ANTING THE SEA BAT.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 43, 20 February 1886, Page 5

ANTING THE SEA BAT.

,„, w JfHJi MARINE VAMPIRE IS F-RBW-D AND KILLED. ■___U.e Contest Desoribed-A GlganA «« Flab That Runs Away with Shlps- " bo living Blanket of tho Pearl Diver. . 9rSC , A _COBBBSFO I NDENCKOF THIS " CALI,.") eoir oi California, Dec. 5, 1885.-" She 4iil 't inttcb of a boat, ia she ?" said a fisher*L who was standing by tho sido of a dilapidated craft that lay above higher mark on the little beach, .i Hurricane ?" queried the " Call" corrosP» No" replied tho marinoT. "Sho was i__"ii_ by a sea bat-; ono of them flew •Hn the air, an' it lit on her, you might say '"d it kinder grazen me too (rolling up his __m and showing a long, red scar). Me it together. ,„..„. ,< There aint much of a yarn to it," lie ~ .wo took eeats on the old wreck. t?Vou see we toiler 'em for their oil; some „ryes a like of d* barrels of liver. Ivo, we . 't make it into cod-liver oil, but I __n some of these Mexicans would if 2-f-m_u of lt TheyVe tho biggoßt fiTthat swims in the Pacific, excopt the to.bone shark that grows upward of sixty t°_t • but the sea bat grows right the othor iV sideways, liko a, bat' al\ thoy look •_t like a »«■for all thD world ' only you nt to mako 'em twenty-live foot across, _?_ fifteen or twenty long, with a tail lite a hide whip; then give it two big clas„T_ at tho head, and you havo a sea bat. !' T_evfly 'n tnß wator • n3toa'* oi swimming, ZU their wings or fins up and down Xabird. Bob'to big they have a big IL, and the oil pays to try; so i a sea tat comes in tight there s a crowd of boats "The last one sighted did thia work for It was in tue mornin . just about daybreak when one of my men gave the word, andwerushed for the boats, so to git the j» r t It waa nip and tuok, four other craws bavin' beard the word ; but wo got t i, imJ and as out ■oars struck the water _c other boats hadn't left tbe beach. The boys laid on, and I took my place in the Jk cleared the rope, and cot tho iron mdy. We use for this sort of fishin' what „ call a pair of grains-a two-tined iirpoon, with barbs that set in a slot, and wing out when they go into a fish, fin.*.got we*l clear of tho beach and through tbe breakers, we could see the fish sailin' around in a circle, and every time it turned, the tips of the fin would m_ out of water two or three foot, liko tho fa 0 f s shark,' and in front of it ran a i hi? yave, so we were tolerable sure it was a big one. I reckon we were twenty i Dilates in gettin' within reachin' distance, #d when we got right about on the edge i of the circle it was travellin' in, I gave the I iroid, and the boys stopped pullin' and i -toed ready.

"Onibecame,- whirling around jest like able bird, and jest as it crossed our bowa, the travel-tin' us a foot or more, the big pointed fin rose out of water, and I let drive. I see the grains go in, an' that's all I did see for the next two minutes, for the minute it struck I thought tho hull bottom of the Pacifio had riz up, and when it went down, the sea poured in, half filling the boat, knocking me back on the boys and demoralisin' alt hands. The hieain' of the rope brought me to my senses, and while tie boys bailed out, I threw over the slack that the fish was taking out so fast I thought the churning would set the woodwork afire. It didn't take long to bring things to a crisis, and wh en it came we was ready. The last coil ran out, and with a jerk that fairly lifted her, tho boat shot alter the fish. Did you ever sco a whalo sound ? Well, it's as near like that as anything, only they go right along instead of down.

