334 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



more reference to old times must be permitted. Mr. Goode tells us that> 

 in Siena, Columbus deposited mementos of his first voyage, which resulted 

 in the discovery of a New World. The objects are still in the old collegiate 

 church, and consist of the helmet, armor, and weapons he wore when he 

 first planted his feet on American soil, "and the weapon of a warrior 

 killed by his party when approaching the American coast — the sword of 

 a sword-fish." 



The sword-fish is exceedingly pugnacious, and it would seem that all 

 its ire is aroused at the sight of a whale. It fights, as a warrior should, 



Fig. 313. — Sail-fish (Hisiicphorus gladins). 



with its trusty blade, and the stroke of this weapon has a fearful force. 

 It uses the sword to kill the fish it eats, and instances are numerous where 

 it has been driven through the sides of ships. In one instance cited by 

 Mr. Goode the sword " had been driven through the copper sheathing, an 

 inch board undersheathing, a three-inch plank of hard wood, the solid 

 white-oak timber twelve inches thick, then through another half-inch hard 

 oak ceiling, and lastly penetrated the head of an oil-cask, where it stuck, 

 not a drop of the oil having escaped." The force with which the fish must 

 have struck can hardly be imagined. 



