An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)Dobrizhoffer, Martin
History
An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)
Dobrizhoffer, Martin
Abipon Indians; Jesuits -- Missions; Paraguay -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
that I used, was an iron hook baited with a piece of fresh beef.
LITTLE FLYING-FISH.
Flying-fish are about the size of a large herring; their body is oblong
and smaller at the tail; their head large and flat; their eyes round and
big, with immense pupils, and surrounded by a yellow circle, and another
larger blackish one: their mouth is middle-sized, destitute of teeth,
but armed with jaws slightly denticulated. The tail is wide and forked;
the wings very large, and composed of a membrane thinner than paper, of
a whitish grey colour. They are furnished with six small fins, a bony
shell, pointed at the end, and scales of various colours and forms, but
shining like those of a herring. They fly out of the water to avoid the
dorados, which try to catch them; but in a few moments, as soon, in
fact, as their wings are dried by the air, fall back into the sea, and
being again moistened are enabled to renew their flight. In various seas
they are of various forms and sizes. The Portugueze sailors do not
refuse to eat their flesh.
THE SHARK.
But as men of this description have generally too large appetites, and
capacious stomachs to be satisfied with "such small deer," they prefer
larger fish, especially sharks, numbers of which they caught, during
their voyage, with an iron hook many pounds weight. Sharks generally
follow ships, and swallow whatever is thrown out of them, whether it be
dead bodies or any other filthy trash. They are of such vast size and
weight, that twelve stout sailors are scarce sufficient to drag one with
a rope from the sea into the ship. Nor should you be surprized at this,
for a shark is about nine feet long, and three or more wide. Its horrid
jaws, which contain a triple row of serrated triangular teeth, are
prepared to tear any thing. It has a fierce, and ever watchful look. It
is covered with very rough skin of various colours. Whenever a shark was
taken and gutted by the sailors, its stomach presented a ridiculous
spectacle; it looked like a broker's shop full of all sorts of trumpery.
In it we found worn out garments, old drawers, hats, whole fowls, and
whatever had been thrown by the sailors into the sea. When I found this,
I always suspended stones, or cannon balls, to human bodies before I
committed them to the waves, that they might sink to the bottom, lest
floating on the surface, they should be torn to pieces by sharks. The
flesh of this fish, though very white, was tasted by none but hungry
sailors; though the females are despised by them even. One, which I had
seen them take with immense labour, they threw back into the sea, on
discovering its sex. I cannot tell why they make this distinction. The
Abipones roast and eat female locusts, but loathe and reject the males,
for reasons known to themselves alone.
DOLPHINS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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