[ ^3 1 
Tab. VIII. Fig. 8.]; and gave me the following Rela- 
tion of it : “ His Majesty’s Ship Leopard , having 
“ been at the INeft- Indies, and on the Coaft of 
“ Gainey , was ordered by Warrant from the Ho- 
“ nourable Navy-Board, dated Aug. 18. 1725. to be 
“ cleaned and refitted at C P oxtfmouth for Channel- 
tc Service: Purfuant thereto, fhe was put into the 
great Stone-dock 1 and, in {tripping off her Sheath- 
<c ing, the Shipwrights found fomething that was 
<c uncommon in her Bottom, about 8 Feet from her 
“ Keel, juft before the Fore-mad 5 which they fearch- 
“ ing into, found the Bone or Part of the Horn of 
“ a Fifh of the Figure here defcribed ; the Outfide 
u rough, not unlike Seal-skin s and the End, where 
“ it was broken off, fhewcd itfelf like coarfe Ivory. 
“ The Fifh is fuppofed to have followed the Ship, 
when under Sail, bccaufe the fharp End of the 
<c Horn pointed toward the Bow : It penetrated with 
u that Swiftnefs or Strength, that it went through 
“ the Sheathing 1 Inch thick, the Plank 3 Inches 
“ thick, and into the Timber 4- Inches.” 
With what prodigious Force muft this Fifh have 
moved ? For had it met the Ship, the Motion of the 
Ship would have afllflcd the Penetration of the Horn ; 
but the Diredion of it pointing from the Stern to- 
wards the Head, fhews that the Fifh ftruck againft the 
Ship, either while at Anchor; or that it overtook it, 
while under Sail; in which cafe the Force of the Fifh 
muft have been ftill greater ; and this was probably 
the Cafe, becaufe nobody in the Ship remembered 
the Shock. Several able Workmen on the Spot 
allured me, that, with a Hammer of a Quarter of 
an Hundred Weight, they could not drive in a Pin 
of Iron, of the fame Form and Size, into fuch 
fort 
