62 BASKING SHARK. 



thoroughly relished by all tastes. Rondeletius goes further, and 

 says that the smell itself was so nauseous as to destroy the 

 appetite for all besides that was on the table. The Leading 

 Whale, ( Ddpliinus melas,) which exceeds the length of twenty 

 feet, was one of those that were thus elevated into a dainty; 

 for it is to this that I would without hesitation refer the account 

 given in "Notes and Queries," for June 2Tth., 1857, as an 

 extract of an ancient chronicle of Jersey. From this we learn 

 that in the month of May, 1575, a herd, eighty-seven in number, 

 ran themselves on shore in that island, and were taken posses- 

 sion of by the Governor. Each one was a load for a waggon; 

 but they were sent as presents, not for their oil, but as delicacies, 

 to the principal persons of the island. Pomet, an apothecary, 

 who wrote a History of Drugs in French, gives an account of 

 the value then set on these Whales; but by comparing his 

 text with the figure he gives of the creature so highly esteemed, 

 there is no mistaking the fact that the Basking Shark is the 

 species represented; and which had thus been advanced to an 

 honour not properly due to it, without the discovery of that 

 error by the guests; their politeness of course preventing the 

 expression of dislike, however nauseous the taste of the dish 

 might be. 



This fish performs a regular migration along the west coast 

 of Ireland, to the western islands of Scotland; and it is at this 

 time that a regular fishery is carried on for taking them, of 

 which the following description is given by W. Brabazon, Esq., 

 in his account of the fisheries of Ireland: — "If the end of April 

 is hot, the Sunfish (locally so named) are certain to shew above 

 the water, and remain on the (Clew) bank till the middle of 

 May. This large shoal of Sharks pass annually at this season 

 along the west coast, on their way from the southern to the 

 northern seas. They are taken on the Sunfish bank, situated 

 about a hundred miles west of Clew bay, and extending many 

 miles north and south. The fishermen there reckon it a day's 

 sail out of sight of land. They are found on the bank in 

 great numbers, and their large dorsal fin is seen at a great 

 distance, as it rises three or four feet out of the water, while 

 they lie motionless on the surface basking in the sun. At this 

 time they are easily approached, and struck with a harpoon; 

 the boat employed for this purpose approaches the fish with a 