" We know that thia ono was a big fellow by tho way he started, and the boat would _»™_een filled again if we hadn't all gone lit, 80 ber head would be out of wator. In' how we was agoin' I Hoopin', I called It, tikh' everything as it came ; for, bless j.taerewasn'ttimetorideanything. She jeetwent right through, throwing the foam nd spray that high into the air that you'd .tkoiißhtwewas a tug a steamin' againat the tide. If there had been a heavy sea on wesbould hare had to cut the line ; but as it wm, we held on and kept her at it; and I reckon it was two miles that we went hnmmia* before I ventured to think of t-u. in the slack. The fish had slowed up stale, the biggest of 'em will get played out, and then I ordered the boys to clap onto tbe line, and passed it aft for the parpwe. The first pull I gave started the fish up, and it gave a jerk that nigb wok tho cutwater out of the boat, and sent ewjy one of us in to the bottom, head over Me.. I see the'only way waste k6ep at i. eowe clapped on again, and again we wis almost jerked in pieces; but we kept {■Hi and after half an hour's pullin' and Winy getting pu n ed> we got tbe . m within twenty foot of the fish, anT wnyonitw-en'tapleasantsight. It looked _ft ._.f , fifty foot aCTOBB-a great big Patch of black, a-goin' along like a Bteam ■PA whippin' its wings up and down so w»t the water was churned into foam on each side. ■,

We ua 0,4,, the , me _. ith a and ■l, minute m was almost over it, and then whale. -Wall, m&ter th % next thi j 3_ tSfi™ watw' The fl*h rh, jest MitUrfbefore, went up like a bird, and £____?Wl^. a % mh that y°u could MwtaMdanukv- One of the wrings must 2t? eo _ the arm and knocSeid rae h_.__.__l como down <"* boat, jest ffir 19, 1--" °«< of her. as you see. _i___JT J^Ped overboard when they !»____ *_. >at ■'and there we hung KS_S__^ I™ "^t done to • my liZ!?^! the wreck of our hfi J__?l, wh6n 'W found that the MttSffifi1 They a" "laPP«d onto _d3i?. m dead as a red nerring 5 mtS- lt W -._fonr bourß befor<- they sM3l__«- here' 8 the remaina now> khckSLr 8 fi?heTman, pointing to a s*a___**_* °fa Slo down the touring Whloh a flook of birds were

fotftnL a' k b™--*tus to the gigantic «« »_*_fe t,fied it* name. Its akin bat; th_ it ltebß. oh resembled a gigantic either eid_ $ ™_ gs extending oit on ■ Cl^ ngt.c Pectoral or Bide fins. lbo"U. f_,t „_.KB. measurement was .* T_. _* ite width was> abo^ 27 lo»« whi„ 2.. Su _face was black, the k" wrioM _ •■''out the mouth were _. Beour ***g orev or food Sl-bf__f Sfl? d °y the Pavementhehugec r ai,„, B Eca ,_at- Tno height of ,ton CBsM on,y be oonjocturod, ?°? «_*W_i ?_V' g.l J" 4™ o£ mules h>»ate.T_r to_! aal the botJy above ,taß*itn(__«it' _r triumphant march !_*C£. & the- e J ntire *llag° * many tha Hefi__ _?._ ndine on back of "P(»'the Bail 4 H^k lt J w**B towed or hauled PWa-tha mlX °._ deaP°**ed of its saleable !. H" co!?' 86'^ 9 firßt tin >« I saw a _-2^ «Ptbe hft™? Informant, as we s*" -SS 1 agaln "I was a Y_*' mtSLSS Und3r wat°r at the _.'*my SSL 8* J?y tin"> bad come. 5. S WMnfe\ dmne* and I got it « »Ck_ll^_ Bln6Bß »«»»• I <'an-<- ---> th »t lIhS 80 many times, in the Jfe 1 wft BbV* gg« Pay to get out £!?_* AmertL. 1. 08- 119, oht, originally, ___to*aiße__.__ han _ taken the conJ d* ga _boat on the Chile W claimed had a big pile of

