102 
IIAMMER-IIEADED SHARKS. 
surf breaking on it. One would imagine that malaria 
and fevers must hold undisputed possession of these 
impenetrable forests and noisome swamps ; but the 
wreathing smoke which appeared in many places, proved 
that He who “ tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,” has 
given in His mercy, -such a constitution to the creatures 
whom He has placed here, as to enable them to resist a 
climate which would speedily show to those not so 
adapted, that they could not tempt its dangerous 
atmosphere with impunity. 
We had an opportunity of seeing two of those 
hideous monsters of the deep, the hammer-headed 
shark, Zygcena malleus, which as we slowly moved 
along, followed us some time, to the dismay of 
the superstitious among the sailors. It is certainly 
one of the most singular and horrible looking of 
fishes. The head is depressed, more or less truncated 
in front ; on each side extending horizontally to some 
length, which gives it the hammer shape. The eyes are 
placed at the extremity of this curious formation ; and 
as the animal in its zigzag movements, slightly raises 
one side and depresses the other, the eye has a most 
revolting aspect ; they are furnished with lids, which pro- 
ceed from the internal part of the orbits ; the pupil is 
black, surrounded by a rich yellow iris. In a small 
one we procured, the conjunctiva was of a reddish tinge. 
The semi-circular mouth is furnished with four or five 
rows of serrated teeth, according to age, directed towards 
the corners of the mouth. The elongated nostrils are 
