620 



The Living Animals of the World 



cetaceans, which they invari- 

 ably succeed in killing by 

 repeated thrusts of the sword. 

 It appears that occasionally 

 sword-fishes make a mistake, 

 and, after the fashion of Don 

 Quixote, tilt at windmills, in 

 the shape of large vessels, 

 under the impression that 

 they are whales. But this 

 most grave error of judgment 

 brings with it a heavy penalty, 

 in that, having no power to 

 make effective backward move- 

 ments, the sword remains 



fixed, and is eventually broken off in the struggle for freedom. Frank Buckland reminds us 

 that in the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons, London, is a section of the bow of 

 a whaler impaled by one of these swords. That portion of the sword which remains is 1 foot 

 long and 5 inches in circumference. " At one single blow," he writes, " the fish had plunged 

 his sword through, and completely transfixed 13| inches of solid timber. The sword had of 

 course broken off and prevented a dangerous leak in the ship." In the British Museum is 

 a second specimen of a ship's side in which the sword of a sword-fish is fixed. 



Pkoto by A. S. liudland & Sons. 



SWORD-PISH. 



The huge back-fin is said to -be often used as a sail when the fish is floating near the surface 



of the water. 



CHAPTER IV. 



HAIR-TAILS, HORSE-MACKERELS, SEA-BATS, DORIES, MACKERELS, SUCKING- 

 FISHES, WEAVERS, FROG-FISHES, ANGLER-FISHES, BULL-HEADS, AND 

 GURNARDS. 



BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S. 



OF the family of HAIR-TAILS perhaps the most important members are the SCABBARD- or 

 FROST-FISH and the SNOEK. The first is common in the Mediterranean and the 

 warmer parts of the Atlantic, extending northwards to the south coast of England, 

 where it occurs at rare intervals. It is also known in New Zealand, where it is called 

 the Frost-fish, and furthermore is regarded as one of the most delicious fish of the colony, its 

 flesh being fine, tender, and of delicate flavour. On this account it is much in demand, but 

 the supply is very uncertain. The conditions of capture, indeed, of this fish are unparalleled 

 in the annals of fishing, for it can be taken neither with the rod nor the net. The would-be 

 captor has to wait patientlv under favourable conditions on the seashore for the fish to come 



Photo by Percy Ashenden.] 



[Cape Town. 



SKOEK. 



This fish is also known as the Barracuda. 



