KILLING A SHARK ^ THE GRAMPUS. 237 



adopted, as being the most probable of any ad- 

 vanced. 



After remaining on this ground a sufficient length 

 of time to assure ourselves of the improbability of 

 picking up the wounded whale, we proceeded to the 

 northward, hoping to be more successful off the capes 

 Chatham and Leuwin. Our passage up was un- 

 marked with incident, except the capture of a large 

 shark, and the picking up of a dead grampus of the 

 variety known as the bottle-nose. The shark's cap- 

 ture is worthy of mention merely for the method we 

 adopted to kill him. lie was struck and hauled in, 

 and beat over the head with a heavy handspike. The 

 forge being up, and a good fire burning in it, a bar 

 of iron was heated, and run directly through his 

 heart, with but little apparent effect ; for he still con- 

 tinued to lash his flukes, and set his jaws upon a 

 piece of pine board, to which he held fast. His head 

 was then cut off, and his skin removed ; yet every 

 member of his body still retained the power of motion. 



The grampus is a most beautiful fish — the hand- 

 somest in form of the many inhabitants of the 

 deep that it has been my fortune to see. On account 

 of their shyness, there is great difficult}' in approach- 

 ing these fish when alive, and consequently very few 

 are taken : even in the whaling career, seldom does 

 a seaman have an opportunity of examining one on 

 deck. The one in our possession was about twenty- 

 five feet long, and as much around the bilge. His 

 skin was smooth, of a shininc black color. His head 

 gradually sloped, until it ended in a long pointed 

 jaw, resembling that of the porpoise, but which, un- 

 like that of most other fish in these waters, was not 



