1ir4 FISH- CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
Buckland said that fish have no power of ‘backing,’ and express- 
ed his belief that he could hold a swordfish by the beak ; but 
then he admitted that the fish had considerable lateral power, 
and might so ‘wriggle its sword out of a hole.’ And so the in- 
surance company will have to pay nearly six hundred pounds 
because an ill-tempered fish objected to be hooked, and took its 
revenge by running full tilt against copper sheathing and oak 
planking.” 
The Gloucester schooner Wyoming, on a last trip to George’s 
Banks, records the New York World of August 31st, 1875, was 
attacked by a swordfish in the night time. He assailed the ves- 
sel with great force, and succeeded in putting his sword through 
one of her planks some two feet, and after making fearful strug- 
gles to extricate himself, broke his sword off, leaving it hard and 
fast in the plank, and made a speedy departure. Fortunate was 
it that he did not succeed in drawing out his sword, as the aper- 
ture would undoubtedly have made a leak sufficient to have sunk 
the vessel. As it was, she leaked badly, requiring pretty lively 
pumping to keep her free.” 
Another instance of a similar nature is this, which was re- 
corded in the Liverpool Mercury about the year 1876 : 
“Mr. J. J. Harwood, master of the British brigantine Fortun- 
ate, in dock at Liverpool, reports that while on his passage from 
the Rio Grande, when in latitude 20 deg. 12 min. north, and 
longitude 47 deg. 9 min. west, this ship was struck by a large 
fish, which made the vessel shake very much. Thinking the ship 
had been merely struck by the tail of some sea monster, he took 
no further notice of the matter; but after discharging cargo at 
Runcorn, and coming into the Canada half-tide dock, he found 
one of the plank ends in the stern split, and on closer examina- 
tion he discovered that a swordfish had driven his sword com- 
pletely through the plank, four inches in thickness, leaving the 
point of the sword nearly eight inches through the plank. The 
fish in its struggle broke the sword off level with the outside of 
the vessel, and by its attack upon the ship lost nearly a foot 
length of the very dangerous weapon with which it was armed. 
* New York World, August 31st, 1875. 
