56 ME. F. DAY ON THE 



itself by blows from its elongated tail ; and Couch remarks that 

 it is not uncommon for one to approach a herd of Dolphins (Del- 

 phinus) that may be sporting in unsuspicious security, and by 

 one splash of its tail on the water put them all to flight like so 

 many hares before a hound. 



The Pilot-fish {Naucrates ductor) appears to be a very eompa- 

 niable disposition, even though we omit the older legends that 

 recorded how they pointed out the course of doubtful navigators, 

 accompanying their ships throughout their voyages, and leaving 

 them only when they had arrived at their desired haven. It is 

 well known that they attach themselves to certain vessels for weeks 

 and even months together, perhaps to obtain the food daily thrown 

 overboard: but why they should accompany Sharks is a doubtful 

 question. Some assert that this large and predacious fish is con- 

 ducted to its prey by these fishes ; others that they eat what the 

 Shark leaves : however this may be, that they are often in company 

 is an evident fact. Captain Richards, E.N., during his last station 

 in the Mediterranean, saw on a fine day a Blue Shark, which fol- 

 lowed the ship, attracted perhaps by a corpse which had been com- 

 mitted to the waves. After some time a shark-hook baited with pork 

 was flung out. The Shark, attended by four Pilot-fish, repeatedly 

 approached the bait ; and every time that he did so, one of the 

 Pilot-fishes preceding him was distinctly seen from the taffrail of 

 the ship to run his nose against the side of the Shark's head to 

 turn it away. After some further delay, the fish swam off in the 

 wake of the vessel, his dorsal fin being long distinctly visible above 

 the water. "When he had gone, however, a considerable distance, 

 he suddenly turned round, darted after the vessel, and before the 

 Pilot-fish could overtake him and interfere, snapped at the bait, 

 and was taken. In hoisting him up, one of the Pilots was ob- 

 served to cling to his side until he was fairly above water, when 

 it fell off. All the Pilot-fishes then swam about awhile, as if in 

 search of their friend, with every apparent mark of anxiety and 

 distress, and afterwards darted suddenly down into the depths of 

 the sea *. Col. Smith states that he witnessed a precisely similar 

 circumstance. M. Geoffrey, on the other hand, mentions how a 

 Piiot-fish took great pains to bring a Shark to a bait. 



Two Pilot-fishes accompanied a ship in 1831 from Alexandria 

 to Plymouth. After she came to an anchor in Cat water, their 



* Griffith, Cut. An. King. x. p. 63G. 



