skill as a marksman, therewith constituted himself an intolerable nuisance to every village and vehicle he passed on his road home. The Macoushee Indian makes a better use of his blow-tube; he puffs small arrows and hardened balls of clay through it with unerring aim, doing great execution amongst birds and other small game. Now the Chaetodon, (Chatodon rostratus,) which is more or less a native of the eastern seas from Ceylon to Japan, rather perhaps resembles the Macoushee Indian than the Eton boy, though his gun, shooting tube, or blow-pipe, or whatever it may be termed, is a natural one. His nose is really a kind of " beak," through which he has the power of propelling a small drop of water with some force and considerable accuracy of aim. Near the edge of the water is perhaps a spray of weed, a twig, or a tuft of grass; on it sits a fly, making its toilet in the watery mirror below. Rostratus advances cautiously under the fly; then he stealthily projects his tube from the water, takes a deadly aim, as though he were contesting for some piscatory Elcho shield, and pop goes the watery

bullet.

Poor insect, what a little day of sunny bliss is thine!

Knocked over by the treacherous missile, drenched, stunned, half-drowned, she drops from her perch into the waters below, to be sucked in by the Chaetodon. But if we have fishes who can shoot their game, we have also fishes who can fish for it; ay, and fish for it with rod and line and bait as deftly as ever angler coaxed gudgeons from the ooze of the New River or salmon from the flashing torrent of the Spey. Witness this clumsy-looking monster the Fishing Frog (Lophius piscatorius.) Frightful and hideous is he according to our vulgar notions of loveliness, which the Lophius possibly might disagree with. The beast is sometimes five or six feet in length, with an enormous head in proportion to the rest

of its body, and with huge sacks like bagnets attached to its gill-covers, in which it stows its victims; and what a cavernous mouth! Surely a fish so repulsive and with a capacity so vast and apparently omnivorous, would frighten from its neighborhood all other fish, and would, if its powers of locomotion were in accordance with its size, be the terror of the seas to fish smaller than itself; but Providence knoweth how to temper its gifts, and the Lophius is but an indifferent swimmer, and is too clumsy to support a predatory existence by the fleetest of its motions. How, then, is this huge capacity satisfied? Mark those two elongated tentacles which spring from the creature's nose, and how they taper away like veritable fishing rods. To the end of them is attached by a line or a slender filament a small glittering morsel of membrane. This is the bait. The hooks are set in the mouth of the fisherman down below. But how is the animal to induce the fish to venture within reach of those formidable hooks? Now mark this perfect feat of angling. How does the Thames fisherman attract the gudgeons? They are shy; he must not let them see him, yet he must draw them to him, and he does it by stirring up the mud upon the bottom. "In that cloud of mud is food," say the gudgeons. Then the angler plies his rod and bait. Just so the Lophius proceeds, and he too stirs up the mud with his fins and tail. This serves not only to hide him, but to attract the fish. Then he plies his rod, and the glittering bait waves to and fro like a living insect glancing through the turbid water. The gudgeons, or rather gobies, rush toward it. "Beware! beware!" But when did gudgeon attend to warning yet? Suddenly up rises the cavernous Nemesis from the cloud below, and "snap:" the gobies are entombed in the bag-net, thence to be transferred to the Lophius's stomach, when there are enough of them collected to form a satisfactory mouthful.

