when the great fish died without further
struggle. It was then measured, and found to be twenty-two feet long and
eight feet broad, and weighed nearly five tons."

An East Indiaman was once attacked by a sword-fish with such prodigious
force that its "snout" was driven completely through the bottom of the
ship, which must have been destroyed by the leak had not the animal
killed itself by the violence of its own exertions, and left its sword
imbedded in the wood. A fragment of this vessel, with the sword fixed
firmly in it, is preserved as a curiosity in the British Museum.

Several instances of a similar character have occurred, and one formed
the subject of an action brought against an insurance company for
damages sustained by a vessel from the attack of one of these fishes. It
seems the _Dreadnought_, a first-class mercantile ship, left a foreign
port in perfect repair, and on the afternoon of the third day a
"monstrous creature" was seen sporting among the waves, and lines and
hooks were thrown overboard to capture it. All efforts to this effect,
however, failed: the fish got away, and in the night-time the vessel was
reported to be dangerously leaking. The captain was compelled to return
to the harbor he had left, and the damage was attributed to a
sword-fish, twelve feet long, which had assailed the ship below
water-line, perforated her planks and timbers, and thus imperilled her
existence on the ocean.

Professor Owen, the distinguished naturalist, was called to give
evidence on this trial as to the probability of such an occurrence, and
he related several instances of the prodigious strength of the "sword."
It strikes with the accumulated force of fifteen double-handed hammers;
its velocity is equal to that of a swivel-shot, and it is as dangerous
in its effects as a heavy artillery projectile would be.

The upper jaw of this fish is prolonged into a projecting flattened
snout, the greatest length of which is about six feet, forming a saw,
armed at each edge with about twenty large bony spines or teeth. Mr.
Yarrel mentions a combat that occurred on the west coast of Scotland
between a whale and some saw-fishes, aided by a force of "thrashers"
(fox-sharks). The sea was dyed in blood from the stabs inflicted by the
saw-fishes under the water, while the thrashers, watching their
opportunity, struck at the unwieldy monster as often as it rose to
breathe.

The sword-fish is also furnished with a powerful weapon