318 THE OCEAN. 
puted a very cautious fish,) has left his sword in 
the hull of a ship. The Foxhound, a South Sea 
whaler, was cruising in thé Pacific in 1817, when 
one day, when most of the crew were below at 
dinner, a loud splashing was suddenly heard in the 
sea by a New Zealander on deck, who, on looking 
over the side, saw a large dark body sinking, and 
immediately gave the alarm of a man overboard. 
The crew, however, were found to be complete, 
and the occurrence passed over. Soon after, one 
of the men observed a rugged object projecting 
from the vessel’s side, which, on examination, proved 
to be the snout of a Sword-fish, with part of the 
head attached, broken off by the fracture of the 
skull. On the vessel’s arriving at Sydney, the pro- 
jecting part was sawn off, after vain endeavours to 
extract the weapon; and at the conclusion of the 
voyage, the pierced wood was taken out and placed 
in the British Museum. 
It is worthy of observation that, with very few 
exceptions, the immense population of the Ocean 
is carnivorous, The principal circumstance that 
regulates the choice of diet among fishes seems to 
be the power of mastery. Of terrestrial creatures, 
a very large number are peaceful, never, under 
ordinary circumstances, willingly taking the life of 
even the most helpless around them; but the sea 
is a vast slaughter-house, where nearly every inha- 
bitant dies a violent death, and finds a grave in the 
maw of his fellow. We have just seen the Sword- 
fish preying upon the Albacore, and the Albacore 
upon the Flying-fish; while the Flying-fish itself, 
