Narrative of Bahama Expkdition. 145 



the size of objects in the water, which may account for the 

 large proportions of fish stories. The commonest sliark in 

 these waters was the bhie shark, Carclnrrlu'iiiis i^iaiini^. (T.) 

 Jor. and Gilb. This is one of the so-called man-eating sharks. 

 It was hard to repress a feeling of repugnance while watch- 

 ing these huge brutes cruise around and around the "Emily 

 E. Johnson," as if they were treading a regukir beat for busi- 

 ness purposes. At such times the boys lost their desire to 

 jump overboard, and conceived a still more intense longing to 

 catch sharks. Captain Flowers eagerly aided and abetted 

 them in this purpose, and their efforts resulted in the capture 

 of a number of the man-eaters. The largest of these seemed 

 •enormous as we hauled him aboard, and almost an}- of us 

 would have said that he was fifteen or twenty feet long. He 

 measured, however, just twelve feet, a good-sized shark after 

 all, although specimens are rarely mentioned in the literature 

 of adventure which are less than twenty-five feet long. The 

 vitality of this great fish was wonderful. It was shot several 

 times through the head before being hauled aboard, but gave 

 an occasional flap of its tail for a long time afterward. The 

 heart kept up its pulsations long enough for us to make a dis- 

 section, affordincr an instructive demonstration of the gross 

 anatomy of the circulatory system. The lance-like sharpness 

 of the teeth was learned from the most practical teacher, 

 experience, by several of those who were engaged in the dis- 

 section. This specimen seemed to have the power of evert- 

 ing the stomach out of the mouth, a considerable portion of 

 that or<jfan bain'jT in the mouth wh^n the ani:n:il cxxxi aboard. 

 Some of our party conceived the idea that the flesh of a 

 young shark would be good eating, and tested their theory by 

 a gastronomical demonstration. They reported the flesh quite 

 palatable, as, indeed, it doubtless was. 



Probably the best sport in the fishing line was dolphin 

 fishing. These were the fish and not the mammal known by 

 the same name. A sciiool of these beautiful creatures was 

 seen swimming around the vessel during a calm, and all hands 

 got out hooks and lines for a try at this novel sport. Shark 



