£iie SWORD PISH. 171 
3own and pierces it with a fpear ; this inflrument being 
fattened to a rope, the animal is allowed to ftruggle till it 
ls overcome with fatigue and pain, when it is either taken 
Up into the veffel, or drawn aihore, atcording to the fize 
°f the filh *. 
The fiefh of this animal is whiter than that of the tun- 
n y, nourilhing and not unpleafant in its flavour. The 
Uihabitants of Sicily reckon it one of the firft delicacies, 
e flual to the fturgeon, and purchafe it frequently at the 
price of fixpence the English pound f , 
There is another filh nearly allied to the above, which. 
13 peculiar to the American feas, and called by the Bra- 
yhans guebucu +. The fnout is lharp, bony and hard ; 
Us length is fixteen inches, the lower jaw reaching above 
° ne half of that fpace. The length of this fpecies is four 
^ >e t, and its thicknefs one ; it is diftinguilhed by two 
re nrtarkable long bony fdbftances, refembling a rod, in 
? ' le place of its ventral fins, which it has the power of 
Elding down into a kind of furrow made in the belly 
^°r their reception ; the dorfal fin is three feet long, and 
Ca pable of being hid in the fame manner. 
1 
Strabo. Lib. i. apud Will. 
t Vt r i]i 0U g] li page 163. | Idem ubi fupra. 
