294: PRODIGIOUS STRENGTH OF THE SWORD-FISH. 



wood. A fragment of this vessel, with the sword fixed 

 firmly in it, is preserved as a curiosity in the British 

 Museum. 



Several instances of a similar character have occurred, 

 and one formed the subject of an action in the courts of law 

 so recently as 1868, brought against an insurance company 

 for damages sustained by a vessel from the attack of one of 

 these fishes. It seems the Dreadnought^ a first-class mercan- 

 tile ship, left a foreign port in perfect repair, and on the 

 afternoon of the third day a " monstrous creature" was seen 

 sporting among the waves, and lines and hooks were thrown 

 overboard to capture it. All efforts to this effect, however, 

 failed: the fish got away, and in the night-time the vessel 

 was reported to be dangerously leaking. The captain was 

 compelled to return to the harbor he had left, and the dam- 

 age was attributed to a sword-fish, twelve feet long, which 

 had assailed the ship below water-line, perforated her 

 planks and timbers, and thus imperilled her existence on 

 the ocean. 



Professor Owen, the distinguished naturalist, was called 

 to give evidence on this trial as to the probability of such 

 an occurrence, and he related several instances of the pro- 

 digious strength of the " sword." It strikes with the ac- 

 cumulated force of fifteen double-handed hammers; its 

 velocity is equal to that of a swivel shot, and it is as dan- 

 gerous in its effects as a heavy artillery projectile would be. 



Oppian describes the sword-fish when attacked : 



" He summons to Lis instant aid 

 The oft-tried prowess of his trusty blade ; 

 Selects some boat, and runs his puissant sword 

 Full many an inch within the fatal board." 



In remarking upon beautiful fishes, it would be quite out 

 of the limits of a small publication like the present to 

 attempt more than a bare mention of a few species of the 



