382 The Animcd-Lore of Shalcsjoeare’s Time . 
The shark was often observed by sailors to be accom¬ 
panied by a small fish called the Albacore, - 
mot fish. or Pilot-fish. This little attendant was con¬ 
sidered to be a kind of jackal, to provide the prey for his 
master, and to share in the spoil. Sir Richard Hawkins, 
in his account of a voyage to the South Sea, in 1593, 
writes:— 
<f There doth accompany this fish [shark] divers little fishes, which 
are called pilats fishes, and are ever upon his finnes, his head, or his 
backe, and feed of the scraps and superfluities of his preyes. They 
are in forme of a trowte, and streaked like a mackerell, but that the 
streakes are white and blacke, and the blacke greater than the white.” 
(Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1376.) 
The pilot-fish was also thought to have a friendship 
for man, and to keep close to ships, and to warn them of 
danger by forsaking them when they came near the 
shore. It was therefore treated as a guide, and protected 
from injury by mariners. Mr. Couch suggests that the 
reason of the dislike of this fish to the neighbourhood of 
land is probably to be assigned to its objection to en¬ 
counter any fresh water which may come from the mouth 
of large rivers. 
The Remora, or Sucking-fish, was very common in 
the Mediterranean. It possesses a flat adhe- 
Eemoia. s i Ye disk 0 n the top of the head— 
“ by means of which,” says Yarrell, “ it is able to attach itself firmly to 
the surface of other fishes, or to the bottom of vessels, but whether 
for protection or conveyance or both is a question which has not been 
satisfactorily ascertained.” (British Fishes, vol. ii. p. 281.) 
Although in reality only a small fish, and not capable 
of inconveniencing either fish or vessel to any great ex¬ 
tent, the obstructive powers attributed to the remora were 
out of all proportion to its strength, and the word remora 
came to be used to signify an impediment or obstacle. 
Massinger writes :— 
