THE MONSTERS OF THE ATLANTIC. 175 



the wild bonnds, and the rapid assaults which dis- 

 turb the liquid plain, — that tempest of a battle, and 

 can reahse the appearance of the wild turmoil and of 

 the bloody' corpses, you will be able to form some 

 notion of the horrible reality." 



Such tales of warfare among these monsters of 

 the sea might seem fabulous if our museums of 

 natural history did not contain specimens of the 

 weapon of the saw-fish which have been authenti- 

 cated as having been extracted from the bellies of 

 whales ; whilst those who have witnessed these com- 

 bats have waited near the scene of bloodshed until 

 they could gather up the relics of the struggle with- 

 out the slightest danger, and then victors and 

 vanquished have been boiled together in one 

 pot, and have mingled their oils in one common 

 receptacle. 



I Avill not weary my readers by enumerating the 

 long series of names which naturalists have bestowed 

 upon the saw-fish, and of the distinctions which 

 have been established between the different species 

 of this clan of squalida, among which must be 

 ranked the narwhal, one of the most dangerous of 

 the enemies of the whale. 



Inoffensive as he is, the mighty cetacean is ex- 

 posed to the attacks of a vast variety of persecutors 

 of every size — the shell-worm eats into his sides ; 

 the fighting dolphin {orca gladiator) attacks him ; 

 the saw-fish transpierces him ; man harpoons him, 



