SELACHOIDEI. 5 



not of frequent occurrence. Among the most savage species are 

 the ground-sharks of the rivers, as Carcharias yangetiais, which 

 seldom loses an opportunity of attacking the bather. The Galea- 

 cerdo rayneri is likewise greatly dreaded along the coast or in the 

 harbours. Though stationed several years at Cochin, I could only 

 ascertain a single instance of a living human being having been 

 carried off by these fishes, and Col. Tickeli mentions that while in 

 Burma for many years he only heard of one such case. The most 

 frequent accidents occurring are after the fish has been hooked 

 and lifted into the fisherman's boat, or else while entangled in a 

 net when attempts are made to seize it or cut it adrift. Corpses 

 are almost immediately eaten by sharks, while it may be said in 

 their favour that they devour 'the poisonous sea-snakes (Hydro- 

 pJiidce). 



Along the coast of Sind, as at Kurrachee, there are considerable 

 shark-fisheries, one form, the Mhor, being harpooned while basking 

 on the surface, and Dr. Buist observed in 1850 that this species was 

 often captured 40 and sometimes 60 feet in length. The largest 

 shark I saw there in 1870 was about 20 feet long, but I was told 

 that others up to 30 feet had been recently taken. Here sharks are 

 likewise netted, the nets being a quarter of a mile or more in length, 

 constructed of strong twine and having a six-inch mesh ; floats of 

 light wood are affixed along the upper line, while the lower edge 

 of the net is weighted by stones. These nets are sunk in deep 

 water (from 80 to 150 feet) and well out to sea, where they remain 

 until the following day ; they are set two or three times a week 

 according to the weather and local circumstances. Small sharks 

 are eaten by the lower classes, and their flesh is considered along 

 the Malabar coast as very nourishing food for mothers after child- 

 birth, while in Bombay they are largely purchased by the African 

 sailors. 



The fins of the sharks are removed and dried in the sun. Strips 

 of flesh are also salted as food, and the livers boiled down for the 

 oil they contain. Fins of sharks and rays, along with fish-maws 

 or fish-sounds, were exported from Kurrachee to Bombay during 

 the 5 years ending 1872-73 to the declared annual average value 

 of about 7415 ; from Bombay they were re-exported to China. 

 Some forms of large sharks, as Galeocerdo, which have the edges of 

 their broad teeth sharp or coarsely serrated, cannot be captured by 

 nets, as they at once cut their way out. But nets are suitable 

 for such species as possess conical teeth ; these last may likewise 

 be taken by baited hooks attached to cords composed of many 

 strands, through which the teeth penetrate but do not cut. 



Further down the Western coast, as at Calicut, medicinal fish- 

 liver oil of an excellent quality was formerly manufactured, a 

 small factory for this purpose 'having been constructed at that 

 station in 1854, and the livers of sharks and saw-fishes were pur- 

 chased from the fishermen. The abundance or paucity of these 

 fishes evidently depended to a very great extent upon whether 

 sardines were or were not present, for these latter forms of Clu- 



