- while Jack and I found ample amusement in looking on, also in
gazing down at the coral groves, and in baiting the hook. Among
the fish that we saw, but did not catch, were porpoises and sword-
fish, whales and sharks. The porpoises came frequently into our
lagoon in shoals, and amused us not a little by their bold leaps
into the air, and their playful gambols in the sea. The sword-fish
were wonderful creatures; some of them apparently ten feet in
length, with an ivory spear, six or eight feet long, projecting
from their noses. We often saw them darting after other fish, and
no doubt they sometimes killed them with their ivory swords. Jack
remembered having heard once of a sword-fish attacking a ship, -
which seemed strange indeed; but, as they are often in the habit of
attacking whales, perhaps it mistook the ship for one. This sword-
fish ran against the vessel with such force, that it drove its
sword quite through the thick planks; and when the ship arrived in
harbour, long afterwards, the sword was found still sticking in it!

Sharks did not often appear; but we took care never again to bathe
in deep water without leaving one of our number in the boat to give
us warning, if he should see a shark approaching. As for the
whales, they never came into our lagoon, but we frequently saw them
spouting in the deep water beyond the reef. I shall never forget
my surprise the first day I saw one of these huge monsters close to
me. We had been rambling about on the reef during the morning, and
were about to re-embark in our little boat, to return home, when a
loud blowing sound caused us to wheel rapidly round. We were just
in time to see a shower of spray falling, and the flukes or tail of
some monstrous fish disappear in the sea a few hundred yards off.
We waited some time to see if he would rise again. As we stood,
the sea seemed to open up at our very feet; an immense spout of