Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-01-31


An officer on board the United States flag
ship Pensacola writes as follows to the Vale
10 (Cal) Chronicle. "The most exciting event
of our cruise thus far was the capture of an
immense devil fish. Ever since our arrival
in these waters several huge fish have been
observed in the vicinity Of the ship, and much
speculation las uris, % as to whW they were.
Another one making its appearance, our gun
n,r. George 4. Cu~hmau, dacil, a iu u-'Hb-
lish hs identity and accompani,d icy Assist
ant Engineer Edwards Midslipmau Melon
aid. Wood and CIuvtu. and lHyludst rs Clerk
SladuR, gave chase in the dngy. The fish,
swimming slowly and near the surface OF the
watcr which is very clear, looked like Il gr,at
shapeloss brown mass, frequently throwing
above the waves the Tim, white tips of its
sides, like the dorSal fin Of shark Il al
lowed the boat to- approach within few
yards Of it without showing any symptoms Of
alarm, when it Suddenly sounded The har-
roon thrown by Mr.. Cushmnn struck, but not
with sutiicicht force to hold, for the fish freed
itself and disappeared, after dragging the
bcat with gl,at velocity for several seconds.
Another was at,n, however, after a short
search, and wus approached more successful
ly. As it showed an indifference to our pres
tncc equally great to uIat Of its companion,
we pulled the loat directly over and no more
AllNll ~ ihbA VI wv hbbNN IT. anu WI N.Ahll-
man, standing in the bow. plunged the har-
poon firmly into its flesh.
In an instant that seemingly passive mass
was transformed into an ufuriated monster
which first threw itself bodily out Of the wa
ter, and then, settling down to business, sent
the LaVuon line whizlng out at Il rate that
would have made it decidedly uncomfortable
for ue had the line become foul The strain
soon came upon the dingy, and, rs We were
whizzod along with the speed of an express
tram, we felt as though We had applied the
match to some mine, or that we lad been
taken in tow by the gentleman in black him
self. II was ride that for novelty and speed
could rarely be 1qualed Imagine our situa-
ton, III Il light boat, with such u monster at
tacLed to it, which, as it rushed along, now
on the surface, and again diving deep, threat
ened to upset MS among the sharks and you
can realize the intense excite mtut Of the mo-
ment The only available thing in the boat
"A bucket, bad been made fast to the larpoon
line to offer some additional resistance but
the fish seemed to regard it no more than "a
feather, and with the bucket out Of sight un-
der the water continued TO draw us up and
down the bay at full speed During all this
time its efforts had been confined in an at
tempt to escape, but as its load grew heavy
it became boligerant, and several times turn
'h pun tllt b'hlf 'AnlNlllIk NLt lNll capacity
Of a mouth some two feet in diameter, and
lashing the boat with its sides We made up
our minds that If the fish decided to Jump in
to our diLgy We would quietly slip out over
one side as be appeared at the other But IL
vigorous resistance from boat hooks and oars
induced him TO resume his flight in each in
stance. by this time all hands on the ship
were watching the struggle, and the whale
boat was sent TO our assistance, but for fully
an hour both boats, lashed together, were
towod without signs Of exhaustion from the
fish, the tErusts Of boarding pixies seeming
only to accelerate its speed.
Finally its immense cNtrtiCns told uUon il.
and it came to the surface directly between
the two beats. whore it was placed hors de
comGdt 10y blows from an axe, and dyeing the
water crimson with its blood. was towed
ashore and dragged upon the beach 1t re-
qulItd the united tXcGtions of nearly forty
men to accomplish this undertaking. A more
formidable looking monster than this devil
fish could hardly be imagined 1t was shap-
ed somewhat like an immense bat, measuring
fifteen and a half feet in width by eleven feet
in length; ii Was twenty inches thick,
and weighed probably two thousand pounds.
1t had but one I'm, unless the wiug-sLapod ex-
tr,mt,s Ly which it propelled itself can be
considered such, or that at the base Of long.
thin tail, similar in appearance to a riding
whip and which is preserved as memento Of
the adventure. It's eyes are placed i'll flexible
projections which seem to have been used to
grasp and convey food to its mouth The
mouth, large enough to onguf man whole.
was destitute Of teeth, but furnished with SOL
id bones, that, in the dying ngonies of the
fish. ground large pieces OF coral as a stone
orusher would stone The skin Of the flesh
was rough AS n coarse file, aud of a dark gray
ish hue on the back, with white patches to-
ward the head and pure white on the under
side