FISH.
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principally the " horse-eyed cavallie," the yellow-billed sprat, and the conger eel : the flesh of the yellow-billed sprat has often proved fatal to those who have eaten it, and it has been known for death to take place six hours after tasting it. The poison is said by some to be contained in the head. 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 produces 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 shellfish, 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