tween her
and William was carried on: for the lad had picked up a somewhat
extensive vocabulary of Portuguese among the sailors of the _Pandora_--
many of whom were of that nation. It was a sort of "lingoa geral"
spoken along the seaboard of Africa,--not unlike a similar Portuguese
patois, current on the coasts and large rivers of tropical South
America.

In this language, little William, by the aid of signs and gestures, was
able to keep up an occasional conversation with Lilly Lalee.

During the two hours which the sailor had remained at the
steering-oar,--and for some time after,--no incident occurred to
interrupt the tranquillity of the _Catamaran's_ crew.

A very odd sort of fish, swimming about a cable's length ahead of the
craft, had attracted the attention of William and the girl,--exciting
their curiosity so much as to cause them to rise to their feet and stand
watching it.

The interest which this creature had inspired was not, however, of a
pleasant kind. On the contrary, both looked upon it with feelings of
repugnance, almost amounting to awe; for it was in reality one of the
ugliest monsters to be met with in the great deep.

In size it it as about equal to the body of a man; but much more
elongated, and lessening gradually towards the tail. It seemed to
possess a double quantity of fins,--lunated along their outer margins,
and set thickly over its body, so as to give it a bristling aspect.
Unlike other fishes, its neck was more slender than its head and
shoulders,--imparting to it a sort of human shape. But it was in its
head that the hideousness of the creature was more especially
conspicuous; the skull being prolonged on each side outwards to the
distance of several inches, and set upon its neck after the fashion of a
mallet upon its shaft! At the end of these lateral protuberances
appeared the eyes, with gleaming golden irides, glancing horridly to the
right and left.

The mouth was not less abnormal in shape and position. Instead of being
in the hideous head already described, it was in the breast,--where at
intervals it could be seen yawning wide open, and displaying a quadruple
row of sharp serrated teeth, that threatened instant destruction to any
substance, however hard, that might chance to come between them.

Little William knew not what sort of fish it was; for though common
enough in some parts of the ocean, he had not had the good or ill
fortune to see one before. As his compan