JiOO THE OCEAN. 



opportunity to rusli upou bis prey when they should 

 be unconscious of danger, or away from the protec- 

 tion of the ship. The assembled Albacore continued, 

 in the meantime, to pass under the keel of the vessel, 

 from one side to the other, often turning simulta- 

 neously on their side to look for the enemy : their 

 abdomens glittering in the sun as a wide expanse 

 of dazzling silver. It was evident that the Sword- 

 fish desired but a clear field for his exertions ; 

 and in the course of the day we observed him 

 make several dashes amongst the shoal, with a 

 velocity which produced a loud rushing sound in the 

 sea ; his body, which, when tranquil, was of a 

 dull brown colour, assuming at these times an azure 

 hue." * 



Mr. Bennett conjectures with much probability, 

 that it is as a protection against the attacks of the 

 Sword-fish, that Albacore and other fishes so often 

 attach themselves to a ship, or the body of a whale ; 

 the vicinity of so large a body being sufficient to 

 deter the former from making his impetuous thrusts 

 among the shoal, lest his bony weapon being driven 

 into the solid substance by the violence of his assault, 

 he might not be able to retract it. Instances are not 

 rare, however, in which the Sword-fish, perhaps for- 

 getting his usual caution, (for he is reputed a very 

 cautious fish,) has left his sword in the hull of a ship. 

 The Foxhound, a South-Sea whaler, was cruising in 

 the Pacific in 1817, when one day, when most of the 

 crew were below at dinner, a loud splashing was 



* Whaling Voyage, vol. i. p. 270. 



