96

THE

SAW-FISH.

is a protuberance or sort of flat saw, with tremendous teeth along both edges, each of them sloping inwards like the barb of an arrow or spear. It strikes right and left with this powerful weapon, giving the most ghastly wounds; or thrusts and rips open the body of its victim. Its large staring eyes are situated in front of its nostrils, and its long body is furnished with numerous great spreading fins, that give it swiftness and aid its blows with a force truly astonishing. The snout, or saw, is about five feet in length, and his body is about fifteen or twenty feet long, the saw included. This deadly weapon is one foot broad, five inches across, and the number of its teeth is generally thirtysix, eighteen on each side. The benevolent use of both these formidable fishes with such ravenous appetites, no doubt is to free the ocean of some of its most troublesome inhabitants, to prevent their too great increase, and to be as it were the scavengers of the ocean. Whatever the purpose for which they were created, we can have no doubt it was a wise one; but as to the strength, swiftness, and mechanism of their structure, human conception can admire but can never equal them in perfection.

"Though it was the latter part of June when we reached the ocean on our return, yet we saw at a great distance, as we passed the Labrador coast, immense ice

bergs which had probably floated from Greenland, a part of America lying north of Labrador, discovered and settled by a Norwegian colony it is said nearly nine hundred years ago. The forms which these icebergs assume are truly fantastic, and as various and endless as those of a kaleidiscope; one day they look like a Gothic cathedral, and the very next like Aladdin's palace, or like round transparent towers, or beetling cliffs, or flat-roofed temples, or towering columns, or triangular pyramids, or tapering obelisks, each strange and wonderful change glistening with the beautiful crystal, blue, pink, yellow, and amethyst colours of blocks of ice in endless mixture."

In this manner, at one time or another, did Frank give an account of his travels. It was impossible for him to sit down for any length of time whilst any thing of a stirring nature was going on above deck among the sai

98

FRANK FALLS OVERBOARD.

lors. Our run towards Gottenburg was rapid; but nothing remarkable occurred during the voyage, except the circumstance of Frank's falling overboard.

The ship was fortunately sailing along very slowly at the time, otherwise it might have been a tragical adventure. In a moment I had made my way over the side of the vessel with the intention of assisting him, which was a foolish thing, as he was the better swimmer of the two. Slowly as the ship went, I found it quite as much as I could do, encumbered with my clothes, to weather the current in her wake, which for a moment carried me along. A boat, however, was soon sent to our help, and picked us up. This adventure reminded me of Frank's saving my life by pulling me out of the pool on the common of Sutton Coldfield.

We passed the isles of Shetland and Orkney, leaving them a little to the south of us. Frank and I, at the commencement of our voyage to Newfoundland, had been reading about Shetland, little thinking that our hard fate would so soon occasion us to pass it on the track to Gottenburg. Such are the sudden transitions of a sailor's life; to-day he is sailing with fair weather and a fair breeze towards his wished-for haven, and to-morrow he is thankful he has escaped Davy Jones's locker with a single check

THE

SHETLAND ISLANDS.

99

shirt to his back. Instead of being on the way to Newfoundland, we were already half a thousand leagues in a different direction. But Frank was merrily singing 'Grieving's a folly,' &c.; and, as we were passing Shetland, he borrowed the captain's spy-glass, and we saw in plain view the very ledges and cliffs, an account of which had so much interested us a few days previously. The novelty and grandeur of this change of adventure and scenery, from the shores of America to those of Shetland and the Orkney islands in Europe, seemed to reconcile Frank to all he had suffered or was like to suffer. The islands of Shetland, like the rocky shores of Labrador and Greenland already described, abound with sea-fowl, though of a very different species to the eider duck which is nearly as large as a tame goose. These sea-fowl serve not only for food to the inhabitants of Shetland, but the down and feathers are a great source of use, and profit in comThe various species of sea-fowl build their nests apart; yet some of the smaller islands are so crowded with birds, that, when their nests are invaded, they literally darken the air when they fly. The poor people of the small islands have plenty of fowl and eggs for food during the entire summer; their whole life and education, as it

merce.

100

BIRD-CATCHING.

were, consists in climbing rocks where a single false step or misfortune is certain destruction. The most surprising of the small islands of Shetland is called the Noss of Brassah, represented in the picture. It stands in the waves at about one hundred feet distance from the main. Some adventurous islander must have climbed its perpendicular sides from the sea, and driven a stake into the top of the rock. Another stake was driven into the top of the rocks on the opposite main island; and by means of a kite, or