338 VERTEBRATES. 



about two and a half feet in length, which had been made fast bj 

 the tail to a billet of wood by a fathom or so of spun yarn, and so 

 turned adrift. An immense striped shark, apparently about four- 

 teen feet in length, which had been cruising about the ship a)l the 

 morning, sailed slowly up, and turning Slightly on one side, at- 

 tempted to seize the apparently helpless fish, but the sucker with 

 great dexterity made himself fast in a moment to the shark's 

 back. Off darted the monster at full speed, the sucker holding 

 fast as a limpet to a rock, and the billet towing astern. He then 

 rolled over and over, tumbling about; when, wearied with his 

 efforts, he lay quiet for a little. Seeing the float, the shark got it 

 into his mouth, and disengaging the sucker by a tug on the line, 

 made a bolt at the fish ; but his puny antagonist was again too 

 quick, and, fixing himself close behind the dorsal fin, defied the 

 efforts of the shark to disengage him, although he rolled over and 

 over, lashing the water with his tail until it foamed all around^ 

 What the final result was, we could not clearly make out." 



The Common Carp is a well-known inhabitant of ponds, 

 lakes, and sluggish rivers of England and the continent of Europe. 

 It is a very shy and wary fish, rejecting one day a bait which had 

 been freely taken the day previous. 



It lives to a great age, and when very old its scales turn 

 grey just as human hairs do. In several places in France numbers 

 of Carp were kept until they attained an enormous size. These 

 great sluggish fish were accustomed to come to the water's edge in 

 order to be fed at the call of their keeper. Feeding the Carp was 

 almost a hereditary amusement of the latter kings of France. 



Very few fish are so tenacious of life as the Carp. It is 

 the custom in Holland to keep these fish in nets filled with wet 

 moss. They are fed with bread and milk, and are preserved in 

 health by frequent immersion in water, in order to keep the moss 

 thoroughly wet. 



The Gold-fish, or Golden Carp, is another species of the 

 genus Cyprinus. It was originally brought from China, about two 

 hundred years since, when it was considered a great curiosity • 



