166 SPOKT IN XOKTH AMEEICA. 



SO large that tliey seemed to drag the ship, and 

 I frequently required the help of two sailors to get 

 them on board. When lying on the deck, they beat 

 time with their tails as regularly as if with a drum- 

 stick. One of the most remarkable appearances 

 about these monsters was the chameleon-like shades 

 of their skin, which changed from gold to lapis lazuli, 

 and from that to emerald, sapphire, and silver. When 

 the belly was opened to take out the entrails and 

 cut the fish up in pieces for the cook, a basketful of 

 flying fish would be found lying side by side, all with 

 their tails downwards, which leads one to infer that 

 the dolphin follows the flying fish and swallows him 

 tail first. 



The length of these dolphins varied from three to 

 five feet, and the weight was from ten to thirty-five 

 pounds. Their bulk is small when compared Avith 

 their length; the flesh is firm and white, and 

 resembles that of the tunny or sturgeon, though 

 somewhat insipid to my taste. 



On the evening of that memorable day two sharks 

 were harpooned by our sailors. One was a female, 

 of seven feet long, in the belly of which were two 

 young sharks, alive, and quite ready to start on their 

 own account. One of them was thrown into the 

 sea, and he set off swimming as if he had been 

 accustomed to that exercise for years. The other 

 shark was a male fish. They both supplied capital 

 bait for the dolphin fishers. 



