I40 THE COMMON StTCK ING-FISH. 



found so strongly adhering to the sides of sharks 

 and other fish, by means of the structure of its 

 head, as not to be got off without great difficulty. 

 Five of them have been taken from the body of a 

 single shark *. St. Pierre says he has put some of 

 them on an even surface of glass, from which he 

 could not afterwards remove them f . 



The ancients believed that the Sucking-fish, 

 small as it is, had the power of arresting the pro- 

 gress of a ship in its fastest sailing, by adhering to 

 its bottom. 



The sucking-fish beneath, with secret chains, 

 Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains. 

 The seamen run confused, no labour spar'd, 

 Let fly the sheets, and hoist the top-mast yard. 

 The master bids them give h?r all the sails, 

 To court the winds, and catch the coming gales. 

 But, though the canvas bellies with the blast, 

 And boisterous winds bend down the cracking mast, 

 The bark stands firmly rooted in the sea, 

 And will, unmov'd, nor winds nor waves obey; 

 Still, as when calms have flatted all the plain, 

 And infant, waves scarce wrinkle on the main. 

 No ship in harbour moor'd so careless rides, 

 When ruffling waters tell the flowing tides. 

 Appall'd, the sailors stare, through strange surprise, 

 Believe they dream, and rub their waking eyes. 

 As when, unerring from the huntsman's bow, 

 The feather 'd death arrests the flying doe, 

 Struck through, the dying beast falls sudden down. 

 The parts grow stiff, and all the motion's gone ; 

 Such sudden force the floating captive binds, 

 Though beat by waves, and urged by driving winds £. 



Catciby, ii. 26. + Voyage to the Isle of France, 30. 



J Jones's translation of Oppian. 



