i6o NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



have two breathing-holes in the forehead, and four fhort legs. 

 A Nordland fifherman has aflured me, of his own knowledge, 

 that it is in vain to fhoot at thern with balls ; for. their hide is fo 

 thick, that a good fharp harpoon is the only thing that will pierce 

 it. I have feen this creature dry'd at Ley den, in the gallery of 

 the Phyfic Garden ; but there it goes under the name of a Sea- 

 Cow, which creature it more refembles than a horfe, tho' there is 

 a Sea- Cow different from this. 



vas sua. The Vas-Sild, or Vas-Herring, is, to appearance, much like 



the other Herring ; except that the head is fomething fhorter, 

 and the eyes as well as the body a good deal larger. They 

 bite at a hook and bait, but their flefh is not fo good as the 

 Herrings. 



uik. The Uik, or Marulk, the Sea-Scorpion, called by the Ichthyo- 



logians Scorpius Marinus, becaufe its bite is poifonous : this Ron- 

 delet aflerts upon experience, with this addition, that he cured a 

 child that was bitten by one of thefe creatures, by applying the 

 liver of this Fifh to the wound. Willoughby, Lib. iv. c. 38. 

 after this author, diftinguiflies them into two kinds ; namely, 

 the fmall fort, which it is faid does not weigh a pound ; and the 

 larger. The latter alfo differs in fome other refpedts from the 

 former, and is often four feet long : the head is bigger than the 

 whole body, and is of a hideous afpecl : the mouth is a foot wide, 

 and therefore this Fifh is by fome called Wide- jaws; and with 

 us they ufe their name, as a figurative defcription of a perfon who 

 has a remarkably wide mouth. The body, which is reddifh, is 

 covered with fmall fcales, much like a Snake's : a ftrong fin, 

 with fharp points or prickles, runs along their back. The liver is 

 the only part of this Fifh that is ufed, which yields good train-oil. 

 They are very voracious, and will deftroy not only other Fifh 

 almoft as big as themfelves, but alfo many of the fea-birds, par- 

 ticularly the Gulls and Divers, 



CHAP- 



