The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-09
The BOAT-STOPPER.
Those of Pliny's Time and Tbosa r.
In California Waters.
From the New York D..


Avalena, Cal. Nov. l2.-In the o,s
ural histories dating back TO the ,,r,.
Pliny' among other strange stories. tbs..
is found one of the ship staver e.
which had a peculiar habit Of fasta-,-1
itself to the bottoms of vessels and -
ing them, and it is stated in all sario..-
ness that the battle of Actiun vzas -.
from the fact that the ships of one .,s'
were held by the ship stayers em,lovas
by one of the great captains.
This FISH was thesremora. a. blaot
der creature found about sharks. clino
ing to them by a disk or sucker rrou =
head. and even retaining its position No.
a shark when the latter has been tatoa
from the water In the Caribbean sea -
sucking or holding power of the fist .
utilized by the fishermen to capture -
ties. As soon as turtle is seen. eitbo.H-
the bottom or at the surface. the rerooS "a
which is held by a cord attached w a.
taii' Is released. and instinctively Ar.
taches itself to the animal. which is !.
turn pulled in by the fisherman. ~
There is a ship slayer or more proner,,,
boat slayer, in the Pacific ocean ~.
really acconplishes what its name 10
plies. This is a magnificent fish ouias
TO the mackerel, and known as the tnna
While writing this from the veranda :,
the hotel at Avalon, Santa Catalina
Island, the boat shoppers are in plain ,,ia-,.
There is scarcely a breath of wind on ~.
little bay, yet the water is covered wifi
white caps that appear in the most mar.
vellous manner. as though some grea,
hsh were dashing along just at the snr.
face. and that is what is hapnening
A school of small fry have ventured out
INTO deep water, and the boat stoppers ara
charging them in every direction. Imag.
inc FISH fashioned somewhat Ike =
mackerel but bulkier, a steel-blue color
above, silvery beneath, with fins timed
with gold. Imagine such a fish five. sir
or even more feet in length and weigh
ing anywhere from sixty to 900 pounds
a fish endowed with the activity of a Aasb
of light and the strength Of a lion. Such
is the tuna, the master of Catalina wa
tiers. That it is entitled to the name Of
boat stopper is evident from the follow.
ing experience of a native Californian
who has often been my guide and oars.
man on fishing expeditions around tina
island of Catalina.
I'VE were on the way to San Pedro"
said the fisherman, "in a good-slzed boat
and, as was the custom, put out large
line for bonito. yellow-tail or sea bass. as
the case might be. No especial attention
was paul " the me- ana we were sailing
along with fairly stiff breeze, when sud
denly we noticed the boat paying off in.
stead of answering to the rudder, and then
one of the Italian fishermen shouted that
we were not moving.
You know" continued the oarsman
that some Italians are very superstitious
and certainly this stopping of the boat in
mid channel, where there was no bottom
at a hundred fathoms, wSs peculiar. One
tn bco4
to see what the obstruction was, and
have no doubt the others were trying to
explain ii, but / could not understand
their explanations. The whole thing hap
pened quicker than l can tell it, As the
boat continued to pay off. looked astern
and saw at once what the trouble was.
The line we had been trolling with was
standing ont as stiff as the cable of a
bridge, swapping the beads of water from
it like diamonds. Some extraordinary OBJ
ject was foul of the line. 1t could hardly
be kelp, as this was not found in deep wa
ter. At that moment the explanation
came. The line rushed to one side, kissing
through the water, dragging the big boat
sidewise and starting her astern, despite
the big sail and jib that were both draw
ing. 1t was evident that some gigantic
fish had taken the line, and the men al
most concluded that we had fouled a
whale, but that could not be, as the whale
would have sounded and broken the line
at once.
1--WE now seized the line and began the
attempt to take it in, and soon the true
strength of the fish became apparent.
When hooked it had turned. and was
swimming in the opposite direction OF the
boat, thus holding and stopping 1t. But
the moment it felt the pull upon the line
in our attempts to take it in, it made a
rush to one side that carried the stern Oh
the big sloOp fairly around against the
wind; then it turned, and dived, all Win
such force that it was impossible for Two
men to move the line. Up it came again.
then out, going through gymnastics
enough to puzzle a fisherman. FlnaiH,
after about fifteen minutes of this via
work, during which the boat had Deen
pulled around in circle SO that she lioea,
we gained ten feet or SO, and this enapieu
us to pass the line to the rest of the crew.
who soon had all they could do. sul-
denly the fish came in with a rush, tneh
turned and went out with such force tha1
we were obliged to drop the line. Again
we took it, and again the fish rusnet
from side to side in the struggle; ou'
finally the exertion told on it, and we be-
gan to take 1t in, and after some minutes
had the satisfaction of seeing tuna hN9
feet long alongside; fish that had stoppe9
the boat as completely as though II has
been anchored. We estimated its Welsns
at between seven and eight huhuLet t
pounds; in any event it was so heavy ina
we could not take it,so we killed it win az
ak, ana after cutting off a portion lei INV
rest go to the sharks"
These huge fishes run in schools OF nun
dreds and more up the Santa Cdtan
channel like troop of cavalrymen' taa
ing everything before them, and presesn.
ing a fine spectacle when rushing ai'
through the waves. Upon one occasion,
while drifting in small boat opposr5
the island where there was high gIou nnt
SWELL l saw three of these monsters ~
twenty feet away, coming down Wha' anI
peared to be the slope of the wave anu
so 1 had a fine view of them. They lat ln
pressed me as they passed under th t., go
as types of all that is active ana Nie area.
in fish life, the privateers OF the Isn W.
ton.
The TONES and the Stork'