the ray fish. See Encyclopedia, where it is said that the ophryctus or sharp nosed ray, is supposed to be the tor of the ancients; but if there be any truth in the following narrative, which we confess has much the air of fiction, this is probably a mistake. It is the narrative of Vaillant, and we shall give it in his own words:
"In the latitude 15° 15' north, and longitude 35°, an enormous flat fish of the ray genus (says he), came and swam round our vessel. It differed from the common ray, however, in the shape of its head, which, instead of being pointed, formed a crescent, and from the extremities of the semicircle issued two arms as it were, which the sailors called horns. They were two feet wide at the base, and only five inches at the extremity. This monster they told me was called the fra-deal.
"A few hours after, we saw two others with this, one of which was so extremely large, that it was computed by the crew to be fifty or sixty feet wide. Each swam separately, and was surrounded by those small fish which usually precede the shark, and which are therefore called by fishermen pilot-fish. Lastly, all three carried on each of their horns a white fish, about the size of a man's arm, and half a yard long, which appeared to be stationed there on duty.
"You would have said they were two sentinels placed to keep watch for the safety of the animal, to inform him of any approaching danger, and to guide his movements. If he approached too near the vessel, they quitted their posts, and, swimming briskly before, led him..." him away. If he rose too high above the water, they passed backward and forward over his back till he had descended deeper. If, on the contrary, he swam too low, they disappeared, and we saw no more of them, because, no doubt, they were passing underneath, as in the preceding instance they had passed above him. Accordingly we found him re-ascend towards the surface, and then the two sentinels resumed their posts, each on his horn."
These manoeuvres continued three days; and to give our author the better opportunity of observing them, the ship most fortunately was becalmed the whole time. He was naturally very desirous of catching one of them that he might examine it at leisure; and, by bribing the seamen with a dozen of bottles of wine, he accomplished his object. One of the fish was struck with twelve or fifteen harpoons; several halibuts were passed round his body, and he was hoisted on board.
"This (says our author) was the least of the three, being only eight-and-twenty feet in its extreme breadth, and one-and-twenty in length from the extremity of the horns to that of the tail. The tail, which was thick in proportion to the body, was twenty-two inches long. The mouth, placed exactly like that of the ray, was wide enough to swallow a man with ease. The skin was white under the belly, and brown on the back, like that of the ray. We reckoned the animal to weigh not less, certainly, than a ton."
We think it was fortunate that they chanced to strike the smallest fish; for an addition of eight or ten tons weight, which the largest ray must have weighed, as certainly as the smallest weighed one ton, might have been very inconvenient on board a ship already loaded. We do not remember to have anywhere met with a description of this ray before, and we think it should be considered as a new species; but we shall not give it a name till its existence be better ascertained, when we submit to the pupils of Linnaeus, whether it may not be proper to give it the ancient name boi.
RAJAH. (See Encyclopedia.) We learn from Sir Charles Roufe Boughton's Dissertation concerning the Landed Property of Bengal, that this title is conferred upon Hindoos by the emperor, and frequently given out of courtesy to the greater zemindars. It would appear therefore that the Rajahs can never be independent of the Mogul but by a successful rebellion.
RAYELUL MULK, in the language of Bengal, the usage of the country, the common law.