THE ARCTIC SEAS. 14? 



the sound of which resembled the reports of muskets 

 fired at a distance. The Sword-fish, in their turn, 

 attacked the distressed Whale, stabbing from below ; 

 and thus beset on all sides and wounded, when the 

 poor creature appeared, the water around him was 

 dyed with blood. In this manner they continued 

 tormenting and wounding him for many hours, until 

 we lost sight of him ; and I have no doubt they, in 

 the end, completed his destruction.'" * Some discredit 

 has been thrown on this and similar accounts, on the 

 ground that the fishes could have no object in per- 

 secuting the AVhale ; but the circumstance is not 

 more extraordinary than the well-known custom which 

 little birds have of surrounding and teasing, or 

 "mobbing," as it is called, any large bird to which 

 they are unaccustomed. It has been objected, that 

 the Captain describes the proceedings of the Sword- 

 fish from below, when, from the reflection of the 

 surface, he could not possibly see them. But, on the 

 contrary, the incident is said to have occurred " close 

 to the vessel ;" and any one who has been at sea 

 knows that in a calm, by going aloft, you can see to 

 a great depth in the water. The habit here attributed 

 to the Sword-fish is confirmed by the frequency with 

 which ships are struck with great violence, most 

 museums possessing fragments of the planking of 

 ships in which the "sword" of this finny tyrant is 

 imbedded. It is with reason supposed that the dark 

 and bulky hull is by the fish mistaken for the body 

 of a Whale. The only resource which this gigantic 

 animal has for getting rid ot his troublesome foes, is 



• ilemoira of Capt. H. Crow, p. 11. 

 L 2 



