336 VEETEBRATES. 



this cannibal kind of bait, and are frequently taken by baiting the 

 hook with a strip of scarlet leather or cloth. 



Vast numbers are annually taken on the coasts of New 

 foundland, which fishermen from the United States, England and 

 France visit every year. They are salted and barrelled at the 

 fishery, and transported thence to difierent parts of the world for 

 Ba'ie. 



The Sword-pish inhabits every part of the Mediterranean 

 Sea, and has several times been seen near the shores of England 

 and Scotland. The " sword" for which this fish is so famous, is 

 an elongation of the upper jaw, of great strength, and capable of 

 doing considerable injury to any object against which it directs its 

 attacks. In the British Museum is a portion of the bottom of a 

 ship, pierced completely through by the " sword" of one of these 

 fish. Its unfortunate owner must have instantly perished by the 

 shock, for the sword was imbedded almost to its base, and broken 

 short off. In one instance, a Sword-fish attacked a whaling-ship, 

 and drove its weapon " through the copper sheathing, an inch- 

 board sheathing, a three-inch plank of hard wood, the solid white 

 oak timber of the ship twelve inches thick, through another two- 

 and-a-half-inch hard oak ceiling plank, and lastly, perforated the 

 head of an oil cask, where it still remained immovably fixed, so 

 that not a single drop of oil escaped. 



In the Mediterranean, the fishermen eagerly chase the 

 Sword-fish. The harpoon and line are used much in the same 

 manner as in the whale fishery. The Sicilian fishermen have a 

 strange superstition that if the Sword-fish were to hear a word of 

 Italian, it would instantly dive and escape them. They therefore 

 restrict their vocal sounds to an unintelligible chant. It is said 

 that the whale is an object of particular enmity to the Sword-fish, 

 and that ships are struck by it, being mistaken for whales. 



. . The length of this fish is usually from twelve to fifteen feet 

 It is said to feed principally on tunnies, pursuing the shoals, and 

 transfixing the fish with its sword. 



The Sea-horse has often been found off the southern 

 coasts of England. The habits of this fish are very singular and 



