THE NORTHERN PROYIXCE. 2o7 



another specimen of this species, hut with all my catches of hig 

 fish I did not disdain to gather in such smaller fry as four speci- 

 mens of Trygon iralga, a small shark with black fin tips [Carcharias 

 melanopterus), and four specimens of C acutus. Another small spe- 

 cies of Bhinobatus was also rescued from the hands of the spoilers 

 and tenderly cared for. 



I was very busy those days, and nights also, for that matter ; 

 for I often worked till near midnight. The back yard of the rest 

 house was roomy, shady, and inviting, and in it I planted ray table 

 and cut up big fish from morning till night. The poor people 

 came in crowds to get the meat I had to give them, and finally they 

 became such a nuisance I had to forbid their coming inside the 

 yard at all. Still, it was a satisfaction to know that such a quan- 

 tity of good food was not wasted. 



My last catch was the most valuable and important of all. I 

 had collected a goodly number of such specimens as I have already 

 mentioned, and had about ceased to expect anything else particu- 

 larly new ; though I still made my daily visit to the market. 



One evening as I drew near the landing-place, I saw lying on 

 the sandy shore, a large fish of truly remarkable appearance. What 

 could it be ? Without evincing any of the hvely interest I felt, I 

 strolled forward and looked it over carelessly. I could have shouted 

 with delight, but dared not, for any demonstration of the kind on 

 my part would instantly have sent the price of the fish away above 

 l>!ir value. It was a very strange and exceedingly rare shark-Hke 

 fish, half shark and half ray, known to ichthyologists as Rhampho- 

 batis ancylostovius, and by the natives called " cul uluva." 



In length it lacked two inches of seven feet, and its width across 

 the pectoral fins was four feet two inches. The head was flat like 

 that of t^'pical Rhynchobati, but instead of being prolonged into 

 the flat triangular beak so characteristic of R. DJeddensis and others, 

 it was abi*uptly rounded off in front of the pectoral fins. The most 

 striking feature of the animal is the high and angular crest which 

 t prings from just behind the head and rises into a rounded hump 

 twelve inches high, studded all along its crest from back to front 

 with a wide band of white tooth-like spines, closely crowded to- 

 gether. Low down on the side there is a much smaller row of the 

 same ; another on the head, partly surrounding the eye and gill 

 opening, and a still smaller row directly in front of the eye. These 

 curious rows of clean white teeth — for they certainly are more 

 like shark- teeth than spines — render the animal easily distinguish- 

 17 



