164 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



surrounded by an interested crowd, for, after 

 capturing several fish resembling mine, they had 

 caught one that grunted like a pig ! It was of a 

 bluish-green colour, and about two feet long, not 

 ungainly, but with a big head, upturned snout, and 

 perch-like dorsals. As it lay on the deck it made 

 a noise like a small porker protesting against 

 coercion. 



Some of us had heard two or three kinds of 

 Australian fish make queer noises under water, but 

 never on land. This one seemed able to breathe 

 out of the sea, and as one of the Diego Garcia 

 boatmen expressed by signs his abhorrence of the 

 creature, we guessed it was regarded as unwhole- 

 some, and restored the poor thing, which j we 

 dubbed " pig-fish," to its natural element. 



A much greater cause for excitement presently 

 arose. Two huge sharks were observed leisurely 

 approaching the ship's stern, husband and wife, no 

 doubt, swimming side by side, thirty feet long, if 

 an inch, and bulky in proportion. Every one ran 

 for a shark-hook, but the mate declared there was 

 not one on board. We suspected he was fibbing, 

 to save his decks from being messed about with a 

 shark catch. Be that as it may, there was no 

 hook to be found, so one of the cabin-passengers 

 went below and brought up his rifle, and another 



