252 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



fishing parties were camped there ; and " Wiseman," one 

 of the oldest and best fishermen in the bay, had the coast 

 nearly to himself. Now there is a regular canvas town 

 of fishermen's tents here during the season, and I have 

 counted between forty and fifty boats on the snapper 

 ground at one time. 



The seapike runs to 5 or 6 Ibs., and much resembles 

 the seapike at home. The gar-fish sometimes run to a 

 good size, are taken in large shoals, and sold by the 

 basketful. 



There are a great many dog-fish in these bays, of 

 different species ; and one which we called the pig-headed 

 dog-fish is curious and interesting, as being antediluvian ; 

 in fact, many of the common fishes peculiar to these seas 

 are of the earliest kind, and have for the most part a 

 cartilaginous structure ; and it is worthy of remark, as 

 Professor Owen observes, that we have both in the 

 botany, zoology, and ichthyology of Australia a striking 

 analogy to that of the Oolite ^3Era (of geologists), a 

 period in the earliest stage of creation, when the mam- 

 malia first appeared. 



I have seen some fair-sized sharks taken in both these 

 bays, and one monster, which must have rivalled Port- 

 Boyal Tom, haunted our bay for a season, and if he were 

 only half as large as the fishermen represented, must 

 have indeed been a wonderful fish ; I don't think, how- 

 ever, we had any ground-sharks ; I never heard of a 

 whale finding its way in at the Heads ; at times heads of 

 large porpoises would show themselves, but neither in 



