144 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



Our catch turned out to be a hammer-head 

 shark about six feet long. The frontal portion 

 of the head expanded on each side into a lobe, 

 at the end of which were the eyes, the cruel 

 mouth being" in the centre beneath. The hammer- 

 head shark has a well-earned reputation for 

 ferocity, surpassing that of any of its relatives, 

 as though the consciousness of its bizarre appear- 



HAMMER-HEAD SHARK. 



ance had soured its temper, just as that of Quilp, 

 the lawyer dwarf, was soured by his deformity. 



A glance at the map will show that the vast 

 South American continent is more abundantly 

 watered by rivers, great and small, than any other 

 portion of the globe, and that they all lie on the 

 eastern side of that unrivalled mountain chain, the 

 Andes, stretching from Panama to Cape Horn, 

 whicl^ constitutes their watershed. 



