200 ABUNDANCE OF TUKTLES. 



tude of the eastern cape of Cayman-bracJc. The latitude 

 reduced by the reckoning on the rhumbs of wind at the 

 meridian observation, appeared to me to be 19 40' 50". 



As long as we were within sight of the rock of Caymcm- 

 IracJc, sea-turtles of extraordinary dimensions swam round 

 our vessel. The abundance of these animals led Columbus 

 to give the whole group of the Caymans the name of Penas- 

 cales de las Tortugas, (rocks of the turtles.) Our sailors 

 would have thrown themselves into the water to catch some 

 oi these animals; but the numerous sharks that accompany 

 them, rendered the attempt too perilous. The sharks fixed 

 their jaws on great iron hooks which were flung to them $ 

 these hooks were very sharp and (for want of anzuelos en- 

 candenados*} they were tied to cords : the sharks were in this 

 manner drawn up half the length of their bodies ; and we 

 were surprised to see that those which had their mouths 

 wounded and bleeding continued to seize the bait over and 

 over again during several hours.f At the sight of these 

 voracious fish, the sailors in a Spanish vessel always recollect 

 the local fable of the coast of Venezuela, which describes the 

 benediction of a bishop as having softened the habits of the 

 sharks, which are everywhere else the dread of mariners. Do 

 these wild sharks of the port of La Guayra specifically differ 

 from those which are so formidable in the port of the Havan- 

 nah ? And do the former belong to the group of Emissoles 

 with small sharp teeth, which Cuvier distinguishes from the 

 Melandres, by the name of Musteli? 



The wind freshened more and more from the south-east, 

 as we advanced in the direction of Cape Negril and the 



* Fish-hooks with chains. 



f "Vidimus quoque squales, quotiescunque, hamo icti, dimidia parte 

 corporis e fluctibus extrahebantur, cito alvo stercus emittere haud absimile 

 excrementis caninis. Commovebat intestina (ut arbitramur) subitus 

 pavor." Although the form and number of teeth change with age, and 

 the teeth appear successively in the shark genus, I doubt whether Don 

 Antonio Ulloa be correct in stating that " the young sharks have two, 

 and the old ones four rows of grinders." These, like many other sea-fish, 

 are easily accustomed to live in fresh water, or in water slightly briny. 

 It is observed that sharks (tiburones) abound of late in the Laguna of 

 Maracaybo, whither they have been attracted by the dead bodies thrown 

 into the water after the frequent battles between the Spanish royalists and 

 the Columbian republicans. 



