24 OCTOBER 1970, Page 16

Porbeagle

Sir : Diana Graves, in her anec- dotage, was right to suspect that the nature of the porbeagle might not be too delicate. Indeed, the por- beagle is sometimes ten feet long, and has a pointed snout.

But as anyone with Cornish blood will know, it is really no more than a kind of shark. Stran- ded thus in the dry old dicker, the poor beast may well have been glad of a dipin Miss Graves's kind- ly bathwater. One only trusts that the lady is not now missing a toe. William Sansom 135 Hamilton Terrace, rtw8.