THE PALOMETA.
The palometa is more formidable to swimmers than any crocodile; for its jaws, each of which is furnished with fourteen very sharp, triangular teeth, like so many spears, are its armoury, with which it attacks any part of the human body, and cuts it off at one blow. I myself have seen a strong Abipon with the sole of his foot severely wounded by this fish, and an Abiponian boy with four of his toes cut off by it and hanging only from a bit of skin. To prove the credibility of the fact, I must tell you that the Abiponian women use the jaw of the palometa to shear sheep with. The Abipones also, before they were in possession of iron, used it to cut off the heads of the Spaniards. This fish is found every where in great abundance, but is smaller in the smaller rivers, where it scarce weighs half a pound, while in the larger ones it grows to the size of two or more pounds; but its length never corresponds to its breadth. It has a curved back, thick head, wide mouth, small round eyes, and a broad forked tail. Besides the formidable jaw which I have described, it threatens all assailants with large, long gills, and seven sharp fins, the largest of which is situated in the middle of the back, and runs towards the tail. The body is covered with faint grey spots, interspersed with red, blue, and yellow. The flesh is firm, white, and very savoury; I wish that it were not so full of bones. When the hook is extracted, these fish must be handled with caution, otherwise they will wound you with their teeth or fins.