THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 191 



Aiiotlier singular deviation from the general struc- 

 ture is found in the Saw-fish [Pristis antiquorum), 

 which is a shark with the head prolonged into a flat 

 bony sword, each edge of which is armed with sharp 

 bony spines, resembling teeth, pointing backwards : 

 there are about twenty of these in each row. The 

 body also is covered on the upper surface with hard 

 sharp tubercles, the points of which turn backwards. 

 In this respect it resembles some of the Ray or Skate 

 tribe, as it does also in the flattened form of its body, 

 and in other respects. Its colour is a dark grey on 

 the upper parts, gradually softening into white 

 beneath. This species was known to the ancients, 

 being found in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in 

 the Ocean, but it is in the tropical seas that it acquires 

 its most gigantic dimensions. It seems to be an animal 

 of scarcely less ferocity, though far less frequently 

 met with, than the Common Shark : to. the Whales it 

 is a formidable antagonist, and though the form of its 

 saw-like sword does not seem most adapted for pene- 

 trating a resisting body, such is the vigour of its attack, 

 that it will bury its weapon to the root in the flesh of 

 the Whale ; and instances are not infrequent in which 

 it has been found firmly imbedded in the hull of a 

 ship. The following interesting narrative, by Captain 

 Wilson of the Halifax packet, gives us an idea of the 

 powers of this monster : — 



" Being in the Gulf of Paria, in the ship's cutter, 

 on the 15th of April, 1839, I fell in with a Spanish 

 canoe, manned by two men, then in great distress, 

 who requested me to save their lives and canoe, with 

 which request I immediately complied ; and going 







