The herald., 1897-08-08

flesh and bone as it is able to compass
at bite. 1t is rare that any creature
once seized by the ga escapes it, being
usually killed or crippled by the first
bite.
:. The ga is seldom taken, for its ar
NOR protects it from the natives spears,
and, when hooked, it dives, head fore
most, into the mud of the river bot
tom, from which it is almost impossi-
BILE to dislodge it. If sufficient strain
be put on the line, either the tackle
gives way, which is the common result,
or the hook is torn from the fsh's
mouth.
"The only ga that ever I had a chance
to examine was found in a dried-up
pool on Shore where it had been strand
ed after an inundation,'' said DR.. A. IL.
Ellis, recently arrived in New York,
after several years residence in Vene-
zuela. He was telling group of friends
about the fish and reptiles of the Ori-
noco. He continued:
"I hooked ga once, but failed to
land it. I was in charge of the cattle
steamer Coratel on the Orinoco, and
we were at anchor at Imataca Island,
off the mouth of the Rio Toro. | saw
an OK, that had waded into the water
up to his belly to drink, suddenly turn,
struggle to keep his footing, and then
rush out of the water, believing, with
half his brisleet bitten away.
"'That's the work of a ga, sir, said
my Scotch engineer, who had been on
the river ten years. Now that he's got
round to the cattle's drinking place
you'll see more of that work if we stay
here
cts there no way to catch him?'
asked will he bite at a hook?'
Certainly, sir if you bait it with
anything that's eatable. But that's ali
there is to it. A cable and steam winch
couldn't get ga up from the bottom.
"'We'll see,' 1 said. Let's make q
hook first, that will hold
I'VE went down into the engine room
found a pinchbar, two and half feet
long, and forged it into a hook with 8
strong barb and a ring at the end of the
shank. To this we fastened a new
three-quarter inch rope, and, batting
the hook with a young kid, took it out
in a boat and dropped it into the wa
ter near where we had seen the OK at
tackled; then we rowed back to the
steamer where the other end of the rope
was Delayed. We kept feeling of the
ing hard on the Delaying pin. The ga
had seized the bait. The engineer and
I, with two native sailors, tried to hau
the fish in, hand over hand, but we
might as well have tried to pull a tree
up by the roots for all the line we gain
ed. Then we passed the rope round
the capstan and set it going. The line
seemed almost ready to part. but at last
something gave way below and it slack
ened. We pulled it in, and there was
our hook Strengthened out like bar,
while, fast to the barb, were two of the
bony ridges from the gas jaw. The
fish evidently had seized the hook and
could not disgorge it, but the strain
that tore the hook from its jaw failed
to start the ga from the bottom.
'sThere is another sort Of bad fish in
that region.-a little fellow, found in the
Orinoco and in the salt water off its
mouth, called the caribe. In shape it re-
sernbies the northern pickerel and has
much the same colors and markings.
only with that yellowness of tint which
almost every ship in Venezuelan waters
shows The caribe is about twelve
Inches long, and goes about in great
schools, attacking any creature, alive or