THE SHARK. 267 



On the 18th of March, 1831, during my former 

 voyage, in lat. 44*^ 56' north, and long. 25" 10' 

 west ; in the evening, two sharks of a very large 

 size were seen at a short distance from the ship. 

 A high dorsal fin, projecting from the water, 

 was at first only discernible, and had a resem- 

 blance to a rock.* It was at first stationary, but 

 soon began to move steadily along, and then 

 occasionally the tail could be seen partially above 

 the water. I know not to what species to refer 

 it ; one of the crew on board, who had been in 

 a whaler, said that it was what they named a 

 " bo?ie shark," which is seen in numbers along- 

 side the ships when they are cutting up a whale. 

 He said, also, that he had seen them as large as 

 a twenty-barrel whale; that "the mouth re- 

 sembled the gill of a fish, and they are spotted 

 over the back." Whether the latter part of this 

 account accorded with the actual appearance of 

 the fish, I was not suflficiently near to ascertain, 

 but it appeared correct with respect to its large 

 size. 



The natives of the Polynesian islands have 



* Being at first stationary, and of a dark colour, a ship 

 passing it rapidly might have considered it as one, and re- 

 ported accordingly, and such a circumstance has no doubt 

 caused many rocks to be laid down in the charts which have 

 actually no existence. 



