The Sun.
London, England, 1829-01-08 00:00:00

FISH 11111%;7.-

The Free Presv, BrunsWiek,•
j.,-pic4ps an a!ii:
mated account of an attack- tip&t sr shOid'of blatkr;
fish, seventy or eighty in number, whieh'were'dis'.
covered early on Momhy morning, the 6th ult. near
Harpswi-l!, Me. The I habitants of that place and
vicinity, tiirned Out with muskets, harpoons, axes,
and had rare sport. They had killed several,
when a council of war was held, and a most scien-
tific mode of attack was devised. This was to
drive the flock into a narrow cove on Orr's island,
where the tide would shortly leave them. Ten or
twelve boats flanked the squad, and the main body
Cut off their retreat in the direction of the sea.
Captain John Curtis, of Harpswell, caused his
barge to be rowed alongside of one of the largest of.
dolphins, himself standing with one fnot braced
on the bows of the boat, and the other on the
back of his antagonist. He had taken this position
to make the attempt of splitting open the head
of the fish; but the boat, veering in its course,
placed him in the dilemma of either falling into the
water or springing on the fish's back. He adopted
the latter alternative, and the whole company saw
their gallant captain riding off astride upon the back
of the dolphin. A full quarter of a mile was he
borne along by this new and extraordinary mode of
navigation before he alighted in safety. The speed
with which the captain was carried through the air
would have mocked the far-famed Beqjamin Frank-
fin, or any other steamer that ever floated upon the
water. Captain Curtis did not, however, like
Anion, entertain his dolphin with " harmonious
strains" of godlike music; lie was constantly in-
flicting blows with his axe deeply into the monster's
blubber.

At the basin the remaining population of the
island had collected to witne.is the unprecedented
and astonishing spectacle, and the shouts of merri-
ment made the welkin ring again.

" The timh below en am to and fro,
Attaek'd from every quarter ;
4 Why sure,' thought they, they devil's to pay
liongst folk above the water.' "

As the tide ebbed away the dolphins, in all their
movements, began to drag more or less heavily
through the mud, and it became advisable to find, if
possible, some more expeditious mode of destroying
them. A long knife, it was found, plunged in the
direction of the great blood-vessels, soon exhausted
the fountain of its purple stream, and, so
great were the torrents of blood thus shed,
that the water for sixty rods was of a deep
crimson colour. But all of them were not so easily
to be despatched. One young man, who had
long been engaged unsuccessfully with one of the
largest-sized dolphins, at length got him entangled
in a strong rope, and as he was partly swimming,
and partly dragging himself through the mud, he
dexterously coiled it round a tall cedar, which held
him fast. Another, imitating the example of Cap-
tain Curtis, sprang upon the back of his antagonist,
and, with the design of strangling him, ran with
his fist into his spiracle, or breathing hole, which is
situated on the back, and just at the base of the
skull; but he had scarcely got it well planted there
before a blast from the lungs of the monster ejected
it so suddenly and forcibly, that he believed, until
Le had looked twice to assure himself to the con-
trary, that his fist had actually flown off the handle ;
he lost his presence of mind, and fell into the water,
which was but four or five feet deep, however, and
this enabled him to raise his own spiracle above the
surface of the water, so that he experienced no
other inconvenience from the accident but getting a
thorough wetting. Before sunset all the fish were
despatched. It was truly a day of blood and car-
nage, and it is remarkable that not a single indivi-
dual was injured.
This fish is said to be a species of the dolphin,
called by naturalists deiphinus glebyceps. The late
S.E. gales probably drove them down into these
moorings, which proved any thing but hospitable to
those tenants of the deep. It is thought that about
70 barrels of oil might be made from them, worth
700 to 1,4400 dollars. One of the dolphins had a
harpoon in his carcase, which appeared to have been
there a great length of time. The law of the chase
was, that every one should have what ho could kill,
or catch and secure.