treasure. I took the job on sWes, and aa ruaty pig-iron and old chain was all I could find, I got left, as they say, and had to work my way up the coast tho best I could. Whilo 1 was waiting ono day for something te turn up, I ran across a mnn who was interested in the pearl fisheries and when he hoard I was the professional diver he offered me a ijob at pearl diving, and as I said, boing a little hard up. I took it, and two days Inter I was off shore on the banks with as cranky a crowd as you ever see. " I had ar egular diving rig, and whon we got on the banks I arranged to go down four times a day. The plan waa to tako a hamper along and fill it with pearl oyaters, and givo the word, and tho men on deck haul it up. You've never beon down, I suppose? Well, it's a curiou. eight, especially in Southern seas, where tho water is; as clear as the air almost. Tho first time I struck the bottom I couldn't believe I was there. It waa as clear as air, and tho fishes swimming around might havo been taken for birda. I landed on a kind of sand hill when they lowered me, and had to walk about fifty foot down into a kind of a valley like before I struck the shells ; thoy woro all in o bunch stretched along in a ridge, looking like a black mark againat tho white bottom. I had dragging the hamper and when I got alongside I began to toss them in. I reckon I had filled half a doten or so, whon all at once I saw a kind of a shadow moving ovor all. At first I thought it was the schooner, and then perhaps, some of tbo othor di**ers coming down '■ and then it left; but all at once it came again, and grew so dark in a socond that I turned quick and lookod so up and I'm tellin' you tho truth, mister, if my hair hadn't beon held down by a copper cap, ft would havo riz rij»ht on ond There, umovhi' over me, was what 1 took to bo a bird tibotit thirty feet across. It wheeling round and round,'flapping its big wings, just liko yoii'vo neon buzzards or oagles do, overhead. Down it came, lower and lower, and 1 a-crouching as flat as I could got. The 'noarer it got thn bigger it looked, and as I bCo it was a-settling on me, I took the pike I always carriod, and as it wheelod around over mo I let drive. Hit it ? Well, I reckon I did, The next thiugl kriew I was standing on my bead, rolling over nnd over, then yanked siclowaye, half drowned, and then 1 reckon I lost my sonses, and when 1 came to I was lyin' on deck, and all hands looking at me. You see the critter had given the water such a swirl that I was knocked end for end, and my pipe and line twisted round and round, so that I couldn't breathe, and of course they pulled the lino, and the man thought 1 had jerked it to come up, so they hauled away for all thoy wore worth, and that's what saved my life. What was it ? Why nothin' but one of those sea bats —blanket fish, tho othor mon called it'—and they all said I had a narrow run for it. That was tho way, accordin' to say, that tho fish goes to work to get away with a man. Thoy first settle down on you like a blanket, and thero you are. Thore wasn't a man that would go down aftor that for several days, and as for mo, I throw up the job; no blanket fish for me. No, I don't hardly beliove tho fish was after mo. My idea is that it was coming down on the bank te feed on the oysters, and 'hat it didn't sco me, and plenty of mon may have been lost by the fish getting fouled in the lino *, but that's only my idea. I was just as scared as if it bad made a grab at me, and 1 didn,t propose to take any chances I've seen a dozen or more of them moving around off shore here. They frequently run in schools and sometimes we take a dozen iv a week. It's about like wholing. There's danger in it, but if you are careful and understand your business it's safe onough." The power of these enormous fishes has been shown in many waters. Some years ago the writer saw a largo sea bat enter tho harbour of a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. Several boats atarted immediately in pursuit, and soon a harpoon was put into what proved to be a.giant. It started up the harbour at such a rate of speed that one of the men was jerked oyorboard, tho fish rushing at a largo thres-tnasted schooner that lay in the middle oi the stream. Colli sion was inovitable,' and before tho men could cut tho rope, the fish dovo under tho vessel, and the smaller craft struck head on, completely telescoping in itself, hurling the men into tho water, whilo the hugo fish rushed up the narrow harbour, towing the wreck, and ultimately escaped. A fow years ago a achooner that was lying at anchor at Sea Horse Key on the Florida reefa began to move up and down, and finally to go ahead. As it was a dead calm, the crew were greatly alarmed at their mysterious movemonte, and some were for taking to the boats and deserting tho vessel. The skipper, however, Buspected what it was, ond calmed their fears, and finally thoy wero hauled high and dry upon a coral reef, their motive power, a monster sea bat, boing thon struggling in shoal-wnter ahead. It became stranded, and when tho tide went down, tho hugo proportions of thoir steed Vere seen. It was nearly thirty feet across, and between the fin and worm-like processes at its boad was their anchor, firmly imbediod in the flesh ; the fish had run against the cablo, and so been caught, and in its agony or fright hail darted away, towing tho vessel and crew.—C. F. H.