But we have still other sportsmen fish; we have fish who hunt their prey singly, or in pairs, or even in packs, like hounds. The reader, possibly, has never witnessed a skäll in Scandinavia. It is a species of hunt in which a number of sportsmen take in a wide space of ground, where game exists, drawing a cordon around it, and narrowing their circle little by little, and driving the game together into a flock,

There was

when they shoot them down. some years ago a capital description of porpoises making a skäll upon sand-eels, written by the late Mr. James Lowe, sometime editor of the Critic and "Chronicler" of the Field, who saw the sight while fishing near the Channel Islands with Peter le Nowry, the pilot. Having searched for this passage several times, without being able to find it, I am reluctantly compelled to quote from memory. They were fishing off Guernsey, when Mr. Lowe called Peter's attention to several porpoises, which seemed to be engaged in a water frolic, swimming after one another in a .circle. "That is no frolic, but very sober earnest for the sand-eels," said Peter. "Now," he continued, "I will show you a sight which I have only chanced to see two or three times in my life, and you therefore are very lucky to have the opportunity of seeing it at all. There is a great shoal of sand-eels yonder, and the porpoises are driving them into a mass; for, you see, the sand-eel is only a very small morsel for a porpoise, and to pick them up one by one would not suit Mr. Porpoise, who would get hungry again by the time he had done feeding on them singly; so they drive them into a thick crowd, in order that when they make a dash at them they may get a dozen or two at a mouthful. But, as we want some for bait, we will join in the hunt." And they edged down to the spot till they were within the circle. The porpoises, following one another pretty closely, were swimming round, now rising to the surface, now diving below, and gradually contracting the circle. The terrified sand-eels were driven closer and closer, and in their fear came to the surface all about the boat; and just as two or three porpoises made a dash into the crowd, snapping right and left, the fishermen plunged their nets into the water, and brought them up quite full of these little fish. Of course the shoal soon broke up and dispersed, but the skill with which the skäll was conducted and the beauty of the sight were much dilated on by Mr. Lowe, and it must have been a very interesting one.

There are many fish which hunt their prey singly, as the pike and trout, and the way in which a large pike or trout will course and run down a smaller fish resembles nothing so much as a greyhound coursing a hare. Now the unhappy little fish turns from side to side in its efforts to

escape, while its pursuer bends and turns to every motion, following close upon his track, and cutting him off exactly as a greyhound does a hare. Now he rushes among a shoal of his fellows, hoping to be lost sight of in the crowd and confusion; but the grim foe behind is not to be baffled or deceived, and singling him out and scattering the small fry, which fly in all directions, ruffling the surface of the water like a sudden squall of wind in their fright, follows up his victim with unerring instinct. In an agony of terror the poor little quarry springs again and again frantically from the water, only to fall at last exhausted into the gaping jaws of his ravenous foe, who, gripping his body crosswise in his mouth, sails steadily away to his lair, there to devour his prey at leisure. Other fish hunt their food like dogs or wolves in packs, as does the bonito chase the flyingfish, and one perhaps of the fiercest, most savage, and resolute of these is the Piräi, of South America. So fierce and savage are these little pirates, when their size and apparent capability is taken into consideration, that their feats of destructiveness are little short of the marvelous. Stand forth, then, "piräi" of the Carib, "black sawbellied salmon" (Serra salmo niger) of Schomburgk; so called, doubtless, from the possession of the peculiar adipose fin, common only to the salmon tribe, though in no other respect does it resemble a salmon, there being positive structural differences between the species. Let us take the portrait of this fish. Doubtless the reader figures to himself a fish of "a lean and hungry look," a very Cassius of a fish, with the lanthorn jaws of a pike. But, in fact, the piräi is somewhat aldermanic and like a bream in figure, with a fighting-looking kind of nose, and a wondrously expressive eye-cold, cruel, and insatiable, and like to that of an old Jew bill discounter when scrutinizing doubtful paper. There is 70 or 80 per cent in that eye at the very least, and ruin to widows and orphans unnumbered if they come in its way. If it were a human eye, the owner would be bound sooner or later to figure at execu tion dock. The jaw is square, powerful, and locked into a very large head for the size of the fish; and that is a fat, plump head too, but radiated over with strong bone and gristle. The teeth-ah! they would condemn him anywhere, for here is a fish sixteen inches long, with the teeth

almost of a shark. Schomburgk speaks thus of its destructive power:

"This voracious fish is found plentifully in all the rivers in Guiana, and is dreaded by every other inhabitant or visitant of the river. Their jaws are so strong that they are able to bite off a man's finger or toe. They attack fish of ten-times their own weight, and devour all but the head. They begin with the tail, and the fish, being left without the chief organ of motion, is devoured with ease, several going to participate of the meal. Indeed, there is scarcely any animal which it will not attack, man not excepted. Large alligators which have been wounded on the tail afford a fair chance of satisfying their hunger, and even the toes of this formidable animal are not free from their attacks. The feet of ducks and geese, where they are kept, are almost invariably cut off, and young ones devoured altogether. In these places it is not safe to bathe, or even to wash clothes, many cases having occurred of fingers and toes being cut off by them."

Schomburgk then relates astonishing instances of their voracity, in which the toes of the river Cavia are eaten off; a large sun-fish devoured alive; ducks and geese deprived of their feet and walking on the stumps. Of course the lines which are used to capture them have to be armed with metal to prevent their being cut through. Their voracity is marvelous, and any bait will attract them the instant it is thrown into the water. Precaution is necessary, however, when the fish is lifted out of the water, or it will inflict serious wounds in its struggles. The fisherman therefore has a small bludgeon ready, with which he breaks their skulls as soon as they are caught.

Thus, there are fish which shoot their prey, which fish for it, which course it and hunt it, in various ways. There are others which employ other fishes to hunt it up for them, as we use pointers and setters; such as the little Pilot-fish, which leads the huge shark to his prey; though this has been disputed, because the pilot-fish has been known to follow and play about a vessel just as it does usually about the body of a shark. The probability is that the pilot-fish is a species of parasite or diner-out, who will make particular friends with any big person who will feed him, and no doubt would find food in the refuse cast from a vessel, even as he would from

the fragments torn off by the shark when feeding on any large body. Doubtless, too, there is a certain amount of protection obtained from consorting with monsters against other predacious fish. The fact of the pilot-fish conducting the shark to his prey has been disputed, but veritable instances related by eye-witnesses leave no doubt that at times it does fulfill this office for the shark. Nor is there any thing singular in the fact. The pilot-fish is on the look-out for his own dinner probably, but will not venture on it until his protector has helped himself. We have numerous instances of this both in human and beastlife.

In weapons of offense, besides the shooting apparatus already mentioned, fish have, first, the sword. This is represented by the blade of the Sword-fish (Xiphias gladius.) This fish possesses a tremendously powerful weapon, backed as it is by the great weight and impetus which it can bring to bear upon its thrusts. Many instances have been known in which the bottoms of ships have been pierced through by the sword of the Xiphias. Ships sailing quietly along have received a shock as if they had touched a rock, and when they have been examined after the voyage, the broken blade of the fish has been found sticking in the ship's side. In the United Service Museum there is, or was formerly, a specimen of the sword-fish's handiwork in this respect. A portion of the weapon is shown sticking into the timbers of a ship, having pierced the sheathing and planking and buried itself deeply in the stout oak knee-timber of the vessel. Xiphias would, however, be terribly bothered with the change in naval architecture; and we are inclined to wonder what he would make of an iron-clad. Perhaps a little rough experience in this direction may make him more chary of indulging naughty tempers, and he may be taught quâ Doctor Watts that, like little children, he "should not let his angry passions rise." If so, the cause of humanity will be strongly pleaded by the iron-clads, and the poor, clumsy, harmless whale will be the gainer. The Xiphias frequently weighs five or six hundred pounds in weight. The rapidity with which it can cut through the water is very great. It is a great enemy to the whale, and it is generally surmised that it mistakes a ship sailing through the water for a whale, and dashes at it with indis

