The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-29
SEA HORSES AND RIDERS.
Birds Mounted ON the Racks Ol
Whales Fishes and Turtles Float
LnkiIy About

LakiIy About.
c. +. Holder in New York Mail and Ex-
press.
yes. we see curious things once In a
WHILE said a san Pedro fisherman. "A
few days ago 1 made a trip over the santa
Catalina channel for a load Of abalenes
that they pile up at the isthmus for me
every few months. and when I got on
there about ten miles ! saw a big loon
sitting on what seemed like a spar. But
while ] watched, IL seemed 10 fan on
then ciroled around several times and
ahghted again, retaining its position with
much difficulty. The wind had almost
died down, as We were in the lee Of the is
land. and we slowly drifted up 10 the bird
until we We're within nifty feet Of IL, when
saw what the roOst was: not spar at
all, but big ish-one OF those fellows the
Italians call the luna, because it was
like the moon.
This luna was the biggest one 1 have
ever seen, and was so old that IL was COW
cred with goose barnacles and looked
more like piece Of wrockage than any
thing else that is what the bird probably
thought it was.
The fish lay almost nat on the wafer
with one big fin sticking out, the other
being under water. and the weight of the
blru made II lie over TO one side. As we
heared II the bird rose and flew away ami
the hsh strdightened up; but IL made no
attempt 10 move away as we came along
slue' ana II looked to me Ike n fish over
iuO year old. l struck il with an oar. but
II moved only a little way on, then came
10 the surftce again.
L saw something about as curious last
year continued the fisherman. I'm An
gust Lne waters Of the islands of hero
from san Clemente up are filled with fish
mat are spawning. The water viii then
DE covered in places with small birds thar
look ike snipe, and II is a common thing
TO see them swimming about in schools
oil hundreds. on this trip ! kept my eye
out Tor whales, as a brother-in-law OF
mine was a whaler at Point Iona. and
wanted TO know the outlook for whales
up TINS way. When about half way over.
right in midchannel ] saw the spout of
a big gray whale, and the next minute
saw the back Of the whale, about twenty
Feet OF II, as black as ink upon the blue
water, To my surprise It did not disap-
pear and soon concluded that the big
creature was either asleep or lying on
the surface summing itself
AS we came nearer / saw at least fifty
little birds running about on its back.
feeding upon the various parasites on the
whales back
We lay off and watched them for some
time. They ran up and down just as they
would on beach, and II occurred to me
that II was not an accident but that
there was some understanding between
the whale and the birds. In other words
the whale knew that the birds were re-
lieving 1t Of many parasites that II could
not get rid of in any other way, and CON
sequently submitted to their running over
IT. Finally it's big hukes rose In the air
the cloud of birds few away and the
whale, probably with clean back, sank
out of sight
"On another occasion as l was cruising
down by Ensenada, l ran into a little bay
one day and I saw what l supposed to be
a log floating on the surface as on Il
were numerous birds, some walking
about, others apparently asleep. As we ran
in nearer / saw that II was a big sea
turtle asleep on the surface, and the birds
had alighted upon its broad back as abev
would have done upon floating timber.
| They flew away as we came alongside,
and we put a harpoon into the turtle
and took it, after 1t had towed us about
the bay
up around Monterey a gigantic shark
is sometimes caught in the net of the
fisherman. II ranges from twenty to for
ty feet In length and is known as the
basking whale. from the fact that 1t
floats on the top Of the water literally
basking in the sunlight-much after the
fashion of the sunish. This affords a
veritable floating island for the various
seabirds that rise from II in cloud as
boats approach and sometimes ride upon
its back exposed"
There are other sea jockeys than those
mentioned. The writer some time ago
caught a large hammer-head whale of
Redondo beach. This big creature towed
the boat about for nearly an hour, and
when brought in sight of the boat it was
seen to have several riders-hsh almost
pure black and q foot in length-which
were attached to the shark. The shark
was struggling and fighting. cutting
through the water with powerful rushes:
but the little fish still chung to 1t, and
finally, when 1t was hauled upon the
beach the little black attendants came
with it. They were clinging to the shark
by a curious sucker on the back Of the
head that resembled the Stats Of a Vene-
tian blind; and the suction was so power
full that when the plate or sucker was at
tached 1t was extremely dhficult to pull II
off by main force. Half dozen of these
riders accompanied the shark and they
are sometimes seen accompanying tur-
tles-and may be called the real jockeys
of the sea.
Senior Thomas Estrada Palma, the new
ly elected delegate of the Cuban revolu-
tionary party. is a lawyer by profession
and is a man of broad ideas and great
executive ability. He is at present at the
head of a large school for boys in Central
Valley, Orange county, New York and Is
married and has a family. He was born
in 1895, in Bayamo, in the eastern part
of Cuba. He was prominently identifed
with the Cuban instruction Of 1868 lie
was at one time a representative In the
Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of
Cuba He was afterward chosen seer
tary of state and from that Office was
called to the office Of President Of the
Republic Of Cuba lie has seen active
warfare and in 1877 was taken prisoner
by the Spanish authorities, and, as ne
was looked upon as a dangerous NAL
placed for safe keeping in the famous
prison in the castle of Figueros. When
peace was declared in 1873 he was re
leased and went to France He only re-
manned there short time and then came
20 the United States.