NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



17 



but motionless; and sometimes fly to the distance of sixty or eighty 

 yards. 



The Dolphin of the Atlantic is improperly called so by British 

 seamen ; foreigners name it' the Dorado or Dourada. It delights to swim 

 in the shadow of the vessel ; and seems fond of her figure, or motion, or 

 brilliant bottom. It darts about with great rapidity and ease; is very 

 voracious and easily taken with a hook. When secured, it is not bois- 

 terous, but easily held by a line which is incapable of supporting its 

 weight, and quietly resigns itself. When dying, the colour changes, 

 but the varying hues are by no means pleasant ones ; and all its brilliancy 

 disappears. The Guarapema, called so by the Brazillian Indians from 

 its swiftness, abounds on their coast; and is distinguished from the 

 common Dorado, chiefly, by its larger size, by the colour of the fins and 

 tail, which is a bright yellow, and by the blue spots on its sides, w^hich 

 are round and beautiful. 



Sharks abound in every part of the ocean, and are sly, jealous, and 

 voracious monsters. Sailors have a rooted antipathy toward them, and 

 the capture of one, particularly on board a Portuguese vessel, is always 

 a subject of triumph. They seem to be the terror of all other fishes, 

 and perhaps of their own species, for they are usually found singly, and 

 create a sort of desert where they go. Fortunately for their prey, their 

 motion is slow; for themselves, the powers of digestion are feeble. We 

 caught one three days after having thrown overboard the entrails of a 

 sheep, which he had seized, and found them still in his stomach, partly 

 undigested. This membrane is a mere sack, fixed round the fauces, 

 and of the same width as the enormous mouth. We once found at the 

 bottom of this sack, and in the very skin of which it is composed, a 

 round lump, more than three inches in diameter; it had a small hole 

 in the side connected with the lower intestines, and was full of white 

 worms : evidently one of the diseases to which this monster is subject. 



The shark is very tenacious of life, and most easily destroyed by 



taking off the tail : an operation which opens the principal artery, and 



causes the creature to expire from loss of blood. On cutting through 



c 



