A STORY OF SIX SHAEKS. 95 



ends that the cook or crew may throw over the 

 vessel's side. 



A reverend Jesuit, Father Labat, who seems to 

 have lived on terms of intimacy with the sharks of 

 his time, declares that sharks most decidedly prefer 

 black men's flesh to that of the white, because it is 

 more savoury and highly flavoured. He also adds 

 that the creature gives a preference to Englishmen 

 over Frenchmen. For all this, I should not advise 

 a Frenchman to trust implicitly to this preference 

 of the sharks. It may be that the sharks of the 

 nineteenth century have not preserved the manners 

 and customs of their ancestors. 



One day, I happened to be on a voyage from New 

 York to Boston, in a sloop manned by a jolly crew. 

 We started from the Battery Quay at six o'clock 

 in the evening, so as to take advantage of the flood 

 tide to get up the East Biver, pass Hellgate, and 

 so into the open sea by Long Island. At dawn, 

 we found ourselves at sea, sailing in the direction 

 of Newport, when the look-out man gave notice of a 

 shark. On this, a sailor seized an enormous hook, 

 strong enough to hold a shark, baited it with a lump 

 of pork, and threw it in the sea. The sailors, full 

 of delight and expectation, called out to each other, 

 " Hey, lads ! come and have a look. Here, you 

 Carroll, Neal, Beuben, and Sam ! Won't we give 

 him a breakfast ? " 



"D — n him ; he's as big as Jonah's whale."" 



