PILOT-FISH. 249 



them, earned, for some time, four shillings a day by selling 

 them at a halfpenny a bushel. It is said, that the inhabit- 

 ants of the country around Dantzic collect Sticklebacks 

 in great numbers, and squeeze them in presses, for the 

 purpose of obtaining oil, which they find useful for burn- 

 ing. These little creatures attack their enemies furiously, 

 by erecting, and sticking them with, the three sharp spines 

 upon their back. They feed on small worms, the spawn 

 and young of other kinds of fish, and also on several kinds 

 of water-insects. So short-lived are they, that they are 

 said seldom to attain their third year. They deposit their 

 spawn on aquatic plants, about the months of April and 

 May. 



The principal characteristic of this diminutive fish is 

 its having three spines on its back, capable of being 

 erected or depressed at pleasure. The belly is prominent; 

 and the body, near the tail, is square. The sides are 

 covered with large, bony, transverse plates. The colour 

 of the back and sides is an olive-green. The belly is 

 generally white, but, in some individuals, it is of a bright 

 crimson. 



Pilot-fish. It is the singular propensity and habits 

 of this species of stickleback, which is an inhabitant of 

 nearly all the seas of hot climates, to swim in shoals 

 round sharks, and probably for the purpose of feeding 

 on such prey as is left by these voracious inhabitants of 

 the deep. They also swim round vessels, and probably 

 for the offal which is thrown overboard ; and it is said, 

 that, when once they accompany a ship, they always 

 continue with it until it arrives in port. Du Tertre 

 informs us that he has seen one of them swim before a 

 ship for five hundred leagues. It is from this circum- 



M 5 



