FISH, AND FISHERIES. 95 
“The wobbegong is of little use; the liver will make some oil, and 
which is particularly good for ‘parasites on animals, but the fish is not 
sought after, and the natives attack it when in their way, but do not 
meddle with it otherwise. South, as far as Jervis Bay, they call this 
fish thubbegong. ” 
The Blue Pointer. 
Lamna glauca or the Blue Pointer is, Mr. Hill tells us, “not only a 
very powerful but perhaps the most bold of any of the large sharks 
visiting our shores. It grows to the length of 10 or 12 feet, but is not 
so big in the girth as the other. On the appearance of a ‘blue pointer’ 
among boats fishing for schnapper outside, the general cry is raised 
‘Look out for the blue pointer.’ This fish exhibits cunning, and seizes 
the hooked fishes when they are near to the surface, at which time they 
are nearly exhausted, and bites them off just below the hook in an 
instant, leaving only the head, which has the appearance of being cleft 
off with a very sharp instrunient. 
“The great danger of these fishes is that in their speed and blinded by 
the eagerness of pursuit they may miss the object and go clean through 
the boat, or into it, as they have been known to jump high into the air. 
In such a case the whole crew would in all probability be destroyed by 
this one’s attendants. Sometimes they have been known to leave their 
teeth in the hardwood of the keel or stern-post of the boat, no doubt 
having missed their aim, but when this occurs they make the boat shake 
from stem to stern. 
“These are high-swimming fishes, and may be readily seen when about 
pushing their pursuits ; the beautiful azure tint of their back and sides 
and independent manner they have of swimming rapidly and high 
among the boats in search of prey are means of easy recognition, and 
they often drive the fishermen away. They have a longer and sharper 
nose than the ‘sea shark’ or ‘nurse,’ and appear to be very active, 
and bold enough to come straight on after they have had a good blow ; 
they appear to be very keen of scent, and altogether they are objects of 
interest. Various people in this as well as in other Colonies have been 
fearfully mutilated by sharks, sufficient in some instances to cause death 
very soon.” Scarcely a year passes that some fatal occurrence is not 
recorded from sharks on some part of the coast. 
The Grey-Nurse. 
The “nurse” here referred to is Odontapsis americanus, about which 
the same author gives many interesting facts. He says “it attains the 
length of 15 feet, with a much larger girth in proportion to other sharks; 
-but the females which have been caught were not so long—S8 to 12 feet— 
with an exception or two where they have been longer. There are 
incidents of interest connected with its season and capture worthy of 
note. 
“This shark in appearance is comparatively short. That, however, is 
accounted for by its great girth, for I have known the length of a nurse 
to be 12 and its girth 7 feet. They have a longer and more pointed nose 
than the sea-shark, and the eye and nostril are in a straight line. The 
