144 SCOMBERID.E. 



the fact was ascertained beyond a doubt/"' — In October 

 1834, a party of gentleman in their pleasure-boat fishing in 

 the sea off the Essex coast, saw something bulky floating on 

 the water at a short distance. On coming up with it, they 

 found it to be a dead Swordfish, ten feet long, of which the 

 sword measured three feet : decomposition, however, was 

 going on so rapidly, that a skeleton of the bones, which were 

 entire, was the only portion that could be made available to 

 any useful purpose. 



The Swordfish was first noticed in our seas by Sibbald ; 

 since which Dr. Leach, Mr. Pennant, Dr. Fleming, Dr. 

 Knox, and Dr. Grant have each had opportunities of 

 examining specimens obtained in different parts of Scotland. 

 Still farther northward there is scarcely a writer on Ich- 

 thyology but mentions the Swordfish, several having been 

 taken in various parts of the Baltic. 



The Swordfish is supposed to entertain great hostility to 

 the Whale, and accounts of conflicts that have been wit- 

 nessed are recorded by mariners. Captain Crow, in a work 

 lately published, relates the following as having occurred on 

 a voyage to Memel : — " One morning during a calm, when 

 near the Hebrides, all hands were called up at three a.m. to 

 witness a battle between several of the fish called Thrashers, 

 or Fox Sharks ( Carcharias vulpes)^ and some Swordfish on 

 one side, and an enormous whale on the other. It was in 

 the middle of summer, and the weather being clear and the 

 fish close to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity of wit- 

 nessing the contest. As soon as the whale''s back appeared 

 above the water, the thrashers springing several yards into 

 the air, descended with great violence upon the object of their 

 rancour, and inflicted upon him the most severe slaps with 

 their long tails, the sound of which resembled the reports of 

 muskets fired at a distance. The Swordfish, in their turn, 



