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The outer skin is very thin and delicate, naked, transparent, and composed of two different layers, a simple external stratum of cells, the epidermis, and a thin underlying cutis-layer. Along the middle line of the back runs a narrow fin-fringe which expands behind into an oval tail-fin, and is continued below in a short anus-fin.
Then David painted the furious race after the whale, and how the boat gradually gained, and how at last, as he was grinding his teeth and pulling like mad, he heard a sound ahead like a hundred elephants wallowing; and now he hoped to see the harpooner leave his oar, and rise and fling his weapon; "but that instant, up flukes, a tower of fish was seen a moment in the air, with a tail-fin at the top of it just about the size of this room we are sitting in, ladies, and down the whale sounded; then it was pull on again in her wake, according as she headed in sounding; pull for the dear life; and after a while the oarsmen saw the steerman's eyes, prying over the sea, turn like hot coals.
Laying down his pencil, the professor then, with a small punch, made a tiny hole in the tail-fin of the salmon, the fish having been thrown over the captor's left arm again, slipped an aluminum button through the hole, and riveted it securely.
"We got him at dawn off a headland.... Oh, best bit of sport that ever I had!" The speaker's hard grey eye softened at the recollection. "We've got lots since, but never one as neat as that. He just came to the surface and showed his tail-fin and " the huge hands made a significant downward gesture.
The shark did not follow him this time, but cunning as well as ferocious slipped a yard or two inshore, and waited to grab him; not seeing him, he gave a slap with his tail-fin, and reared his huge head out of water a moment to look forth. Then George Fielding, grinding his teeth with fury, flung his heavy stone with tremendous force at the creature's cruel eye.
As a rule only the silly bass and red-eyes take the bait. There! Now you know all about it." The forest of seaweed with its shells and snails began to rock; a plashing and drumming could be heard and a huge red whale passed like a flash over their heads; he had a tail-fin like a cork-screw, and that was what he worked with. "That's a steamer," said the eel-mother; "make room!"
While the final touch was being given to our task i.e. the hole-boring through the tail-fin all hands lay around in various picturesque attitudes, enjoying a refreshing smoke, care forgetting. While thus pleasantly employed, sudden death, like a bolt from the blue, leapt into our midst in a terrible form.
Scrape out with point of small knife blade the flesh that runs out thin over tail-fin bones. This completes the skinning operation. The cleaned skin may be poisoned to advantage with either dry or solution arsenic, brushed in well.
At the point where he intended to take his stand, close in by the "crutch" of the cachalot's tail-fin, he made three excavations with more care. At length, satisfied with his preparations, he stood, with pointed harpoon, waiting for we of the sharks to come within striking distance. They "fought shy" at first; but the old whaleman knew a way of overcoming their shyness.
These four limb-fins are useful chiefly as balancers, while the tail-fin is what sends the fish darting through the water, or turns it to right or left, with incredible swiftness.
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