220 Notice of an Extraordinary Fish. [April, 



and highly destructive of their nets ; which they instantly take up when 

 they see the fish, if they can get time to do so ; for it is known to 

 destroy boats, and whole lines of nets and fishing stakes, if it once 

 becomes entangled amongst them, to the ruin of the poor fishermen. 

 I had the same account corroborated at the Soolo Islands, both by 

 Malav and by Chinese fishermen ; as also at Zebu, in the Philippine 

 Islands. At Soolo I was shewn large quantities of the skin of a spotted 

 fish, cut into pieces and dried, for sale to the Chinese junks, which my 

 people said was the skins of young " chacons" — ** Pero no son estos 

 como nuestro chacon de alld, Senor." " But these are not like our 

 Chacon yonder, Sir," was always added. This skin I should have called 

 that of a spotted shark* j the tubercles were excessively coarse and 

 rough. 



It seems thus certain, that some immense spotted fish, of highly 

 destructive propensities, resembling in this respect the gigantic shark 

 of the West-Indies, (which is often known to attack and devour the 

 negroes in their canoes, and recently even a man and boat in Boston 

 Bay,)f exists in the seas of the Eastern Archipelago. It is difficult to 

 say, whether the one seen by Lieut. Foley was an individual of the 

 same species or not. As already stated, I was unable to see mine with 

 sufficient distinctness, to ascertain any thing bevond its enormous size, 

 great breadth, and spotted appearance. I add such conjectures as 

 my limited knowledge and confined means of reference have enabled 

 me to collect : I offer them only as conjectures. 



We look naturally, from the voracious habit of thesemonsters, amongst 

 the Rays or Sharks^ — Squalus and Raja — for something to throw light 

 upon what they may be ; and it appears that, though! these two genera 

 have been classed by Broussonnet, Bloch, and Lacepe^de, there is still 

 much uncertainty existing as to some of the known species, " which 

 may be placed indifferently in either genus, for the distinctive charac- 

 ters of the Rays are derived from the flatness of their bodies, and 

 those which are least flattened, and the squalen which are so in some 

 degree, approach much to each other." — Bosc in Nouveau Diet. Hist. 

 Nat. Art. Squale. As to their size, the largest individual which has been 

 subjected to trust-worthy measurement seems to be that mentioned by 

 Lacepe'de ; a Squalus maximus, driven on shore near St. Malo ;. 

 which was thirty-three feet long, and twenty-four in circumference ; 

 but this is far surpassed by the size of those of which, in Europe at 



* The tiger shark seems to be rather a striped than a spotted shark. 



t That some of them are sufficiently formidable, we have lately had evidence. 

 In Boston Bay, a man was recently attacked in his boat, and devoured by one of 

 these animals.— Encyclopaedia Americana, Art. Shark, 1832. 



