by the by, for inquiring into the natural history of fishes--was
engaged for several hours in trying to determine under what
circumstances a swordfish might be able to escape scot-free after
thrusting his snout into the side of a ship. The gallant ship
_Dreadnought_, thoroughly repaired and classed A1 at Lloyd's, had
been insured for L3,000 against all risks of the sea. She sailed on
March 10, 1864, from Columbo for London. Three days later the crew,
while fishing, hooked a swordfish. Xiphias, however, broke the
line, and a few moments after leaped half out of the water, with
the object, it should seem, of taking a look at his persecutor, the
_Dreadnaught_. Probably he satisfied himself that the enemy was
some abnormally large cetacean, which it was his natural duty to
attack forthwith. Be this as it may, the attack was made, and the
next morning the captain was awakened with the unwelcome
intelligence that the ship had sprung a leak. She was taken back to
Columbo, and thence to Cochin, where she hove down. Near the keel
was found a round hole, an inch in diameter, running completely
through the copper sheathing and planking.
As attacks by swordfish are included among sea risks, the insurance
company was willing to pay the damages claimed by the owners of the
ship, if only it could be proved that the hole had been really made
by aswordfish. No instances had ever been recorded in which a
swordfish which had passed its beak through three inches of stout
planking could withdraw without the loss of its sword. Mr. Buckland
said that fish have no power of "backing," and expressed his belief
that he could hold a swordfish by the beak; but then he admitted
that the fish had considerable lateral power, and might so "wriggle
its sword out of the hold." And so the insurance company will have
to pay nearly L600 because an ill-tempered fish objected to be
hooked and took its revenge by running full tilt against copper
sheathing and oak planking.
[Illustration: A LONG, SLIM SAILFISH WIGGLING IN THE AIR]
[Illustration: FIGHTING A BROADBILL SWORDFISH]
The food of the swordfish is of a very mixed nature.
Doctor Fleming found the remains of sepias in its stomach, and also
small fishes. Oppian stated that it eagerly devours the _Hippuris_
(probably _Coryphaena_). A specimen taken off Saconnet July 22, 1875, had
in its stomach the remains of small fish, perhaps _Stromateus
triacanthus_, and jaws of a squid, perhaps _Loligo pealin_. Their food
in the western Atlantic consists for the most part of the common
schooling species of fishes. They feed on menhaden, mackerel, bonitoes,
bluefish, and other species which swim in close schools. Their habits of
feeding have often been described to me by old fishermen. They are said
to rise beneath the school of small fish, striking to the right and left
with their swords until they have killed a number, which they then
proceed to devour. Menhaden have been seen floating at the surface which
have been cut nearly in twain by a blow of a sword. Mr. John H. Thompson
remarks that he has seen them apparently throw the fish in the air,
catching them on the fall.
Capt. Benjamin Ashby says that they feed on mackerel, herring, whiting,
and menhaden. He has found half a bucketful of small fish of these kind
in the stomach of one swordfish. He has seen them in the act of feeding.
They rise perpendicularly out of the water until the sword and
two-thirds of the remainder of the body are exposed to view. He has seen
a school of herring at the surface on Georges Banks as closely as they
could be packed. A swordfish came up through the dense mass and fell
flat on its side, striking many fish with the sides of its sword. He has
at one time picked up as much as a bushel of herrings thus killed by a
swordfish on Georges Banks.
But little is known regarding their time and place of breeding. They are
said to deposit their eggs in large quantities on the coasts of Sicily,
and European writers give their spawning-time occurring the latter part
of spring and the beginning of summer. In the Mediterranean they occur
of all sizes from four hundred pounds down, and the young are so
plentiful as to become a common article of food.
M. Raymond, who brought to Cuvier a specimen of aistiophorn four inches
long, taken in January, 1829, in the Atlantic, between the Cape of Good
Hope and France, reported that there were good numbers of young sailfish
in the place where this was taken.
Meunier, quoting Spollongain, states that the swordfish does not
approach the coast of Sicily except in the season of reproduction; the
males are then seen pursuing the females. It is a good time to capture
them, for when the female has been taken the male lingers near and is
easily approached. The fish are abundant in the Straits of Messina from
the middle of April to the middle of September; early in the season they
hug the Calabrian shore, approaching from the north; after the end of
June they are most abundant on the Sicilian shore, approaching from the
south.
