Evening star., 1898-09-17
Z FEAR OF DEVIL FISH
Applies to All Marine Monsters Of
Rorrid Aspect.
FROM ONYCHOHBUHHlS TO LOLIGO
A Mother Whale Avenges the Loss
of Her Offspring
BARRACOUTA'S AWFUL JAWS
From the Cornhn Magazine.

From the CornhilI Magazine.
Among such primitive peoples as still ex-
list. not the least curious or notable trait
which universally obtains is the manner
in which all things uncanny. or which they
are unable to comprehend. are by COM
mon consent ascribed to the Devil Not
to a devil as one of q host, but the Devil
par excellence, as though they understood
him to he definable only as the master AMI
originator of whatsoever things are terri
Tying. lncOmprehensible, or cruel. Many
eminent writer's have cOpiously enriched
our literature by their researches into this
al[prevailing popularity. so that the sub
ject has, on the whole. been we'll threshed
out. and it is merely alluded to en- passant
as one of the chief reasons for the epithet
which forms the title of this article
Now it Will doubtless be readily admitted
that sea-folk retain. even among highly
civilized nations. their oId-world habits Of
thought and expression longer than any
other branch of the population. This can
scarcely be wondered at, since to all of us.
even the least imaginative. the eterna! mys-
ttTy OF the ocean appeals with thrilling
ana ever-fTesh effect every time that we
come into close personal relations with it,
But when those whose daily bread de-
pthus upon their constant struggle with
the mighty marine forces, who are familiar
with the awe-inspiring solemnity which is
the chief characteristic of the sea, are in
the course of their avOcations brought sud
Denly In contact with some seldom seen
VISITOR OF horrent aspect arising from the
gloomy unknown depths. with one accord
they speak of the monster as a devil
FISH, and the name never fails TO stick.
80 that there is, not one species of devil
nsn' but several. each peculiar to some
0.hertnt part of the world, and inspiring
Its own special terror in the hearts of
mariners of many nations. OF the devil
fish that We in this country hear most
sttout. and is indelibly portrayed for US
by Victor Hugo the octopus. so much has
been written and said that it is not neces-
sGry now to do much more than make
passing allusion to the family. But the
cephalOpOda embrace so vast variety that
II seems hardly fair to single out of them
all the comparatively harmless octopus for
oppro5rlum. while leaving severely unmen-
toned the gigantic onychoteuthis of the
deep sea, to say nothing of many interme-
diate cutie fish. From the enormous mol
lUsc just nlAntioned-which is, not unrea-
sonably. credited by seamen with being the
largest fish in the oceanic the tiny lOligo
upon which nearly all deep water fish feed,
Fiieousness is their prevailing feature and
truly appalling Of aspect some of the larger
ones are, while their oElnivOroUs vOracity
makes them veritabls sea scaVengers, TO
Whom nothing comes amiss live or dead.
An Eighteen-Foot Specimen.
y
from SAINT Ana with a cargo of ma
hogany. and when off Cape Cam
pecne was one calm afternoon lean
ing over the taffrail, looking down into
the blue profound. on the watch for fish.
a gloomy shade came over the bright
water. and Up rose q fearsome monster
some eighteen feet across, and in gen
erdl outline more like a skate or ray than
anything else, all except the head. There,
what appeared to be curling horns
about three feet apart, rose one on each
side Of the most horrible pair of eyes i'm
aginable- sharks eyes he turns
sideways under your vessel s counter and
looks up TO see if any one is coming are
ghastly green and cruel; but this things
eyes were all these and much more.
felt that the Book of Revelation was in
COmplet@ without him. and his gaze haunts
me yet. Although quite sick and giddy
at the sight OF such a bogey, | could not
move until the awful thing, suddenly way
ing what seemed like mighty wings, scared
up out Of the water sOundlessly 10 a
height Of abOut six feet, falling again with
a thuncerous splash that might have been
heard for miles. 1 must have tainted with
fright. for the next thing 1 was conscious
of was awakening under the rough doc
toring of my shipmates. Since then l
have never seen one leap upward in the
daytime. At night. when there is no wind
the sOnOrous splash is constantly to be
heard although why they make that bat
like leap out Of their proper element is
not easy to understand. II does not seem
possible to believe such awe-inspiring hor-
rors capable Of playing gamboling.
At another time, while mate Of a barque
loading in the ToEala river, one Of the
Mexican mahogany ports. l was fishing
one evening from the vessels deck with
a very stout line and hook for large fish.
4 Devil Fish story.
A rowling devil fish picked up my bait,
and feeling the hook, as I suppose, sprang
out Of water with it. i am almost ashamed
10 say that l made no attempt 10 secure
the thing, which was comparatively small
Specimen. but allowed it to amuse itself,
until. 10 my great relief, the hook broke,
ana | recovered the use of my line nv
evenings sport quite spoiled.
JAe-- ugly monsters have as Vet 10
cOInmerclal value, although from their vast
extent of fiat surface they might be found
worthy Of attention for their skins which
should make very excellent shagreen. a
closer &CQuaiEtance with them would also
most probably dtvest them of much Of the
terror III which they are held at present.
Another widely known and feared devil
FISH has its headquarters in the northern
Pacific. mostly aloLg the American coast
especially aHeCting the Gulf Of California
This huge creature Is Il mammal, one of
the great whale family. really a rorquai
OF medium size and moderate yield Of oil.
Like the rest Of this muCh-det ested and
feared tamUng whalersJ branch Of the
ceta-sa, II carries but tiny fringe of
yalueless whalebone. and therefore as
compared with the sperm and right
whales. its value is small. Yet at Ger
tain seasons of the year the American
whale ships often think II worth their
while 10 spend a month or 50 bay whaling
IL some quiet inlet unknown TO- and uu-
cared for by. the busting merchantmen.
When Whaiers Were WhaIed.
Neglect Of this most necessary precau-
tion. or more probably accident. once
br9ugbt about calamity that befeu a fleet
Of thirteen American whaIeships which had
been eu-ased IN the 'bowhead" fishery
among the ice foes of the Arctic Pacific
II order % waste no time. they came south
when winter set in, and by common con-
Sent reudezrOused in Margharita Bay,
Lower California, for a month or twos
devil fishing"
Tine whales We're exceedingly abundant
that season. and all the ships We're soon
busy with much blubber as they could
manage The ease with which the whales
were being obtained. however, led 10 con-
siderable Carelessuess and fOrgetfuluess of
the fact that the whale never changes its
habits One bright morning. about three
weeks after the opening OF the season. the
whole HoLlla Of hfty-twO boats. four from