The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-28


bottom, and from II TO the shore was a
gradual rise for 800 feet over rocks
and pebbles covered with short weeds. I
was recalled TO my senses BY a word in
my ear from the professor, and BY simply
turning my head In the helmet / opened
the connection and conversed with my
contrere. He had attached the phono-
graph with broad receiver, and now ar
ranged number OF mirrors, and In a few
moments had the camera on its stand and
the electric-light bulb by which pictures
were TO be taken in place He then hand
ed me a slate for recording observations.
ana, opening box, scattered a lot OF
crawfish about. As the bait settled around
us we sat in excited expectation and re-
NAMED perfectly quiet
Our advent had undoubtedly alarmed
the frequenters OF the rock. but they
soon began to collect A big whitensh
rose over the edge of the rock, gazed at us
with its big eyes for moment, then took
piece Of the bait This gave others cour-
age, and soon a number of these fishes
surrounded the cage. Then came a big
striped fellow. yellow and black, that must
have weighed ten pounds. who swan
about with the others with an air Of su-
periority. l recognized the fish as the
reddish. and the professor telephoned me
that he was about TO try his first expert
ment with the ingenious contrivances
FOR initiating the sounds Of fishes.
The reddish was supposed to be an ally
OF the drumfish, and Kollicher selected a
wooden instrument that uttered when
manipulated a groaning murmur: this he
handed to me. By carefully distributing
the bait, the big fish and several others
rose higher and higher, and were soon
opposite our faces, when the professor
turned the great receiver directly at the
fish, while / turned the lever of the talk
Ing machine. We could not hear Of
course, whether the sound was discernible
ana 1t was an anxious moment; but sud
denly we noticed the fishes start. roll up
their eyes In mournful way, and turn
away; then one returned.
Keep 1t up" shouted the professor, and
/ could hear the ecstacy in his voice as l
turned the lever again. The fishes now
approached the receiver which was a mir
ror' and they saw what they supposed
were fishes of their kind, and then we saw
their mouths open and numerous bubbles
ascend to the surface.
we have it," said my companion; they
are replying" But TO me the rolling OF
the eyes suggested anguish
We could not test the photograph into
which the fish had spoken" until we as
cended. The fish continued to come. and
/ now noticed that many strange forms
were climbing the rock and the bars OF
the cage, attracted by the meat Of n dozen
crawfsh. Great crabs crawled slowly
along. The whips of crag-hsh waved to
and fro, and the tentacles Of big octopus
came insinuatingly up and around the
bars, followed by the uncanny body.
long slender head now protruded through
the bars, and my companion called to me
that it was an eel, and to try the machine
that Initiated the sound of the eel. / did
so, and the snake-llke fish stopped at
once, raised itself a foot or more, looked
directly at the receiver, and, as it heard
the sounds, rolled its eyes with a melan-
choly expression and struck the glass
violently. 1 had evidently said something
that displeased the fish, and its reply
would undoubtedly be found in the pho
nograph. Half a dozen different saunders
were tried and all attracted the attention
of the fishes. Some We're repealed and
darted away; others looked amazed and
tried to enter the receiver, while many
more were evidently astonished and re-
NAMED poised before it; but all rolled
their eyes as If in despair.
While we were watching this and other
manifestations the fish suddenly disap-
peared, and huge hammerhead shark
sailed slowly around US. / seized the imi-
tation of the eastern doghsh-a small
shark-and sounded it. The big FISH dart
ed ahead as IL struck, then turned and
circled around, watching us arranging
the camera. / turned on the light and
snapped the shutter Just as the brute
passed. Then the small fry, from the fly
ing fish up, came back, and suddenly
Jewish. The nearest imitation we had
to a Jewish was a long cultural croak,
which stopped the monster in its tracks,
and as long as / played the instrument 1t
moved to and fro, and on one of it's pas
sages the professor photographed it, If
ever fish wept this one did.
We had now been down. three hours,
and, having remained as quiet as possible,
our cage had become covered with strange
creatures. Moreover, we were anxious
to test the photograph, so we called TO
the men at the pumps above TO lift.
The readers curiosity is naturally ex-
cited to know what the monograph re-
vealed of piscatorial talk. Here my mar
rative must prove a disappointment. The
instrument returned the sounds with
perfect distinctness, and Prof, Kollicher
was able to translate them clearly. I'm
fortunately, however, they all related TO
family matters, which he assured me
would be a breach of confidence for him
to repeat. We are going to take the in
strument to the FaralIones, which, from
their vicinity to San Francisco, are likely
to be visited by fish Of more versatile
TYNE.