A SHIP ATTACKED BY A SWORD-FISH. 281 



eye-contouring is easy, light, and effective. On this 

 system all that is necessary is that the surveyor 

 should consider what routes persons moving horizon- 

 tally would pursue. He draws lines on his chart 

 approximating as closely as possible to these imagi- 

 nary lines. It is evident that when lines are thus 

 drawn for different vertical elevations, the resulting 

 shading will be dark or light, according as the slope is 

 steep or gentle. This method of shading affords scope 

 as well for surveying skill as for draughtsmanship. 



(From Once a Week, May 1, 1869.) 



A SHIP ATTACKED BY A SWORD-FISH. 



WE have always been puzzled to imagine how the 

 " nine-and-twenty knights of fame," described in the 

 " Lay of the Last Minstrel," managed to " drink the red 

 wine through the helmet barred." But in Nature we 

 meet with animals who seem almost as inconveniently 

 armed as those chosen knights, who 



. . . " quitted not their armor bright, 

 Neither by day, nor yet by night." 



Among such animals the sword-fish must be recog- 

 nized as one of the most uncomfortably-armed crea- 

 tures in existence. The shark has to turn on his back 

 before he can eat, and the attitude scarcely seems sug- 

 gestive of a comfortable meal. But the sword-fish can 



