THE MONSTERS OF THE ATLANTIC. 169 



they go to meet it. They are also supposed to foretell 

 bad weather, and there is a belief that they are 

 blind for one month in every year. 



Their appearance was a good augury to our 

 voyage, and for this reason they ought to have 

 been spared; but, as with all kinds of sportsmen, 

 all is fish to the fisherman, and we set to work to 

 do our best to catch some of these monster fishes. 

 Throughout the day, they kept their distance from 

 the ship ; but after supper the moon rose brightly, 

 and enabled us to perceive three huge porpoises 

 within a dozen yards of the sides at the most. The 

 cook of the San Christoval, who was a very skilful 

 harpooner, quickly seized a weapon, and, during a 

 favourable moment, struck one of the porpoises right 

 between the shoulders^ just at the junction of the 

 head with the body, and with such efi'ect that it 

 could not free itself. After trying all it could, we 

 managed to haul it on the deck, where it gave vent 

 to a loud groan, flapped about its tail and fins, and 

 soon breathed its last. We left it there until the 

 next morning, and immediately after breakfast 

 Master Daniel invited us to come and see the 

 creature cut up. We found the intestines still 

 warm, and resembling in their arrangement those 

 of a pig. In the stomach were several cuttle fish, 

 half digested. The lower jaw projected beyond the 

 upper one by about seven inches, and both jaws 

 were furnished with single rows of conical teeth, 



