346 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 



February 2?>tk, 1849. — Examined the Sword, or bony ex- 

 crescence of the Xiphias gladius " which had been extracted 

 from the bottom of the " Earl Dundonald." Unfortunately 

 the woodwork in which this sword was so firmly bedded, 

 was not cut out with it. — Fragments, however, of the three 

 kinds of wood penetrated by this extraordinary fish, and 

 which had been chiselled away by the carpenter, were to 

 be seen. The pointed extremity of the sword had evi- 

 dently been broken off in the recent collision, or, it may be, 

 by some attempt by those on board, to drive it back, 

 leaving a jagged surface equal in size to the end of the 

 little finger, the remaining portion measured seventeen and 

 three-quarter inches to the fractured base. Circumference 

 at the thickest part, five and a half inches. The upper 

 surface was fine granulated, forming a rough exterior, very 

 much resembling coarse sand paper to the touch ; the sides 

 exhibited a coarser granulation, the under surface being 

 smooth and horn-like in appearance. The form of this 

 weapon is not round, but compressed into an oval form, 

 the upper and lower surface being of the greatest breadth. 

 This curious weapon was fixed in the ship's bottom with 

 the smooth part facing the bows. The base of the horn, 

 when in this position, exhibited a gentle curve upwards. 

 Yarrell mentions a dead Sword-fish found on the Essex 

 coast, in 1834, which was ten feet long, of which the sword 

 measured three feet. By this rule of proportion our speci- 

 men was probably five feet in length. 



March 26th, 1849. — Saw the head of an Amber Fish, 

 which weighed, without the gills, twenty-one pounds. The 

 entire fish said to have weighed fully a hundred pounds. 

 This fish is not uncommon in the fishing boats of Hamilton 

 Harbour where large specimens may be seen. 



