THE THRESHER AND THE WHALE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
Si,—'our correspondent Mr. Robert Gray doubts if the thresher ever attacks the whale, and he quotes so great an authority as Captain Scoresby as having never seen a shark attack a whale. He might be interested to know that in 1889, when travelling in the R.M.S. Courland Castle' from Mozam- bique to Cape Town, I actually witnessed one of these combats. It occurred in the early afternoon when we were near Delagoa Bay, and was witnessed by all on deck. The first thing we saw was a large whale suddenly emerge from the sea in its whole length, and about fifty yards away from our boat. During the mext few minutes the shark came to the surface of the sea and rrpeatedly turned somersaults, throwing its whole body into the sir, and presumably falling on the head of the whale as it rose to the surface for air; we also saw the whale emerge several times from the water. The fierceness of the combat seemed to abate, and finally after five or ten minutes nothing more was seen. The officers on board recognized the shark as a thresher. In any case it could not have been a grampus, as it was not more than about twelve feet long.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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