94 NEW SOUTH WALES 



dried, are said to be of value among the Celestials, and are readily 

 bought in the Chinese market ; one of the uses they are put to there is 

 for rich soups made richer by the addition of a fin of a shark boiled to 

 a jelly. In this Colony they are sometimes saved, but the oil is the 

 chief object when fishermen go out on purpose to kill sharks." 



The Wobbegong. 



The same author gives the following account of Crossorhimcs barbatus 

 or Wobbegong : — " It is marked with irregular patches, and very like 

 a carpet, having a brown ground. It grows to the extent of 4 to 5 feet 

 in length. It has a large rounded head, and the mouth, which is of 

 fair proportion, is situated near the extremity, with a slightly over- 

 hanging upper lip, armed with cirrus, which hang thickly around. The 

 teeth are of two or three rows — small, sharp, and point inwards, so that 

 the prey can scarcely escape when once fairly in its clutches. 



" The wobbegong, of which there are several varieties on this coast, is 

 chiefly nocturnal ; but, like most other sharks, will not despise food in 

 the day. At that time they are generally concealed under or at the 

 base of overhanging rocks and patches of weeds, which it very much 

 resembles. At night it travels about into clear sand patches, and does 

 not move away from a sudden blaze of light — that, it is said, has rather 

 the property of attraction to these sharks. It is lured readily by smell 

 of fish, and it steals up with cat-like caution through the weeds, and 

 poises itself on the nearest eminence, close to the spot whence the odour 

 has arisen. This fish, except the gliding almost imperceptibly, has an 

 awkward motion in munching the bait, or when it attempts to turn and 

 move about. The stealthy manner in which it moves or lies in wait 

 for its prey gives one the idea that it does not travel much in search but 

 depends more on cunning. 



"A party of us were spear-fishing one dark night at the Long Reef, 

 by the aid of torches, accompanied by some aboriginals (who called this 

 sport 'bidgee,' and further south ' chitmere'), when a wobbegong seized 

 one of the blacks by the heel or lower part of his fustian trousers. To 

 attempt to move it at that time is useless, and not till the fish makes a 

 kind of grufi" chuflP, when he opens his mouth for the purpose, and offers 

 a chance to get loose. However, the black, being only fast by the 

 trousers, struggled to get loose, and did so by tearing a portion of them 

 behind, which ran clean up into a slip to the waist. 



" The aboriginals always look out for them among the reefs and dark 

 corners when fishing with the torch. At Jervis Bay, one night, a black- 

 fellow ventured out in the shallows for a considerable distance on this 

 errand, and by accident placed his foot on or near the mouth of a 

 wobbegong ; the fish immediately seized hold, but the fellow never 

 attempted to move but called out lustily for a light (his own torch had 

 burned out), another black had started off armed with a good spear as 

 well as with a light to his rescue ; but during this time the fish had 

 made the accustomed noise with a view to take a better hold, when the 

 darkie availed himself to haul his foot out of its mouth, but in their 

 alarm, and on coming ashore in haste, both he and the torchbearer fell 

 down and they were both in darkness, but ultimately got safe on shore. 



