SKATE. 451 



the sobriquet of ' la giorieuse^ : ' EUe nage lentement, e 

 comme en gravite; d'ou en Languedoc a este nommee 

 glorieuse, e ainsi qu'un cheval vigoureux. bien parse, bien 

 harnacbCj marche bravement e nu centre ceux qui s'ap- 

 prochent ; ainsi la glorieuse, nageant de telle sorte, pique 

 de son ^guillon les poissons nageans pres eUe ;'* but there 

 are many ways of looking at the same object, and fisher- 

 men are not celebrated for using courteous epithets ; it 

 is not therefore wonderful to find ' la glorieuse' stripped of 

 aU her glory in passing through such hands ; regarding 

 the shape and pose of the head and large salient eyes as 

 indicative rather of a toad than a Dido or an eagle, these 

 rude mariners have coined their name from that batra- 

 chian, and in the Marseilles market accordingly, offer 

 not skate, but crapaud de mer, for dinner. Other com- 

 mon-place observers, attracted by the enormous length 

 of a switch-tail, frequently twice as long as the body of 

 the fish, and not finding such an appendage in queens, 

 toads, or eagles, have degraded 'la glorieuse' into a 

 water-rat. Others, again, looking only to the peculiar 

 appearance of the lateral processes for swimming, which 

 seem like, but are yet unlike both fins and wings, bear- 

 ing a nearer resemblance to the leathery aeronautic ap- 

 paratus of bats, have vespertiHonized this skate into the 

 Sea-bat. 



So much concerning the various names of this ray ; 

 and now, touching the formidable weapon already alluded 

 to, which renders the sea-eagle so dangerous of approach. 

 It Hes, as has been already said, at the base of the tail, 

 just at its nethermost part. To protect the organ 

 from irreverent handling, a sharp bony sword is placed 

 sentinel, Kke the kirtle-knife by which a Janissary se- 

 cures respect to his beard. This weapon is not only 

 dangerous from its great length, but also from the rows 



* Rondolet. 



