A v e r y large fpecies of fword-ßß>, (different from that defcribed
in the Br, Zool. iii. N” 68), is found in thefe and other
of the Indian feas. There is a very fine fpecimen of it in the
Briti/h Mufeum, which is elegantly figured in Dodtor Shaw's
Naturalift’s Mifcellany, vol. ii. tab. 88. It grows, as I have been
informed, fometimes to the length o f thirty feet: It is at perpetual
enmity with the whale tribe; and a mod dangerous enemy,
for it will fink beneath thofe monftrous animals, and riling
with great force, transfix them with its vaft fnout. There
have been inftances of its miftaking a fhip for one o f the
cetaceous genus. An Baß India-nxin had its bottom pierced
through by a fword-fifh, and the weapon quite embedded to
the very bafe in the timber. The filli was killed by the violence
of the fliock; but had it been able to withdraw the
fword, the veffel probably muft have funk in confequence of
the leak. The timber, with the weapon lodged in it, is pre-
ferved in the Mufeum, to authenticate the fa£t.. This verifies
the report of Pliny, lib. xxxii. c. 2, refpecling the common
fword-fifh, in cafes wholly fimilar. Xiphiam, id eft, G la -
d i u m , roflro mucronato ejf'e: ab hoc navis perfoffas mergi in
. oceano ad locum M a o r i t a n ia e , qui gotta vocetur,. non procul
Lixo fiumine. •Oppian gives a true account of the Xiphias, in
Book ii. L. 462, iii. 547. The laft has a very entertaining de*
fcription of the manner in which the antient Maßlians took
thefe lingular fillies.
A m o s t elegant ftriped fpecies of Scorpana.
T he Ecbineis lineaius, a new fpecies; and finally the Labrus
Zeylanicus, In.d• Zool. tab. xvi.
W h i l e
Wh ile I am in this element, I ihall remark that the Sepia Oc- Monstrous
topodia, Br. Zool. iv. N" 44, grows in the Indian feas to a moft Sepia‘
amazing fize. A friend of mine, long refident among the Indian
ifles, and a diligent obferver of nature, informed me that the
natives affirm, that fome have been feen two fathoms broad
over their centre, and that each arm was nine fathoms long.
When the Indians navigate their little boats, they go In dread
of them ; and left thefe animals ffiould fling their arms over
and fink them, they never fail without an ax to cut them off.
T h e s e may parallel the enormous Polypus, or Sepia, defcribed
by Pliny, lib. ix. c. 30, which made its nightly invafions on the
magazines of falt-fifh at Carteia, and long put both men and
dogs at defiance.
Geylon is peculiarly happy in its Floras, the trees and vege- Vegetable.
tables of India feem crowded within its limits-. There may be
local vegetables in this ifland, and others again on the continent
but I- fear my deficiency in botanical knowledge will deprive
me of the power of pointing them out. Ceylon has been
fikewife-peculiarly happy in its florifts, who have enumerated
and defcribed its vegetable treafures. From their labors I ihall
mention thofe of moft flriking ufe, beauty, or Angularity, with
references to the authorities and figures. My chief guide will
be the Flora Zeylanica, compiled by Linnasus from the manu-
fcripts of Paul Herman, who from the year 1670 to- 1677 had
made feveral botanizing journeys through the ifland, with
great hazard to himfelf, and at vaft expence to the llates of
Holland. Thefe had been loft above fifty years, and then discovered
and communicated, in 1745, by Augujlus Gunther,.apothecary