N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y of N O R W A Y.
he devours' ëvery ' thing' thaï -falls in his way, particularly
thé Mackarël, arid is extremely fond of human - flefh *. lam
therefore inclined to agree with thofe who are of .opinion, that
the large Fifh which {wallowed Jonah was rather a great Shark
than a Whale, whofe narrow throat feems Very improper -to fwal-
low a whole human body. After thëfe^general obfervations, .»I
fhall briefly treat óf each kind of Shàrks in particular.
The common Shark is of a middling fize,^:>feldom above three
or; four feet long, and has a fharp bone on the back part of its
heck, like a boar’s tusk : its skin is of -a grey colour,I and their
flefh not fo delicate- as to be coveted for the tablèy5 unlefs when
there is a* fcarcity of other provïfion,' and then they flea it, .and
dry it in the fmoak. The beft part of it is the. liver, which
makes the beft fort of train oik In the Spring, when- :the Herrings
ï;and Cöd appear on the coafts, the,Shark, together-with
oÉiirTFifîv I of prëy, drive them before them, and fo'e^fecute :th»
will of the beneficent Creator. Soiftétim'ps- thefe Fifh corne infuch
large fhoals, that they interrupt oub1 regnlar" fisheries ; for one
has hardly thrown out the hook, before, a Shark fallens upomit,
arid difappoints the fifherman, who Was in expeâation of a Odd.:*
Gni Haae. v The Gul Haae, orûHaâeGule, differs from 'the lafl |mpritfoii’d
in the fmoothnefs of the skiff; as has - been obferved before y. is
alfo in colour, which is a bright yellbw. . Henceït has thafname
Gui Hâae ; i. e. the Golden- Skark. Ildiffefs1 rismàfkably from Other
Sharks as to its tail, which, in the other kinds, refembles that of
a Salmon, excepting that^OAei o f the points isTomethirigiidfrger
than the other; whereas the taihof the Gul Haae is longer than
its whole body, arid grows gradually narrower,«ti*H it ends in a
point. On account of this tail it is called by fome the
óf which it has fotüé diflant refemfelamcey efpecially when the firis
are bent down under its belly; | and -haVe the appearance :.of
legs. The head is very large, and the mouth like that i; of the
other Sharks. On the back part of the neck it has a flrong.and
fharp borie, about four inches longybending backwards .v but
thé mofl remarkable thing in this Fifh is his ’ double generative
Be fays, “ Take tny worthy friend Dr. Sioane’s oBfeniaribn It hath tHis..particular to:
“ it, with fome others of its trihe, that the mouth is in :its under part, fo that irirnuft;
“ turn the belly upwards to prey. And was it riot for that time it is turning,; in'
“ Much the purfuedfiihes efcape, there would1 be nqriiingthaE could- avioidity-for it
is v^ery qui^t in fwitnriiing, and hath a vaffi ftrenÿlî,'With the largeft fwallow fôf
“ any .Fifh, and is very devouring.”; Sioane’s Voyage to Jamaica, p. 22..
* Concerning the inhabitants on Viiiiden, or Bahus'Lehd, Petrus Undalinus. afîèrts,
p. 24, what one would hardly think credible ;• namely, that the Sharks (which were
then very numerous in thofe- parts) are. fo fond- of human flefil». that they have killed
feyeral fiihermen. "
member j
M A T U ^ A L H I S T O R Y of N O R W :A T. II5
: member for, as I £jhave before obfersye^,
not oyiparous,-bi$ bring,forth their,.young alive. 1 his has his
genitals in their proper .place ; but.jwhether they all have them
dqubfol do not^know :■ bijt as fp(r, thisitkind I. can affirip, from
my own tobfervat;ou, that .the male has a douflle penis, and the
female a flguble womb« jj Ifothe liVer of the Gul-HaaeJpe put into
a,., glafe veffeF.in, a^warm p la c en t will diffolye to, an oilland
thjis-fs.ân excdieijtj u-Qgu^^fOr all wounds and .bruifes* An
experienced apothecai^} affured me, that, he prefers this unguent
t^|?,jall .other remedies j.wflich his fliop affords, -for, external
applicatiprisL;.' ■
•i|;.,The Sort-Haaey which mayj’ hkewife be «eompared1 tq the S*ea- Sort Haae,
Rat, differs from the former ; in , fize and colour, .for itjs, much,
lqfo than the Giil-Haae^, and, \ is coal black oriS^he back» 'and tpf
a blueifh cqljoqr ripdyr the belly. Hence „iti is^jialfodjfoyj fome
Blaa-Mave, ançl bypt^ieçs Morten-Blanke^Lthe tafkand < the, liver
^jre like thofeToi the Gul-Haae ; bu,t tHeilat,™^’ d%r, ^nd does
imt yie-M^fo much oil. ; So much for, the fmall ] Sharks : I now
!$gm©i4q■ tr^at^:..the,;l||gMIj|)irtrian^ly^^
as. the ■:
pealants ;call tlj.em, Hale-Riasrihg'fprn .a fort .of hermaphrodite^
or of- both fexes, according to the opinion^ ofj^omef .^vritjers ;
|ho’ I will mot affirm it for a .certainty. . Tlje Haaehrandgn is
hut.^14 or 15 feet,,longi at the mofl, ,and is. Jor<me4 like.uthe
other Sharks ; it is of a..black colour-., 5 The flefh;of, this kind;
^s gooHJpr nothing ; the liver produces,strain oil, .but inferior to
that mentioned abqve^ | ;
•‘ç.The H^aq-Kiæringen,; this is a^hird; fortx larger, than the;,pre-. Ha«,
ceding :ùjit ds,,19 *c|r zo feet long; fo that it i^ as much as aKiæraïs-
horfe cpn ; carry, evep(,after .the liver js -taken .out, which is
almofl the.;only valuable part of jfyj and oftpn fields, two casks
of train oil» and fomgtimes more* This« may.j-feqm an extraordinary.
guariflty,, but I am' alfured of, the.truth'of^it^ by«,.thofe
who make it to extra£l it. , Thqy, alfo l^tlpfQïom
the belly qf it feveral flips,,q£ fat, which are’dried and, fold to
|he Uplanders, who live moftly on coarfo cheap food. The skin
■ -Is tann’d and prepared, by the peafants fpr. horferfurfotu^ea lii^e
the skin, of the Sselhunde. They,catch -thefe .with a, hook, which
they bait with a ' pièce of flunking carrion ; there mull be an
iron chain of- about foi® or five feet long foflened to the hook,
or elfe he’ll cut the line, as t;hey fay, with his,rough skin, ^yhich,
as I have • before obferved, i% peculiar to thé Sharky qr more probably
with his »teptfoi, .
The