92 SALT-WATER FISHES 



this species is of a wandering disposition, though naturalists 

 have not succeeded in determining either the precise course 

 or the exact seasons of its migrations. The fishermen, who 

 have at any rate studied its movements more than most, 

 believe that during early spring it leaves the warmer 

 regions of the Atlantic for the colder, and as not a single 

 young basking shark has yet been recorded on our coasts, 

 the breeding is reasonably thought to take place at some 

 distance from our shores. Whether the fish choose deeper 

 water or the shallow bays of shores other than ours is an 

 open question. 



Though regularly hunted with the harpoon on some parts 

 of the Irish coast only, this immense shark is not uncommon 

 in July and August on the coast of Cornwall, where its sail- 

 like fin (hence its vernacular name " Sail-fish ") may be seen 

 cleaving the surface of the water on fine days when there is no 

 breeze. The least disturbance of the water seems to drive it 

 out of sight, possibly because its peculiar manner of feeding 

 can only be conducted in perfectly calm water. The Irish 

 fishermen hunt it purely for the oil from its liver, wasting the 

 rest of its huge carcase, and such an industry is in keeping 

 with the ethics of a generation that has not scrupled to 

 exterminate the bison for its tongue and the African elephant 

 for its teeth. Another not uncommon name for this shark is 

 " Sun-fish," in allusion to its habit of rolling lazily at the 

 surface of the sea, and there would have been no objection to 

 this had it not led to confusion with the totally different fish 

 properly so called. 



Jonathan Couch attempted to distinguish an allied genus 

 Polyprosopus with two species, which he called the Rashleigh 

 Shark and Broadheaded Gazer, but later authorities have 

 regarded them as only deformed basking sharks, so that any 

 detailed account of their peculiarities is uncalled for. 



