146 SHARK CAPTURED, 



CHAPTER VII. 



Early on the morning of January 26th, Are spoke 

 and gammoned the barque La Belle Anna, from 

 Melbourne to Mauritius. Through the kindness of 

 her captain, who accommodatingly delayed until we 

 had prepared them, we sent letters home via the 

 Mauritius, which were duly received. On the same 

 day we captured a shark twelve feet long. The cap- 

 ture of this fish is effected more in a spirit of mis- 

 chief than from any good resulting from it; the sailor 

 deeming him his natural enemy, and delighting in 

 putting him to the severest torture. Their tenacity 

 of life is remarkable. I have seen a red-hot iron run 

 directly through the heart of one of the species, and 

 still he turned and bit at the iron, grasping its seeth- 

 ing surface between his huge jaws and craunching it, 

 and, vexed at its non-impressibility, lashing his tail 

 with rage. I have also seen them flayed, and still 

 practising as many contortions as an eel; if j^ou cut 

 their heads half ofl:', they swim away ; and if you 

 should open the body and allow the entrails to drop 

 out, the creature seizes them in his jaws and tears 

 them in his agon3\ The skin is used as sand-paper, 

 it being covered with prickles. The backbone is 

 articulated in very small divisions, which enables it 

 to turn with so much celerity through the water. 

 These joints, which are about an inch in diameter, and 



