FOR THE PUPIL
The toadfish of this story is Batrachus tau, sometimes called oyster-fish or sapo. The fishing-frog or angler is by some called toadfish, as is also the swell-fish or common puffer of the Atlantic Coast.
Page 21
Buzzards Bay: Where is Buzzards Bay? Do you know Whittier’s beautiful poem, The Prayer of Agassiz, which begins:—
“On the isle of Penikese
Ringed about by sapphire seas.”
Where is Penikese? What waters are those “sapphire seas,” and what was Agassiz doing there?
Page 23
Davy Jones: Who is Davy Jones? Look him up under Jones, Davy, in your dictionary of Proper Names. Get into the “looking up” habit. Never let anything in your reading, that you do not understand, go unlooked up.
Old Man of the Sea: Look him up too. Are he and Davy Jones any relation?
It was really a fish: What names do you think of that might fit this fish?
Page 24
coarsely marbled with a darker hue: What is the meaning of marbled?
Page 25
covered with water: The author means that the rock is not always covered with water, not the hole under the rock. Of course the hole is always built so that it is full of water, else the fish would perish at low tide.