174 EXTRAORDINARY STRENGTH OF THE TEETH. 



stern, the shark flies at it with such eagerness that he actu- 

 ally springs partly out of the water. This, however, is rare. 

 On these occasions he gorges the bait, the hook, and a foot 

 or two of the chain, without any mastication, and darts off 

 with the treacherous prize with such prodigious velocity 

 that it makes the rope crack again as soon as the coil is 

 drawn out. Much dexterity is required in the hand which 

 holds the line at this moment. A bungler is apt to be too 

 precipitate, and jerk away the hook before it has got far 

 enough into the shark's maw. The secret of the sport is to 

 let the monster gulp down the whole bait, and then to give 

 the line a violent pull, by which the barbed point buries 

 itself in the coat of the stomach. When the hook is first 

 fixed, it spins out like the log-line of a ship going twelve 

 knots. 



" The suddenness of the jerk with which the poor devil is 

 brought up often turns him quite over. No sailor, however, 

 thinks of hauling a shark on board merely by the rope fas- 

 tened to the hook. To prevent the line breaking, the hook 

 snapping, or the jaw being torn away, a running bowline is 

 adopted. This noose is slipped down the rope, and passed 

 over the monster's head, and is made to join at the point of 

 junction of the tail with the body ; and now the first part of 

 the fun is held to be completed. The vanquished enemy is 

 easily drawn up over the taffrail, and flung on deck, to the 

 delight of the crew." 



A sight of this voracious monster in his own element is 

 never to be forgotten. It has been observed that the word 

 '* villain " has never been written in more unmistakable 

 characters on any living creature than the shark. His 

 appearance exhibits every character of ferocity. The head 

 is large ; the mouth wide and grasping ; but the teeth, the 

 most appalling features of the animal, are remarkable for 

 their power of mischief: there are six rows in the upper jaw, 

 and four in the lower. The teeth are triangular, some- 



