Class IV. S W O R D F I S H. i6i 



The antient method of taking them is particu- Capture, 

 larly defcribed by Sh'-aho'^^ and agrees exaflly 

 with that pradlifed by the moderns. 



A man afcends one of the cliffs that overhangs 

 the fea : as foon as he fpies the fifli, he gives 

 notice either by his voice, or by figns, of the courfe 

 it takes. Another, that is Rationed in a boat, 

 climbs up the maft, and on feeing the fword fifh, 

 diredls the rowers towards it. As foon as he thinks 

 they are got within reach, he defcends, and tak- 

 ing a fpear in his hand, ftrikes it into the fifh, 

 which, after wearying itfelf with its agitation, is 

 feized and drawn into the boat. It is much efteem- 

 ed by the Sicilians^ who buy it up eagerly, and at 

 its firfl coming into feafon give about fix-penc^ 

 Englijh per pound. The feafon lafts from May till 

 Auguji-f, The antients ufed to cut this fifh into 

 pieces, and fait it, whence it was called 'Tomus 

 Tburia}ms J, from T'hurii, a tovvn in the bay of TW- 

 rentum^ where it was taken and cured, 



Kircber, in his Mtifurgia^ has preferved a ftrange 

 incantation ufed by the Sicilian fifhermen, at the 

 capture of the Pefce Spada, as they call it, which 

 is expreffed in the following unintelligible jargon i 



* LiL L /. i6, 



f Ray^s Tra'uelsj I. 27 1. 



X Tomus Thuriams, quern alii Xiphiam ^ocant. Plinii Z/^. 

 XXXII, c. lu 



Vol, III. M Mamaflla 



