TENACITY OF LIFE IN THE SHARK. 139 



upon deck, after it was cut open, and the heart 

 and all the internal viscera were removed, still 

 continued to flap and thrash with its tail, and 

 seemed to try to bite it off. The heart kept 

 contracting for twenty minutes after it was taken 

 out and pierced with the knife. And, from 

 what I have myself seen, I could not ridicule or 

 deny a story that was told me of a shark's being 

 known to swim off, upon being thrown overboard, 

 after it was opened, gutted, and had its tail 

 chopped off. Sailors don't like them a bit, but 

 kill them whenever they can ; and there is little 

 wonder, considering they are so likely to be 

 themselves eaten by these greedy rangers through 

 the paths of the sea. 



But to have done with our whale : It re- 

 mains to finish " bailing" the case, and to cut 

 out the blubber of the junk from the part of it 

 called " white horse" which is a tough, stringy, 

 and slightly elastic substance interposed with it, 

 that contains little or no oil, and is as good as a 

 cotton bale to shield a sperm whale's head from 

 blows. Then follow the trying-out, stowing 

 down, overhauling, and coopering again the 



