The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-11-15
Ne " BOOKS.

dents Of DgrG Fislag, ,id Cat Deet, a@d Beq2Aani,
with six Illustrations. New Ork Derby Jackson Il9
Nassau street. 1889
Destroying one another is certainly the most fas-
cinating employment of men, and killing infe-
rior animals probably takes the second rank
Books war and every species of combat ARE favor
tie reading, even for the most peaceful and works
on what termed Tablespoons are extremely pop
uar, with those who could not for their souls
tell whether powder or shot comes first in the
order of loading lFestly Richards. We do not pro-
pose to speculate the amiabe instincts thus
shown to exist in the human breast and aude to
them here only to say that this book offers them
new sensation, or rather new subject for the old
sensation. We mean 'Dcvil-Fshing"- piece
de resistance of this little bundle Of sprightly
sketches. 1t is true the author boasts of having
bagged brace of bears at single fire; also
brace Of deer ALSO when siXtv-fye years of age, of
doing his best Notwithstanding over tFrty-tbrce
birds, parridges, pheasants and woodc0cks, sue
cessively, without miss. Still all this is part luck
and part leger de-mGin-fcats that have been equal
and game that has been hunted time out of mind
But III taking the Devil-fsh, Mr. Elliott occu-
pies the rank ola discover Of entirely prov
ince inthe regions of aquaticspOrts. "Do you know
"gentle reader, what devil-fsh is? Perhaps you
never one, even in museum. Imagine. then,
ga monster measuring from sixteen to twenty feet
"across the back. full three feet in depth having
powerful yet flexible flaps or wings with which
che drives himself furiously through the water or
''vaults high into the air; his feelers commonly
"called hOrnsI projecting several feet beyond his
''mouth and padding all the small fry that consti-
cute his food into that enormous receiver This
elegant monster is also provided with a tail--not
unlike, mog'" compoRere paris, that Of rat. his
antenna are tmbrated, Or fingered, at the extremi-
ties, and with them he is enabled to lay hold of OBJ
iects with strength and tcnaciy altogether fright
full. He has been known to seize the cable of era
of considerable size, lying moored, and move off
with both vessel and anchor to the CONSERVATION of
the crew. On one occasion our author had terri
bic experience of his power. He had harpOoned
one, and after drawing him alongside was endea-
vOring to despatch him. earning myself with a
"large knife, passed my over the gunwalc of
''the boat and began to strike him with this new
'weapon. Suddenly my hand was paralyzed, and
"the reader will understand my feelings when.
Choking into the water, found that the devil-fsh
chad seized my arm with one of his feelcrs, and
oppressed it powerless against his body. 'He has
''bound me to his fate. \ worse fate than Mazep-
''pas will be mine if he breaks loose again For
"arm and if he runs again for the bottom
''my life goes with him. How long then
''seemed to me those few brief moments of IN
Certainty; but they are past-his force is
exhausted, his hold on me relaxes, and in his
every death-struggle my arm again is free |
"took my seat with sobered feelings, thinking by
chow a chance the pursurer had escaped
''the fate of his victm!'' This fish annually visits
no b1v If vrba
acquaintance, in the months from May till August.
1t is described by naturaIists of the genus Raw:
species. dio-don. On account Of the extraordinary
and bat-like structure ofiIs wings, DR.. Mitchell
APPLY terms it the "'vampire of the ocean" This
leviathan is only to be taken with the harpoon.
and make room for the authors extremely
spirited description of his first attempt to kill
deyitfish. After describing his preparations, which
were rather hasty and incomplete, he proceeds:
The place of harpooner | had not the generosity
to yield to any one; so ] planted myself on the
fOrecastie, my left leg advanced, nv right sup
ported By the clete, my harpoon poised, and three
fathOms of rope lying loose on the thwart behind
me. The interest of the moment was intense; nv
heart throbbed audiby, and | scarcely breathed
while expecting him to emerge from the spot vet
rppled by hi1 wake. The water was ten fathoms
deep but turbid that could not see six inches
beneath the surface. We had small cbanca of
striking him while his visits to the surface were so
sudden and so brief. ''There he is behind us!"-
''Starn alf'-and our oarsmen, as before instruct
ed backed with all their might. Before we reach.
ed the spot he was gone; but soon reappeared on
our right, whisking round us with great velocity
and with a movement singularly eccentric. He
crossed the bow-his wing only is visible-on which
SIDE Is his body? | hurled down my harpoon with
all my force. After the lapse of few seconds the
stan came bounding up from below to show me
that had missed. In the twinklng of an eve.
the fish flung himself on his back, darted under the
hnnf l1l., 1H,A
Tom elapped his unarmed hands with dis9ppoint-
ment as the fish swept by him where he stood on
the platform, so near that he might have pierced
him with A sword! And now the fish came wan
toning about us-taking no note of our presence
circing round us, with amazing rapiditv. vet
showing nothing but the tip of his wing We
dashed at him whenever he appeared, but he
changed position so quickly, that we were ALWAYS
too late. Suddenly his broad black back was lifted
above the water directly before our bow. "For-
ward!' the oarsmen bend to the stroke, but before
we could gain distance, his tail flies up, and he
Is plunglng downward for his depths. | could not
resist pitched my harpoon, from the distance of
iull thirty feet. 1t went whizzing through the
air, and cleaved the water Just beneath the spot
where the fish had disappeared. Nv COMPANIONS
IN our consort (who had now approached within
fifty YARDS observed the staff culver for q second
before it disappeared beneath the surface of tho
water. This was unobserved by myself and was
drawing in my line to prepare for new throw,
when no! the line stopped short! as il noss;bJa9
the line from the bow-a joyful shout bursts from
our crew-Our cOnsort is dashed to our stern-E
and c. spring aboard-and here we go! driven bv
this most diabolical of locomotives
Thirty fathoms are run out, and venture turn
round the stem. The harpoon holds, and he leads
CALAMITY off for Middle Bank-the two beats in
tow. de pushed dead in the eye of a stiff north
easter. His motion is not so rapid as we expected
but regular and Observation-Disclosures one Of
the motion of a canal boat drawn by a team of
stout horses. On Middle Bank ne approached the
surface-the rife is caught up, but soon laid aside
as useless, for vulnerable part appeared. We
then drew upon the line, that we might force him |
to the surface and spear him found that
was no tun 'Tom, don't you want to play devil |
fish, l have enough to last me an hour so here's |
my place. II you desire it, Behold me now re- |
cned on the stern seat, taking breath after nv
pull, and lifting my umbrella to repel the heat Of
the sun. 1t very pleasant to see the woods of
Hilton Head recede, and the hammocks of Paris |
Island grow into distiuctness, as moved along |
under this novel, and get mipoteRted impeing
power! "You will find this melon refreshing, |
friends! at twelve o'clock, let take a glass Of |
wine to our success. Tom, why don't you pull him |
up?' Tom held up his hands, from which the |
gloves had been stripped clean by the friction of |
the rope. "We'll put three men to the line and |
bouse him." He comes! George seizes the |
lance, but the devii-fsh stops ten feet below the
surface, and can't be cOaxed nearer. George sinks
his long staff in the direction of the line, feels the
hsn, and plunges the lance into him. 1t is flung
OUT OF ms body and almost out of the hand of the
sportsman, by the convulsive muscular effort of the
nsh' "nen drawn up, the iron was found bent like