436 Notes 011 Sport and Travel v 



the upper jaw being reduced to almost nothing, while 

 the lower is developed into a long horny beak like a 

 snipe with its upper mandible broken short off, are 

 much given to these ' territs and frights ' when 

 asleep on the surface of the calm, sunny, southern 

 seas. I was sitting once in a canoe, within two feet 

 of a worthy missionary (for there be such things, 

 though rare), when suddenly a flight of these fishes 

 some two or three feet long, rose from the surface of 

 the sea, and sprang across the canoe. One of them 

 in passing caught the padre a sound thwack on his 

 ribs, knocked the scales off on his coat, and fell 

 stunned into the bottom of the boat ; and a very 

 good dinner we made off him. In this case we can 

 hardly imagine that the fish was actuated by any 

 animus against either the person or the doctrine of 

 the ' sky-pilot,' as the sailors love to call that class 

 of men. Luckily there was no harm done, but the 

 Kanaka who was paddling told me that he had known 

 more than one case of men, of course unclothed, being 

 mortally wounded by the half-beak striking them full 

 and fair between the ribs with its hard and strong jaw. 

 In this he was corroborated by the missionary, and 

 from the severity of the glance blow he got, I am well 

 inclined to believe them both on this subject at least. 

 Absence of animus is, I believe, somxtimes 

 advanced in favour of an accused person ; and it 

 would certainly be very difficult to imagine any 

 reason for a hostile animus between the grampus, 

 the fox-shark, or the sword-fish, and any known 



