312 CHONDROPTERYGII. SHARK FAMILY. 



move till the united strength of two men has forced 

 in the harpoon deeper. As soon as they perceive 

 themselves wounded, they fling up their tail, plimge 

 headlong to the bottom, and frequently coil the 

 rope round them in their agonies; attempting to 

 disengage the harpoon from them by rolling on the 

 ground, for it is often found greatly bent. As soon 

 as they discover that their efforts are vain, they 

 swim away with amazing rapidity, and with such 

 violence, that there has been an instance of a vessel 

 of seventy tons having been towed away against a 

 fresh gale. They sometimes run off ^vith two hun- 

 dred fathoms of line, and with two harpoons in them, 

 and will employ the fishers from twelve to twenty- 

 four hours before they are subdued."* As might 

 be inferred from its less formidable armature of teeth, 

 the Basking Shark is less voracious than its conge- 

 ners, feeding on the roe of echini, medusas, and, ac- 

 cording to Pennant, marine plants. The liver is of 

 large size, and in one fish measuring twenty-six feet, 

 yielded one hundred and fifty gallons of oil; in 

 other instances eight barrels of oil have been pro- 

 cured. From this scource, the fishermen have some- 

 times realized a profit of £ 20 from a single fish. 

 It is said by Dr. Fleming to be couimon on the west 

 coast of Scotland, particularly during the prevalence 

 of a west wind. It has been taken nearlv all round 

 the British Islands, as w^ell as on the coast of Ire- 

 land. It occasionally enters the Firth of Forth. 

 Gen. CXII. Alopias. — This genus can never be 



* Pennant 's Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 138. 