From other circumstances, it seems certain that there are
spawning-grounds in the seas near Sicily and Genoa, for from November
to the 1st of March young ones are taken in the Straits of Messina,
ranging in weight from half a pound to twelve pounds.
In the Mediterranean, as has been already stated, the young fish are
found from November to March, and here from July to the middle of
September the male fish are seen pursuing the female over the shoals,
and at this time the males are easily taken. Old swordfish fishermen,
Captain Ashby and Captain Kirby, assure me that on our coast, out of
thousands of specimens they have taken, they have never seen one
containing eggs. I have myself dissected several males, none of which
were near breeding-time. In the European waters they are said often to
be seen swimming in pairs, male and female. Many sentimental stories
were current, especially among the old writers, concerning the conjugal
affection and unselfish devotion of the swordfish, but they seem to have
originated in the imaginative brain of the naturalist rather than in his
perceptive faculties. It is said that when the female fish is taken the
male seems devoid of fear, approaches the boat, and allows himself
easily to be taken, but if this be true, it appears to be the case only
in the height of the breeding season, and is easily understood. I cannot
learn that two swordfish have ever been seen associated together in our
waters, though I have made frequent and diligent inquiry.
There is no inherent improbability, however, in this story regarding the
swordfish in Europe, for the same thing is stated by Professor Poey as
the result upon the habits of _Tetrapturus_.
The only individual of which we have the exact measurements was taken
off Saconnet, Rhode Island, July 23, 1874. This was seven feet seven
inches long, weighing one hundred and thirteen pounds. Another, taken
off No Man's Land, July 20, 1875, and cast in plaster for the collection
of the National Museum, weighed one hundred and twenty pounds and
measured about seven feet. Another, taken off Portland, August 15, 1878,
was 3,999 millimeters long and weighed about six hundred pounds. Many of
these fish doubtless attain the weight of four and five hundred pounds,
and some perhaps grow to six hundred; but after this limit is reached, I
am inclined to believe larger fish are exceptional. Newspapers are fond
of recording the occurrence of giant fish, weighing one thousand pounds
and upward, and old sailors will in good faith describe the enormous
fish which they saw at sea, but could not capture; but one
well-authenticated instance of accurate weighing is much more valuable.
The largest one ever taken by Capt. Benjamin Ashby, for twenty years a
swordfish fisherman, was killed on the shoals back of Edgartown,
Massachusetts. When salted it weighed six hundred and thirty-nine
pounds. Its live weight must have been as much as seven hundred and
fifty or eight hundred. Its sword measured nearly six feet. This was an
extraordinary fish among the three hundred or more taken by Captain
Ashby in his long experience. He considers the average size to be about
two hundred and fifty pounds dressed, or five hundred and twenty-five
alive. Captain Martin, of Gloucester, estimated the average size at
three to four hundred pounds. The largest known to Captain Michaux
weighed six hundred and twenty-eight. The average about Block Island he
considers to be two hundred pounds.
The size of the smallest swordfish taken on our eastern coast is a
subject of much deeper interest, for it throws light on the time and
place of breeding. There is some difference of testimony regarding the
average size, but all fishermen with whom I have talked agree that very
small ones do not find their way into our shore waters. Numerous very
small specimens have, however, been already taken by the Fish Commission
at sea, off our middle and southern coast.
Capt. John Rowe has seen one which did not weigh more than seventy-five
pounds when taken out of the water.
Capt. R. H. Hurlbert killed near Block Island, in July, 1877, one which
weighed fifty pounds and measured about two feet without its sword.
Captain Ashby's smallest weighed about twenty-five pounds when dressed;
this he killed off No Man's Land. He tells me that a Bridgeport smack
had one weighing sixteen pounds (or probably twenty-four when alive),
and measuring eighteen inches without its sword.
