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.