CHAPTER IV 

 OCEAN FISH AND OCEAN FISHING (continued) 



ALTHOUGH the poet Drayton writes of the 

 " wallowing " porpoise, few inhabitants of the sea 

 surpass it in symmetry of form and grace of 

 movement. 



Its adaptability for speeding quickly through 

 the water can hardly be excelled by any living 

 thing. Many a shipbuilder has taken the porpoise 

 as a model for his sailing-clippers, and a racing- 

 yacht built exactly upon the same lines, would 

 probably outsail even the famous Shamrocks. 



The porpoise's skin is perfectly smooth, and 

 polished as if it were blackleaded, and its form is 

 so elastic that by the up and down action of its 

 horizontal tail it can move in the most graceful 

 curves, presenting hardly any resistance to the 

 waves. 



55 



