The stingray is another native of these seas, the meat of which is much esteemed by the Creoles. This fish is armed with a long, slender tail, in the middle of which is a sharp barb; with this instrument the stingray beats the water, or anything that approaches it, rapidly, when attacked. The negro fishermen allege, that the stroke from the stingray’s tail products leprosy, for which cause they are very careful in approaching it; and a circumstance has been related of a person having been thrown into a frenzy for forty-eight hours after being struck by this formidable weapon. The _corramou_ is the salmon of the Antiguan fisheries, as far as regards superiority of flavour. It is caught in the fresh-water stream which runs throughout the Island, but is rather scarce; it is the most delicate of the West Indian fish, and ought to be cooked as soon as taken from its parent stream. Snappers, hinds, silks, mullets, doctors, angels, old wives, nurses, Spanish mackerel, &c., are among the other kinds of fish exposed for sale in the Antiguan markets, some of which are noted for their excellent taste, the others for their brilliancy of hue; indeed, the most diversified colours, as yellow, purple, pink, orange, green, and blue, chequered with gold and silver, and the whole happily blended together, are to be observed in almost every species. The parrot fish is the most beautiful of its tribe. Its scales are of the deepest emerald, and its eyes, composed of different coloured circles, are as clear as crystal. It feeds upon shell-fish, which it crushes between its bony jaws, nature having armed it with such instruments in place of teeth. The negroes always call it “blue parrat;” its flesh is much esteemed by them, but the flavour is so rank, that it is never admitted at any respectable table. It sometimes attains the weight of from sixteen to twenty pounds. There are a great number of other edible fish which might be deservedly mentioned, but the pages of this work have so multiplied, that I must pass them over without further mention. ------ [60] The negroes term all cats, but more particularly kittens, “pussy.” [61] The whale belongs to the class _mammalia;_ order, _cete_. The food of the whale is lump fish, and small marine insects. Whalebone is procured from the lamina in the upper jaw, (commonly called whiskers,) which supplies the want of teeth. It is split and prepared for use in England. [62] The grampus generally measures from 15 to 25 feet, and is of great circumference. It is a very voracious fish, feeding upon its neighbour the porpoise, when able. It also attacks the whale, and sometimes makes that huge animal cry out with pain. Pliny, the great Roman naturalist, who perished in that awful eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in A.D. 79, which also destroyed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, when speaking of the grampus, says, “it is an immense heap of flesh, armed with dreadful teeth.”