FISHES. 491 



tribe is not less dreaded by greater fish, than many that to ap- 

 pearaiice seem more powerful ; nor do any of them seem fearful 

 ot attacking animals far above their size : but the Great White 

 Shark, which is the largest of the kind, joins to the most amaz 



cut of its mouth. jElian supposed this to serve as an asylum for the young 

 in time of danger ; and Mr Pennant, who gives credit to the story, thinks 

 tliat this fish, like the opossum, may have a place fitted by nature for the 

 reception of her young. This, however, has been denied by some writers. 



The Basking Shark.— This, though a very large fish, possesses none of the 

 voracity and ferociousness that mark the generality of the shark tribe. It 

 will frequently lie motionless on the surface of the water, generally on its 

 belly, but sometimes on its back ; and it seems so little afraid of mankind as 

 often to suffer itself to be patted and stroked. Its body is slender, and from 

 three to twelve yards in length ; of a deep lead colour above, and white 

 below. The upper jaw is blunt at the end, and much longer than the lower. 

 'I'he mouth is placed beneath, and furnished with small teeth ; these before 

 much bent, and the remote ones conical and sharp-pointed. On each side 

 of the neck are five breathing apertures. There are two dorsal, two pec- 

 toral, two ventral fins, and one small anal fin. Within the mouth, near the 

 throat, is a short kind of whale-bone. Tlie liver is of such an immense size 

 as frequently to weigh near a thousand pounds. From this a great quantity 

 of good oil is extracted, which renders this shark an animal of considerable 

 importance to the Scotch fishermen ; for according to Anderson, the oil of a 

 single fish will sometimes sell for twenty or thirty pounds sterling. 



The basking shark (which derives its name from its propensity to lie on 

 tlie surface of the water, as if to bask itself in the sun) frequents our seas 

 during the warm summer months, and is not uncommon on the Welch and 

 Scottish coasts, where they come in shoals, usually after intervals of a cer- 

 tain number of years. In the intervening summers, those that are seen 

 upon the Welch coast are generally single fish, that have probably strayed 

 from the rest. They appear in the frith of Clyde, and among the Hebrides, 

 about midsummer, in small droves of seven or eight, or more commonly in 

 pairs. Here they continue till the latter end of July, when they disappear. 



The food of these sharks seems to consist entirely of marine plants, and 

 Bome of the species of medusae. They swim very deliberately, and generally 

 with their upper fins above water. Sometimes they may be seen sporting 

 about amongst the waves, and leaping several feet above the surface. 



The natives of our northern coasts are very alert in the pursuit, and very 

 dexterous in the killing of those fish. When pursued, they do not accele- 

 rate their motion till the boat comes almost in contact with them, when the 

 liarpooner strikes his weapon into the body as near the gills as he can. 

 They eeera not very susceptible of pain ; for they often remain In the same 

 place till the vmited strength of two men is exerted to force the harpwon 

 deeper. As soon as they perceive themselves wounded, they plunge head, 

 long to the bottom, and frequently coil the rope round their bodies in agony 

 attempting to disengage themselves from the fatal instrument by rolling on 

 the ground. Discovering that these efforts are in vain, they swim off with 

 «or!i ama/ing rapidity, that one instance has occurred of a basking shark 

 ullin^^lo some distance a vessel of seventy tons burden against afresh gale. 



