have had some difficulty in handling it. I have known these fellows
attack a whale, and run their beaks right into its side, while the
thrasher sticks to its back; and between them they manage to kill the
monster, though I believe the sharks benefit most by the hunt. I have
seen them caught in the Mediterranean by harpoons, especially off the
coast of Sicily. The people in those parts are little better than
idolaters, and when they go out fishing they sing some old heathen song
which they fancy attracts the sword-fish. They won't utter a word of
their own language, for fear that the creatures should understand them;
but certain it is that the fish follow their boats, when they stand
ready with their harpoons to strike them. The flesh is good eating, and
very nourishing when cooked; as we shall find it, I hope, though we have
to eat it raw. There's another sort of fish which I have fallen in with
in these seas, and a curious creature it is. It is called `the
sail-fish,' for it has got a big fin on the top of its back which it can
open or shut like a Chinese fan; and when it rises to the top of the
water, the wind catches this sail-like fin and sends it along at a great
rate; and at its chin it has got two long lines, which I suppose serve
it to anchor by, to the rocks in a tideway, when lying in wait for its
prey."

"What a curious sort of creature it must be," said Alice; "how I should
like to see one!"

"Perhaps we may, when we get closer in-shore," answered the mate; "and
we will try to harpoon it if you don't object to our eating it
afterwards."

"Oh, no, no; that I would not," answered Alice. "I only wish some
flying-fish would come on to the raft; I would willingly eat them raw.
I remember what a foolish remark I made about the matter when we were on
board the _Champion_. I little thought how very thankful I should be to
catch some of the beautiful creatures for the purpose of eating them."

"I no tink Missie Alice need eat de fish raw," said Nub. "I manage to
cook it."

"How so?" asked the mate. "We have no hearth nor fuel."

"I find both," said Nub, in a confident tone. "Look here, Massa
Shobbrok. We get some bits of board. I put dem down on de middle of de
raft, and we damp dem well; den I take de skin of dis fish and put it on
de top of dem, doubled many times; den I take some of de dry pieces of
blubber, and I pile dem up; den I get some chips from de sword-fish, and
fix dem close to de he