28 NOVEMBER 1903, Page 18

BATTLES OF BIRDS AND BEASTS.

iTo THE EDITOR OF TIM " SrEcrAtorul Sru,—The attacks made upon whales by thresher sharks, mentioned in your article in the Spectator of November 21st, are disputed. Sir William Des VoMLY in his book, "My Colonial Service," gives the evidence of a merchant captain, who • declared that the supposed enemy is part of the animal itself. My friend Captain W. Usbn.ne Moore, R.N. (who is also -quoted by Sir W. Des Vceux as a converted sceptic), tells me that he approached one of these monsters in a boat, and states positively that the so-called thresher is a long fin or membrane on the creature's back with which it flogs the Bannisters, .Finchampstead, Wokingham. Vice-Admiral.