CHAP. 6.—MARVELLOUS PROPERTIES BELONGING TO CERTAIN FISHES.
Trebius Niger informs us that whenever the loligo [Note] is seen
darting above the surface of the water, it portends a change
of weather: that the xiphias, [Note] or, in other words, the swordfish,
has a sharp-pointed muzzle, with which it is able to pierce
the sides of a ship and send it to the bottom: instances of
which have been known near a place in Mauritania, known as
Cotte, not far from the river Lixus. [Note] He says, too, that the
loligo sometimes darts above the surface, in such vast numbers,
as to sink the ships upon which they fall.