criminating rage, often breaking and losing its sword by its blind fury. Persons bathing have not always been entirely safe from this fish, but have been stabbed to death by the Xiphias. One instance of this occurred in the Bristol Channel, near the mouth of the Severn, in which a small fish of some seventy or eighty pounds weight was the malefactor. They abound in the Mediterranean, and a hunt after, with the harpooning and slaying of the Xiphias, is usually a work of time and much excitement. Akin to the sword-fish in their offensive capabilities are the Saw fishes, though their weapons resemble rather such as are used by certain savage tribes than civilized saws. Nor does the word "saw" correctly describe them. They are terrible weapons, however, and the Indians who edge their spears with shark's teeth almost reproduce artificially the weapon of the saw-fish. The largest of them, Pristis antiquorum, is commonly found to grow to the length of fifteen or sixteen feet. The elongated snout is set upon either side with sharp spikes, thickly dispersed, and somewhat resembling the teeth of the shark. It forms a most fearful weapon, as the poor whale has good reason to know, to whom it is also a deadly enemy. There are several members of the saw-fish tribe; one of the most peculiar is the Pristis cirratus, or Cirrated Saw-fish, of New South Wales. In the saw of this fish the teeth are irregular, one long and three short ones being placed alternately.

The weapon of the Narwhal-which by the by is not strictly a fish, but a member of the Cetacea found chiefly in the Arctic seas-is the most perfect specimen of a very complete and efficient spear, being composed of the hardest ivory and tapering gradually to a point. But what the special purpose of this spear is, is not known; whether it is used as a means of attack upon its enemies, or to secure its prey, or whether it is a mere implement for digging a passage through opposing ice-floes, as is often supposed, we can but conjecture. It is a very singular fact that the spear of the narwhal is always situated on one side of the nose, chiefly the left; it does not project from the middle of the head it is no long snout or horn,* but an

These spears were brought home formerly and imposed upon the credulous as the horn of the unicorn.

elongated tooth or tusk. The narwhal, when young, has the germs of but three teeth. Sometimes two of these become developed and grow out spiked tusks, pointing in divergent directions; oftener, however, but one is the mature result. Whatever the use of this formidable spear may be, we know that it is very excellent and valuable ivory; but for any minute information as to the natural history of the animal itself, we should have to rely chiefly upon the knowledge of the Kamschatkans, which amounts to little more than that it is good eating, produces much oil, and is possessed of a valuable tooth.

Of daggers various we have many specimens, more particularly amongst the family of the Raiidæ ;† and fearful weapons they are, some of them being serrated or barbed, and capable of inflicting terrible lacerated wounds. In most of these fish the dagger, or spine, is situated on and some way down the elongated tail; and as the animal has great muscular power in the tail, and is able to whirl it about in any direction it may desire, it not unfrequently deals forth most savage retribution to its captors. It knows full well, too, how to direct its aim, and it is told of some of the members of this family that if a hand, or even a finger, be laid upon the fish, it can, by a single turn of the tail, transfix with its spine the offending member. So dangerous are the consequences of these wounds, that it is customary (and in France and Italy it is made compulsory by law on the fishermen) to cut off the tails above the spines of the fish thus armed before they are brought to market; and in this way almost the only specimen of the Eagle Ray (Myliobatis aquila) ever captured alive in this country was mutilated; so that the

+ There are three species of rays in this coun

try which have these weapons-the Sting Ray, the Eagle Ray, and the Horned Ray.

This fish was captured at Ramsgate some years ago and sent to me; it was 18 inches long, exclusive of the tail, which was missing, and about 24 feet broad. Previous to this the tail of one

was examined by Pennant, and a small one was found dead off Berwick by Dr. Johnson, but no living specimen had been captured. Since this other one was caught and attracted a good deal of was penned, however, but a few months ago, annotice. This fish was taken off the Devonshire coast, and was about the same size, or a trifle larger, than mine. It was preserved in the Exeter Museum, where it now is. Mr. Buckland very kindly sent me an excellent photograph of the fish. The colors appear to have been most brilliant.

« AnteriorContinuar »