14G THE OCEAN. 



Sharks make the Whale the object of their peculiar 

 attacks ; the Arctic Shark {Scymnus horealis) is said, 

 with its serrated teeth, to scoop out hemispherical 

 pieces of flesh from the Whale's body as big as a 

 man's head, and to proceed without mercy until its 

 ap])etite is satiated. Another Shark, often called the 

 Thresher [Carcharias vulpes), which is sometimes 

 upwards of twelve feet long, is said to use its mus- 

 cular tail, that is nearly half of its whole length, to 

 inflict terrible slaps on the Whale ; though one would 

 he apt to imagine that if this whipping were all, the 

 huge creature would be more frightened than hurt. 

 The Sword-fish {Xiphias gJadius), however, in the 

 long and bony spear that projects from its snout, 

 seems to be furnished with a weapon which may 

 reasonably alarm even the leviathan of the deep, 

 especially as the will to use his sword, if we may 

 believe eye-witnesses, is in nowise deficient. The 

 late Captain Crow relates an incident of this kind 

 with much circumstantiality : " One mornin"-," he 

 observes, "during a calm, when near the Hebrides, 

 all hands were called up at 3 a.m. to witness a battle 

 between several of the fish called Threshers, or Fox 

 Sharks, and some Sword-fish, on one side, and an 

 enormous Whale on the other. It was in the middle 

 of summer, and the weather being clear, and the fish 

 close to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity of 

 witnessing the combat. As soon as the Whale's back 

 appeared above the M-ater, the Threshers, springing 

 several yards into the air, descended with great 

 violence upon the object of their rancour, and inflicted 

 upon him the most severe slaps with their long tails. 



