298 SCOMBEROIDES. 



to it, is its having been taken in a small pond of fresh water, 

 fifty miles from sea, and where no salt water ever came. I 

 imagine it was transported thither by some sea-fowl, which 

 swallowed it while in the ovum, and subsequently deposited 

 it in this pond. The monoceros was taken with a bucket, at 

 a time when a number of large sharks were around us ; it is 

 a very stupid fish, suffering itself to be knocked several times 

 with the bucket, without attempting to remove ; the sharks 

 also frequently rubbed against it, but it paid no attention to 

 them. 



The worm is the first of the kind, I have ever met with; 

 it was found in a living state, in the maw of a flying fish 

 which came on board, but whether it was taken for food, or 

 preyed upon the fish itself, I could not determine. At the 

 time the monoceros was taken, as above mentioned, there were 

 great numbers of dolphin swimming among the sharks with 

 perfect familiarity ; and although the latter were so ravenous 

 that we took five of them from seven to twelve feet long, 

 they did not manifest the slightest disposition to molest the dol- 

 phins; a circumstance which confirms me in the belief I had 

 long entertained, that the stories of sharks catching dolphins 

 were merely fabulous. 



The shark holds about the same position among fishes, as 

 the vulture among birds — excessively greedy, but seldom at- 

 tacking any thing but carrion. Another reason for this belief 

 is the difficulty of a shark's seizing any object above him, in 

 consequence of the upper jaw projecting so far beyond the 

 lower ; a conformation which obliges him to turn over, in or- 

 der to secure his prey. Any fish, during this act, could make 

 its escape with ease. Man does so with less readiness, be- 

 cause, being out of his element, he cannot manage himself with 

 so much facility. I would here mention that one of the sharks 

 was entirely different from any which have before come under 

 my observation, and might be called a most beautiful fish, pos- 

 sessing none of that clumsiness of shape or motion, which is 

 characteristic of the species ; but by no means inferior in vo- 