In August, 1878, a small specimen of the mackerel-shark, _Lamna
cornubica_, was captured at the mouth of Gloucester Harbor. In its
nostril was sticking a sword, about three inches long, of a young
swordfish. When this was pulled out the blood flowed freely, indicating
that the wound was recent. The fish to which this sword belonged cannot
have exceeded ten or twelve inches in length. Whether the small
swordfish met with its misfortune in our waters, or whether the shark
brought this trophy from beyond the sea, is an unsolved problem.
Lutken speaks of a very young individual taken in the Atlantic, latitude
32 deg. 50' N., 74 deg. 19' W. This must be about one hundred and fifty miles
southeast of Cape Hatteras.
For many years from three to six hundred of these fish have been taken
annually on the New England coast. It is not unusual for twenty-five or
more to be seen in the course of a single day's cruising, and sometimes
as many as this are visible from the masthead at one time. Captain Ashby
saw twenty at one time, in August, 1889, between Georges Banks and the
South Shoals. One Gloucester schooner, _Midnight_, Capt. Alfred Wixom,
took fourteen in one day on Georges Banks in 1877.
Capt. John Rowe obtained twenty barrels, or four thousand pounds, of
salt fish on one trip to Georges Banks; this amount represents twenty
fish or more. Captain Ashby has killed one hundred and eight swordfish
in one year; Capt. M. C. Tripp killed about ninety in 1874.
Such instances as these indicate in a general way the abundance of the
swordfish. A vessel cruising within fifty miles of our coast, between
Cape May and Cape Sable, during the months of June, July, August, and
September, cannot fail, on a favorable day, to come in sight of several
of them. Mr. Earll states that the fishermen of Portland never knew them
more abundant than in 1879. This is probably due in part to the fact
that the fishery there is of a very recent origin.
There is no evidence of any change in their abundance, either increase
or decrease. Fishermen agree that they are as plentiful as ever, nor can
any change be anticipated. The present mode does not destroy them in any
considerable numbers, each individual fish being the object of special
pursuit. The solitary habits of the species will always protect them
from wholesale capture, so destructive to schooling fish. Even if this
were not the case, the evidence proves that spawning swordfish do not
frequent our waters. When a female shad is killed, thousands of possible
young die also. The swordfish taken by our fishermen carry no such
precious burden.
"The small swordfish is very good meat," remarked Josselyn, in writing
of the fishes of England in the seventeenth century. Since Josselyn
probably never saw a young swordfish, unless at some time he had visited
the Mediterranean, it is fair to suppose that his information was
derived from some Italian writer.
It is, however, a fact that the flesh of the swordfish, though somewhat
oily, is a very acceptable article of food. Its texture is coarse; the
thick, fleshy, muscular layers cause it to resemble that of the halibut
in constituency. Its flavor is by many considered fine, and is not
unlike that of the bluefish. Its color is gray. The meat of the young
fish is highly prized on the Mediterranean, and is said to be perfectly
white, compact, and of delicate flavor. Swordfish are usually cut up
into steaks--thick slices across the body--and may be broiled or boiled.
The apparatus ordinarily employed for the capture of the swordfish is
simple in the extreme. It is the harpoon with the detachable head. When
the fish is struck, the head of the harpoon remains in the body of the
fish, and carries with it a light rope which is either made fast or held
by a man in a small boat, or is attached to some kind of a buoy, which
is towed through the water by the struggling fish, and which marks its
whereabouts after death.
The harpoon consists of a pole fifteen or sixteen feet in length,
usually of hickory or some other hard wood, upon which the bark has been
left, so that the harpooner may have a firmer hand-grip. This pole is
from an inch and a half to two inches in diameter, and at one end is
provided with an iron rod, or "shank," about two feet long and
five-eighths of an inch in diameter. This "shank" is fastened to the
pole by means of a conical or elongated, cuplike expansion at one end,
which fits over the sharpened end of the pole, to which it is secured by
screws or spikes. A light line extends from one end of the pole to the
point where it joins the "shank" and in this line is tied a loop by
which is made fast another short line which secures the pole to the
vessel or boat, so that when it is thrown at the fish it cannot be lost.
