Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-04-24

ssss sunlshlngs a
There = . locality "a he eeazs IS
The United Kinedam where the shorter
sunfsh I Orfksgoriseas sloks< ismoEe
ffeaueniiyte bs seen than The WsGse8
of Soaih- West Treland. NY own en-
peFieuee is confined % the Snmmer, 81
which season Ihave often fallen il with
these creatures all along the coast from
DuneaFten to ValeHtia. Indeed, one
or twc may be seen almost every Ems
day in those parts. gs5i
The warm equatorial current which
sets upon this shore Is The probable
cause OF their presence, which indeed
occurs all the year round, for an -
sured by Trustworthy residents that shey
are At least as abundant in Winter as in
Summer.
One afternoon, in August, 1877, .
boats crew from my yacht, returning
from Iong-lining in Ballinskeliigs Bay,
fell in with large sunfish. lying on the,
surface in its usual lazy fashion, the
projecting eaudal 6ns describing the
segment Of circle IN the air as The unS
wieIdIy body rolled with every heayel
Of The sea. Rowing up, they endssvoF-
ed to tx she eongeF CAD in him, an a..
tempt which was frustrated by the exc
treme hardness Of the skin. A four
cared beat, with Eve excited men doing
their best 10 insert Q sharp iron point,
seemed neither 10 alarm nor 10 cause
ham any discomfort. Finding their eC-.
forts in vain, and seeing that he still
took no notice OF them, they approached
his head, succeeded In getting the gaR
INTO his mouth. Lightly % be bed
treated the previous insults, such lib
erty as this was not 10 be borne. He
struggled violently, and after being held
for some ten minutes by The Utmost ef-
forts of two men-his struggles being
skilIfully utilized 10 propel the boat TO-.
wards The yacht-he got bis head down.
and with one wrench escaped, bearing
the gaff away with him. "a
Thinking that q similar opportunity
might again occur. and not caring 20 ex-
pend any more gaEs i'm conntry where
A was not easy 10 rcniae@r them. II fmn-
tened lafee bnok to y stick lspgn
being securely affixed % the hook, aaa
''sioppedH along the stick; 70 LOOP IL
the end Of the lanyard q stEong line
could be attached when necessary.
No opportunity occurred 10 1877, bat
IN the end Of July, 1873, when Just
about to shot an otter trawi from my
fishing cutter "a boat Of thirty tonsls =
sun6sh was seen close TO rs in the head
of BalIinskelIigs Bay, in about ak faith.
oms Of water.
Jumping into The dingy with one man
we rowed up TO the fsh, which took 90
notice Of us. nv companion backed
me towards The head, and as IprepaFed
TO insert my hookstiek into bis mouth,
I had sufficient time 10 examine him
closely. He lay on Ose side blOwiags .
stream Of water out Of bis mouth, aua
vacuously. rolling his enormous eyes
within . yaSd Of my hand-stilI withOut
the least symptom Of alarm. Another
moment, end the hook was firmly f1xea
in his mouth: for three or four seeObda
be remained motIonless, sill gazing
blandly at me, and then, with one wild
plunge, down be went. Fortunately
we lad uncoiled some few fathons o.
line from our 6lty.falhom reel, vet Eara
few moments it seemed that be would
overpower us and carry reel and ali
away. ...-.-. r.......--...f
Just In time, however, my man msh!
aged 10 get one turn round the stem %
.be boat. and The horse was, 90 to speaks
'sput to-" Steering in the stern with
an oar, while the man tended the line,
We tore through the water foe some 200
wards in the wake Of our strange leader,
Who, as from time 10 time he struck the
sandy bottom Of the shallow bay came
to i6e surface, plnnging down again
with 9 gradually falling strength. For
half an hour he towed as about hfther
and thither ia 3 puTpOseIess nannes, TIE
euileT keeping Of and on just eleashf
his course. Having At last quoted himS
We secured him to the cutters side. and
sailing as best We could, impeded as We
were By be weight and bulk, We delivs
cred bin 60 the crew 0fthe larger yschG
Il vas impossible 10 estimate bis weIghs
bot the fact that it took SIN men TO baml
him above high water mark shows that
Il sxas not small. His length was SIX
feet three inches, depth three feet Two
isches. The distance from Ente Ens
taking the extreme points, was seven
feet Eve inches. .....-- -s,-ss.,-
His thickness, which was consideFa-
BILE, We could not take On tss50ds
parts Of his body We Eousd parasites;
one sogt, Ehsch was about the eize aed
thickness Of a shilling. is figured IN
"YsrreII's British Fishes" lsnn6sh);
the other was an indescfibabIe disgnsG-
ing creature about the slEe Of hogse
bean, with hooked claws and lepfhery
fiaps ike the wing covers Of some lfa~
perfectly developed insect. g-s~s-1 80
Subsequently We captured tNo more
snnfish 10 similar way. bat ss .bos1
had proved not only useless buE .fslis
sanee, We freed them when tley. gsye
up the eOniest.-D. 10 Lana sis Esfgl
fg' sew slaasS So Il
Arts that keep the wofsd bdsy.-tns