ORDER Il. CHONDROPTERYGII. (FIXED GILLS.) 211 
the upper fins, and stabbed it repeatedly in the belly. The animal, en- 
ove 
> 
raged with pain, and streaming with blood, attempted in vain to disenga 
itself. The crews of the surrounding vessels saw that the combat was 
decided ; but they were ignorant which was slain, till the shark, exhausted 
by loss of blood, was seen nearer the shore, and along with it his gallant 
conqueror, who, flushed with victory, redoubled his efforts, and, with the 
aid of an ebbing tide, dragged it to the beach. Finally, he ripped open 
the stomach of the fish, and buried the severed half of his friend’s body 
with the trunk in the same grave.” 
It is no uncommon thing for the negroes, who are admirable divers, thus 
to attack and vanquish the dreaded shark ; but success can only be achieved 
by consummate dexterity, and by those who are armed for this express 
purpose. 
Ordinary swimmers are constantly falling a prey to the sharks of warm 
climates. Thus Sir Brooke Watson, when in the West Indies, as a youth, 
was swimming at a little distance from a ship, when he saw a shark making 
towards him. Struck with terror at its approach, he immediately cried out 
for assistance. A rope was instantly thrown, but, even while the men were 
in the act of drawing him up the ship’s side, the monster darted after him, 
and, at a single snap, took off his lee. 
C. Glaucus. — The Blue Shark. This species has curved-sided teeth 
above, inclining outwards, and straighter ones below, all ragged on the 
edges. It does not appear to frequent American waters, but is particularly 
mischievous on the coasts of Great Britain. It does not attempt the fisher- 
man’s life, but is extremely troublesome and injurious to him, by hovering 
about his boat, and cutting the hooks from the lines in rapid succession. 
This, indeed, often leads to its own destruction; but when their teeth do 
not deliver them from their difficulty, the Blue Sharks, which hover about 
the Cornish coast during the pilchard season, have a singular method of 
proceeding, which is by rolling the body round so as to twine the line about 
them throughout its whole length; and sometimes this is done in such a 
complicated manner, that Mr. Yarrell has known a fisherman give up an 
attempt to unroll it as a hopeless task. To the pilchard drift-net this shark 
is a still more dangerous enemy, and it is common for it to pass in succes- 
sion along the whole length of the net, cutting out, as with shears, the fish 
and the net that holds them, and swallowing both together. 
C. Vulpes. —The Thresher, or Fox Shark. This is a powerful fish, 
with a most savage temper. It has triangular teeth in both jaws, and is 
remarkable for the extraordinary length of the upper lobe of the tail, which 
equals that of the whole body. It attains a length of twelve feet or more, 
and a weight of two hundred pounds. It derives its name from the power- 