Upon the end of the "shank" fits the head of the harpoon, known by the
names swordfish-iron, lily-iron, and Indian dart. The form of this
weapon has undergone much variation. The fundamental idea may very
possibly have been derived from the Indian fish-dart, numerous specimens
of which are in the National Museum, from various tribes of Indians of
New England, British America, and the Pacific. However various the
modifications may have been, the similarity of the different shapes is
no less noteworthy from the fact that all are peculiarly American. In
the enormous collection of fishery implements of all lands at the late
exhibition at Berlin, nothing of the kind could be found. What is known
to whalers as a toggle-harpoon is a modification of the lily-iron, but
so greatly changed by the addition of a pivot by which the head of the
harpoon is fastened to the shank that it can hardly be regarded as the
same weapon. The lily-iron is, in principle, exactly what a whaleman
would describe by the word "toggle." It consists of a two-pointed piece
of metal, having in the center, at one side, a ring or socket the axis
of which is parallel with the long diameter of the implement. In this is
inserted the end of the pole-shank, and to it or near it is also
attached the harpoon-line. When the iron has once been thrust point
first through some solid substance, such as the side of a fish, and is
released upon the other side by the withdrawal of the pole from the
socket, it is free, and at once turns its long axis at right angle to
the direction in which the harpoon-line is pulling, and this is
absolutely prevented from withdrawal. The principle of the whale harpoon
or toggle-iron is similar, except that the pole is not withdrawn, and
the head, turning upon a pivot at its end, fastens the pole itself
securely to the fish, the harpoon-line being attached to some part of
the pole. The swordfish lily-iron head, as now ordinarily used, is about
four inches in length, and consists of two lanceolate blades, each about
an inch and a half long, connected by a central piece much thicker than
they, in which, upon one side, and next to the flat side of the blade,
is the socket for the insertion of the pole-shank. In this same central
enlargement is forged an opening to which the harpoon-line is attached.
The dart-head is usually made of steel; sometimes of iron, which is
generally galvanized; sometimes of brass.
The entire weight of the harpoon--pole, shank, and head--should not
exceed eighteen pounds.
The harpoon-line is from fifty to one hundred and fifty fathoms long,
and is ordinarily what is known as "fifteen-thread line." At the end is
sometimes fastened a buoy, and an ordinary mackerel-keg is generally
used for this purpose.
In addition to the harpoon every swordfish fisherman carries a lance.
This implement is precisely similar to a whaleman's lance, except that
it is smaller, consisting of a lanceolate blade perhaps one inch wide
and two inches long, upon the end of a shank of five-eighths-inch iron,
perhaps two or three feet in length, fastened in the ordinary way upon a
pole fifteen to eighteen feet in length.
The swordfish are always harpooned from the end of the bowsprit of a
sailing-vessel. It is next to impossible to approach them in a small
boat. All vessels regularly engaged in this fishery are supplied with a
special apparatus called a "rest," or "pulpit," for the support of the
harpooner as he stands on the bowsprit, and this is almost essential to
success, although it is possible for an active man to harpoon a fish
from this station without the aid of the ordinary framework. Not only
the professional swordfish fisherman, but many mackerel-schooners and
packets are supplied in this manner.
The swordfish never comes to the surface except in moderate, smooth
weather. A vessel cruising in search of them proceeds to the
fishing-ground, and cruises hither and thither wherever the abundance of
small fish indicates that they ought to be found. Vessels which are met
are hailed and asked whether any swordfish have been seen, and if
tidings are thus obtained the ship's course is at once laid for the
locality where they were last noticed. A man is always stationed at the
masthead, where, with the keen eye which practice has given him, he can
easily descry the telltale dorsal fins at a distance of two or three
miles. When a fish has once been sighted, the watch "sings out," and the
vessel is steered directly toward it. The skipper takes his place in the
"pulpit" holding the pole in both hands by the small end, and directing
the man at the wheel by voice and gesture how to steer. There is no
difficulty in approaching the fish with a large vessel, although, as has
already been remarked, they will not suffer a small boat to come near
them. The vessel plows and swashes through the water, plunging its
bowsprit into the waves without exciting their fears. Noises frighten
them and drive them down. Although there would be no difficulty in
bringing the end of a bowsprit directly over the fish, a skilful
harpooner never waits for this. When the fish is from six to ten feet in
front of the vessel it is struck. The harpoon is never thrown, the pole
being too long. The strong arm of the harpooner punches the dart into
the back of the fish, right at the side of the high dorsal fin, and the
pole is withdrawn and fastened again to its place. When the dart has
been fastened to the fish the line is allowed to run out as far as the
fish will carry it, and is then passed in a small boat, which is towing
at the stern. Two men jump into this, and pull in upon the line until
the fish is brought in alongside; it is then killed with a whale-lance
or a whale-spade, which is stuck into the gills.
