The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-01
CATCHING SEA VAMPIRES.
GREAT BAT-LIKE CREATURES EOTND
~ PORT ROYAL SUJSD
Sport OF Planters Before the War strength
of the Fish That Enabled II to Tow Boats
AZ High Speed Tor Long Distances when
HhrpOoneh-A SChnnner G mt n rr, I,x ID M.

small boy al hilton Head aud Beaufort wc had
quite as exciting sport as you do TO day II not more
So" said all old Carolinian before the war.
my family had a large plantation that abutted
on Port Royal Sound II was in the centre Of
a great game country The man who had soft
shell crabs, tcrrapn ycnison and cAnvas-tacL
ducks all on the same day, and sometimes ioui
or FIVE times week, did not attract especial al
tcntion he walked along the road
There was variety Of sport there that
believe 10 be unique and that was the capture
OF the devilHsh. | don't mean the octopus Of
squid which is also called the dcvllGsh. but IT,,
so called vampire Of the sea The dcvilG,h
Of Port Royal was shaped like big butterfly
with pointed wings; from each side projected =
long flap triangular in shape and ending IN q
point These took the place Of pectotal fms and
moved up and down with winglike undulatory
movement that sent the fish ahead with iroa,
speed. The head bore two cStraordinar, On ons
three feet in length, very piiahlc and sttur,r.
| These were feclers or caspcrs, which the lsh
used 10 seize its food prey. The eyes vl'c
back OF these and the mouth was an cnormoy4
transverse slit, big enough to hold man Tho
color black or blue; black on the upper t!ae
and white On the lower and the tail vas long
lashlike organ big that Of an OK. Gave
! such a creature q width Of from fifteen to Twenty
feet and length of sixteen or seventeen and
you have an animal we'll calculated to dcmora.
lie sportsman.
L remember one morning I went out with
party had big xix cared barge dcckcd over
forward to stand on. and manned by crew ot
| slaves In the stern sat four Of my friends who
were to be introduced TO the sport. In the bow
were four harpoons with wide barbs and strong
poles with long ropes the latter coled in half bar
rel with them several lancos which were to fr
sh the big game We had not gone two hundred
yards before one OF the boys whispered, 'Deres
de I'm. sir. And sure enough well nshorc, We
saw a sharp-pointed black fin cutting the watei
like knife in circle, and then We saw one Of tho
remarkable tricks which this strange creatur,
INDUCES in that Of turning complete somcrsaults
without rhyme or reason. / seized harpoon, and
let fly, sending the weapon into the fsh's stomach
| as it was turning II righted at once and dashed
| away for twenty or thirty feet then went
into the air like great bird, presenting da
bolica appearance with its long tail its Tapping
side wings and black and white sides II came down
with crash and then rushed on at full speed
The rope went out so rapidly that thinking when
| the end came it would break, | took piece Of
sailCloh ard wrapping II around my hand graf bed
| the line. For moment il fairly smoked through
my hands; then bracng back held the fish fol
a second and Stacked it of so that the end came
| gradually The vampire kept directly down
| the channel for mile, then turned and followed
| up the sound about 500 feet from shore. Fol
two miles the FISH towed US at racing speed. then
| Il turned suddenly, hauling the boat around
| so quickly that she was almost swamped despite
| the men at the oars and headed out 10 sea. I
made up my mind it was a case Of stop him in
| tho next two miles or be taken ont 10 and
| tn re lose him in the rough water, so gave the
word and the line WAS passed aft and We began
The sh to G fresh cndee1ors and It's I1nges and
| rushes were remarkable. Now and then II went
clear into The air, coming down ,S With Iesound;
near. Blu. We gradually gained, half tho men
hauling on the rope the rest rowing ahead. i
and then az we V We're at the mouth y the sound
could see its huge form directly beneath me; one
face. Then | sent the second harpoon into it.
and Selling a lance drove il through the YAM.
ieet Of Inc nei before we could stop Il row had
two harpoons in the vampire, so / ordered thu
to P in the e snS ,h
| and presently we had 1t under way towing il
toward lhe beach. During the tow ii turned,
| out OF the hands OF the men on that side but twd
or three thrusts from the LANCE Quoted it for while
aoWed in. towing CT the ba,like creature When
we stretched it on the beach our captive presented
a remarkable appearance, like a huge bird prone
that when i was proppGd open ono Of the men
was ghtcen feet across and eleven long 10 thd
base Of tho tail which was seven feet in length.
The most curious feature OF the creature was
side OF lie mouth, that could be whirled about il,
any direction and were used to throw food into thd
the father OF friend Of mine who was a famoud
vampire hunter, haIpooned one Of these fish ond
Hauled the sh up pt To- the boat In some way ths
rope became fouled, and reaching down, to ceof
fs e seized S S N &c ant and S RBs ess S
10 hold him, to,l ! Ne fish msde rush i would
take him. which was true enough The fish held
his waist and made him fast All this time ID
water and Il was time Of frlghtful suspense.
that Ave minutes. AS they hauled IN on The hsh
i let go and the arm was released, but black and
40 give you an idea Of how these he's remarknbls
claspers are used, let me explain that some OF ting
planters in the old days built private wharycs out
into the sound The piles were Preyed upon by
various animals such as the tered, until some Of
10 refer to were not weak enough 10 be dsngerous
and required tremendous FORGET break down; yet
ished. three or four Of the piles being broke
and several uprooted There had been no rtot'n,
such results few days later another per d.
appeared, and when vampire hunt was orgtr-
ized one day and four Or Aye planters got toeetc'
and compared notes they found that such Occur
rences often happened on the sound
Hearing the conversation an old negro spc' Q
ash The gentlemen were incredulous, but the
old darkey was positive and said that on a crr:A,n
do il The story created 50 much interest tina!
several Of the gentlemen decided TO test IL and
agreo 10 take turns in watching .he piles OF Ger
tain arr. They wcre finally rewarded by seeing
a vampire swim up clasp the pic in its clnsperS:
and after creating great commoion. bring IS
down into the water Why should il d. it, Well.
that's what puzzled the people for long umc
Some thought il was out Of pure dew ltry; nthe.s
that the fish ran against il by accident and dIdn't
know enough 70 back of but neither OF th-I" =
the light xplanation. Examination Of the broken
and torn up piles showed that they had been
cleaned OF mussels, oysters and the coating ~
worms that nyar ably formed on them had ben re-
novel, and these objects were sought hy the
vamUiros They focd on oysters and shell hsh
partly and finding that thrsc dAintie' grcw IN
the piles they swan up 10 them and no ding "a
by their tcntaCeH ate on the shells and IN the
struggles sometimes pulled the pie down.
Few p~Dplc will believe such a fish story, hln
il is a well established fact and when you con,
, tons II is not NJ remarkable, | never know
nny human bci0E o. he killed by one, but many
men have been frightened half to death hy ,h"nl
, In Charleston harhnr some yr4rs ago big 'ht'e-
maSted schooner was lying, The crew + 4 gone
ashore and there was no one aboard but dark"y.
The mon were Iust coming aboard with the mrs!