"The pointed head," says Goode, "the fins of the back and abdomen snugly fitting into grooves, the absence of ventrals, the long, lithe, muscular body, sloping slowly to the tail, fit it for the most rapid and forcible movement through the water. Prof. Richard Owen, testifying in an England court in regard to its power, said: "'It strikes with the accumulated force of fifteen double-handed hammers. Its velocity is equal to that of a swivel-shot, and is as dangerous in its effects as a heavy artillery projectile.' "Many very curious instances are on record of the encounters of this fish with other fishes, or of their attacks upon ships. What can be the inducement for it to attack objects so much larger than itself it is hard to surmise. "It surely seems as if a temporary insanity sometimes takes possession of the fish. It is not strange that, when harpooned, it should retaliate by attacking its assailant. An old swordfish fisherman told Mr. Blackford that his vessel had been struck twenty times. There are, however, many instances of entirely unprovoked assault on vessels at sea. Many of these are recounted in a later portion of this memoir. Their movements when feeding are discussed below, as well as their alleged peculiarities of movement during the breeding season. "It is the universal testimony of our fishermen that two are never seen swimming close together. Capt. Ashby says that they are always distant from each other at least thirty or forty feet. "The pugnacity of the swordfish has become a byword. Without any special effort on my part numerous instances of their attacks upon vessels have in the last ten years found their way into the pigeon-hole labeled 'Swordfish.'" Swordfishes are common on both shores of the Atlantic wherever mackerel run. They do not breed on our shores, but probably do so in the Mediterranean and other warm seas. They are rare off the California coast, but five records existing (Anacapa, Santa Barbara, Santa Catalina, San Diego, off Cerros Island). The writer has seen two large individuals in the market of Yokohama, but it is scarcely known in Japan. As a food-fish, the swordfish is one of the best, its dark-colored oily flesh, though a little coarse, making most excellent steaks. Its average weight on our coast is about 300 pounds, the maximum 625. The swordfish undergoes great change in the process of development, the very young having the head armed with rough spines and in nowise resembling the adult. Fossil swordfishes are unknown, or perhaps cannot be distinguished from remains of _Istiophoridæ_. CHAPTER XVII CAVALLAS AND PAMPANOS