The fish having been killed, it is lifted upon the deck by a purchase
tackle of two double blocks rigged in the shrouds.
The pursuit of the swordfish is much more exciting than ordinary
fishing, for it resembles the hunting of large animals upon the land and
partakes more of the nature of the chase. There is no slow and careful
baiting and patient waiting, and no disappointment caused by the
accidental capture of worthless "bait-stealers." The game is seen and
followed, and outwitted by wary tactics, and killed by strength of arm
and skill. The swordfish is a powerful antagonist sometimes, and sends
his pursuers' vessel into harbor leaking, and almost sinking, from
injuries he has inflicted. I have known a vessel to be struck by wounded
swordfish as many as twenty times in a season. There is even the spice
of personal danger to savor the chase, for the men are occasionally
wounded by the infuriated fish. One of Captain Ashby's crew was severely
wounded by a swordfish which thrust his beak through the oak floor of a
boat on which he was standing, and penetrated about two inches in his
naked heel. The strange fascination draws men to this pursuit when they
have once learned its charms. An old swordfish fisherman, who had
followed the pursuit for twenty years, told me that when he was on the
cruising-ground, he fished all night in his dreams, and that many a time
he has rubbed the skin off his knuckles by striking them against the
ceiling of his bunk when he raised his arms to thrust the harpoon into
visionary monster swordfishes.
_The Spear-fish or Bill-fish_
The bill-fish or spear-fish, _Tetrapturus indicus_ (with various related
forms, which may or may not be specifically identical), occurs in the
western Atlantic from the West Indies (latitude 10 deg. to 20 deg. N.) to
southern England (latitude 40 deg. N.); in the eastern Atlantic, from
Gibraltar (latitude 45 deg. N.) to the Cape of Good Hope (latitude 30 deg. S.)
in the Indian Ocean, the Malay Archipelago, New Zealand (latitude 40 deg.
S.), and on the west coast of Chile and Peru. In a general way, the
range is between latitude 40 deg. N. and latitude 40 deg. S.
The species of _Tetrapturus_ which we have been accustomed to call _T.
albidus_, abundant about Cuba, is not very usual on the coast of
southern New England. Several are taken every year by the swordfish
fishermen. I have not known of their capture along the southern Atlantic
coast of the United States. All I have known about were taken between
Sandy Hook and the eastern part of Georges Banks.
The Mediterranean spear-fish, _Tetrapturus balone_, appears to be a
landlocked form, never passing west of the Straits of Gibraltar.
The spear-fish in our waters is said by our fishermen to resemble the
swordfish in its movements and manner of feeding. Professor Poey
narrates that both the Cuban species swim at a depth of one hundred
fathoms, and they journey in pairs, shaping their course toward the Gulf
of Mexico, the females being full of eggs. Only adults are taken. It is
not known whence they come, or where they breed, or how the young
return. It is not even known whether the adult fish return by the same
route. When the fish has swallowed the hook it rises to the surface,
making prodigious leaps and plunges. At last it is dragged to the boat,
secured with a boat-hook, and beaten to death before it is hauled on
board. Such fishing is not without danger, for the spear-fish sometimes
rushes upon the boat, drowning the fisherman, or wounding him with its
terrible weapon. The fish becomes furious at the appearance of sharks,
which are its natural enemies. They engage in violent combats, and when
the spear-fish is attached to the fisherman's line it often receives
frightful wounds from the adversaries.
The spear-fish strikes vessels in the same manner as the swordfish. I am
indebted to Capt. William Spicer, of Noank, Connecticut, for this note: