Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-20
FISHERMEN FIND BAD
CHARACTERS AMONG FISH

The idea. of fish constituting dan
GER 70 human life or limb would hardly
occur to the angler who has never cast
net or line in tropical waters, yet there
are several instances on record OF
bathers being attacked by pike, and an
old writer, Crull, tells of a giant pike
inside which was found the BODY OF
an infant. Not long ago a good-sized
retriever which was swimming IN me
Thames lust above Chitty's boathouse
at Richmond was tackled by a Pike,
which bit one of his hind legs so pad
ly as to sever an artery.
It was another Thames pike which
attacked that well-known naturallnt
and fisherman, Mr.. Cholmondeley-Pe Pen
nell, He had actually landed the nSh,
when it sprang from the ground and
fixed all its sharp teeth into his leg
inst above the knee. The creature hung
so fiercely to its hold that a stick mad
to be used to pry its jaws apart. The
other British fish which can be truly
called dangerous is the conger eel. me
experienced sea fisherman takes care
TO kill every large conger as soon as 1t
is brought into the boaS. The conger
has extraordinary jaw power. 1t can
triturate shellfish shells and all.
Ugly and savage brute as the conger
is. it is a lamb compared with Its rela-
tive, the green moray OF Bermuoian
waters. This great eel is OF an I'M
naturally brilliant green and has an
eye which is the very epitome OF IN
tense and malignant ferocity. 1t Is
voracious and savage beyond words.
Negro boatmen have such holy hor-
ror of it that they absolutely refuse to
allow a moray in the boat.
An acquaintance of the writer, ma
rine officer, fishing in 4 small boat off
Bermuda hooked one of these hsh. out
as soon as his boatman saw the hide
GUS head above the water he whipped
out his knife and made TO cut the line.
The officer shouted TO him to stop, but
had to threaten to throw the man
overheard before he would put up his
knife. When the great eel was pulled
over the side the negro went absolute
ly ashy with fright. AS for the moray,
no sooner was 1t in the boat than 1t
doubled upon itself and its Jaws met
with a clash in it's own side, cutting
out a chunk of white flesh as neatly as
scoop would cut cheese. That was
enough for the officer. He picked up
a boathook and forked the uncanny
creature overheard.
The fish that has n thoroughly lad
name in West Indian waters and all
along the shores of the Mexican gulf Is
the barracuda. Certainly the barra-
cuda is an unpleasant looking Gus
LOIIlGTs nc ~ 1OllG/ tAAlA SNNRSN
like a torpedo, blue black above and
gray below, and he can swim at most
amazing speed. Where he lives ne Is
known as the devil fish, a name COM
mon to all marine bad characters. The
negroes have a perfect horror OF the
barracuda, which they aver will at
tack bathers and intlict upon them a
mutilation impossible to describe.
Another so-called devil fish which is
common on American coasts from 80
degrees north latitude to about the
same degree south Of the line is the
giant ray. This fish looks very like a
skate, but grows to an enormous size.
It lies on the sea bottom, covering
square yards Of coral sand, and IL at
tackled may prove not only nasty but
most dangerous. 1t is said to use its
mouth like q shark, but its most un-
pleasant weapon is the tcothed spear
in its tail. Fishermen aver that it is
able to drive this Jagged lance right
through a mans thigh. Such a wound
is extremely poisonous and almost in
variably fatal.-Chambers' Journal.