504 



A NATURALIST S ANECDOTE. 



length ; the pectoral fins clouded with white and blue, 

 the ventrals nearly black. 



THE PILOT-FISH (NAUCRATES DUCTOIl). 



Strange tales are told of the habits of this fish ; strange 

 tales which we are by no means prepared to endorse. 

 But the following, related by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the 

 great French naturalist, deserves our attention on account 

 of the reputation of its author : * 



" I found myself," he writes, " on board the frigate Al- 

 cestis, between Cape Bona and the island of Malta. The 

 sea was tranquil ; and we passengers were growing weary 

 of the protracted calm, when our attention was directed 

 to a shark which was evidently making towards our ves- 

 sel. It was preceded by its i pilots,' which between each 

 other and the shark preserved pretty exactly the same 

 distance. The two pilots steered for the vessel's stern, 

 surveyed it twice from one end to the other, and after 

 assuring themselves there was nothing which could be 



* G. Saint-Hilaire, in the " Bulletin des Sciences," No. 63, p 113, et sq 



