1 84 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



fo that we may join with the Royal Pfalmift in that pious excla- 

 mation, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wifdom 

 haft thou made them all : the earth is full of thy riches. So is 

 this great and wide Sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, 

 both fmall and great beads." Pfalm civ. v. 24, % 5 . Not only 

 the incomprehenfible numbers, but the variety alfo much exceeds 

 by what we can judge, the fpecies of Land-animals. 



E2r2£ , The el f, ment 1 in which thefe laft breathe, namely, , the air, 

 an does not allow them to be long concealed, or unknown to man- 



kind j fty that, fuppofe them ever fo fcarce, they muft fome time 

 or other be feen by men ; and, confequently, in fome meafure 

 be known. But who is there that lives with the finny tribe, in the 

 deep receffes of the ocean ? or, who has opportunity to obferve 

 them accurately and familiarly, in that unliable and boifterous 

 element ? 'Tis true, great numbers of different kinds of Fifhes 

 which the beneficent Creator, with a more than paternal care, has 

 ordained for food to mankind, in obedience to his command 

 vifit us as welcome guefls, or refort to our coafls, at certain 

 feafons of the year, as if it were to offer us their fervice. Befides 

 thefe fpecies that are ferviceable to man, there are others deemed 

 ufel.efs or hurtful, tho' created, doubtlefs, for fome wife purpofe : 

 thefe exhibit to our view their enormous fize, or uncouth forms; 

 and fall a viaim to man, by unwarily running into fnares, fpread 

 1 for others of the fcaly tribe of a more beneficial kind. Our fiflher- 

 men throw a great many of thefe uncommon forts over-board 

 direaiy, looking upon them not only as ufelefs, but ominous; 

 and call them by the general name of Trold-fisk, i. e. Unlucky- 

 fish*. This proceeds, as has been before obferved, from a fuper- 



ffcitious 



Pfeudo-Propheta liberaliores Talmndici, foliim mundorum pifcium fpecies feptino-entas 

 effe ftatuunt, in quibus nulla effet hyperbole, fi pro raundis pifcibus aquatilia in <?enere 

 dixiffent. Gefnems enim .aquatiiium animantium nomina & icones plufquam feptin* 

 gentas exhibet. Nobis hie indicate fufficit fumma genera. Sam. Bocharti Hierozoi- 

 con, Lib. i. c. vi. p. 37. 



* Anno 1744 one Dagfind Korfbeck catched, in theparifh of Sundelvems on Sund- 

 moer, a monftrous Fifh, which many people faw at his houfe. It's head was almoft 

 like the head of a cat -, it had four paws, no tail, and about the body was a hard 

 fliell, like a Lobfter's : it purred like a cat, and when they put a flick to it, it would 

 fnap at it. The peafants look'd upon it as a Trold, or ominous Fifh, and were afraid 

 to keep it ; and, confequently, a few hours after they threw it into the fea ao-ain. 

 According to the description, this might be called a Sea-Armadilla, by which name an 

 American Land-animal is known, nearly of the fame fhape, excepting that it has 

 a long tail. A filherman at Sundfland, two miles from Bergen, told me he had 

 once feen a much more furprizing Sea-monfter clofe to his boat ; having juft taken 

 a view of the nfhing-boat, it dived under the water immediately. This was not unlike 

 a Sea-calf as to the fore-part, and had furred fkin. The body was as broad and bio- 

 as a veffel of 50 lafts burthen ; and the tail, which feemed to be about fix fathoms 

 long, was quite fmall, and pointed at the end. % There is a report, but not alto- 



gether 



