266 
GROTESQUE-LOOKING SHARk's HEAD. 
purchase of the architectural ornament for the 
small sum of one itzehu. 
This ‘^squaline caput is sufficiently bizarre to 
merit observation. It has been inspected by many 
a seafaring man, from an admiral to a j)owder- 
monkey, and its physiognomy, though sufficiently 
striking, is unknown even to a class usually well- 
acquainted with the tribe in question. The head, 
which is narrow and somewhat compressed, is 
covered with a smooth black skin ; the snout 
is long, triangular, and j^ointed, not depressed, and 
projects considerably over the mouth, which is open 
with a wide gajie ; the gums are exposed and 
painted red. The eye is large and round, and 
unprovided with a nictitating membrane or eyelid. 
The nostrils are oblique, ear-like openings placed at 
the lower part of the muzzle, midway between its 
tip and the eye. The teeth are arranged in three 
series, the outer row erect, the middle semi-erect, 
and the inner decumbent ; they are similar in each 
jaw, and are long, pointed, curved cusps, with their 
lateral edges shaiq) and simple. 
