A STOFvY OF SIX SHARKS. 103 



tug at the line^ so as to fix the barb in the jaws of 

 the monster. The shock which followed this pull 

 assured us that our game was firmly hooked^ and 

 we gave utterance to a cheer, which our shark 

 responded to by a violent blow of the tail. Then 

 began the difiiculty of the whole operation. The 

 line had to be so managed as never to be allowed 

 either to slacken or to become taut, and the fisher- 

 man played the shark so well, that in a quarter 

 of an hour the monster was wearied out, and could 

 be drawn to the side of the boat, motionless, by 

 the assistance of a gaff. When there, a single blow 

 of his tail could have smashed in our boat, but he 

 hadn't it in him, and after a brief and ineffectual 

 struggle the fisherman passed a slip-knot over his 

 gills, took him in tow, and made all-sail towards 

 land. 



As soon as we got ashore, we hauled the monster 

 up upon the sand, where, after a few ineffectual 

 struggles, he speedily died. The fisherman, how- 

 ever, by way of precaution fastened his tail up 

 tightly, and placed a bar of iron in his mouth, so 

 that he could neither strike nor bite. On opening 

 the belly of this shark, we found, to our horror, 

 the leg of a negro which had evidently been freshly 

 torn off, and next day we learnt, from the journals, 

 that a horrible accident had happened on board a 

 ship coming from Norfolk. A negro sailor was 

 bathing when the ship was moored off' New Jersey, 



