15-4 FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 



numbers, and become so bold, thac we thought it prudent to change 

 our ground. When a captured shark is brought alongside the 

 boat he will sometimes show fight, and bite a piece out of the planks 

 of the boat's side. He is easily killed by a blow on the head with 

 a club, or with a pistol ball in the same place. I have occasionally 

 gone out shark-fishing with strangers who have a curiosity to see 

 that sport. We go towards night to some sand-bank on the channel, 

 and near the Inlet, drive a stout stake into the sand, to which we at- 

 tach the end of a half-men" rope 100 feet long, armed with a big 

 hook and four or five feet of chain. This hook baited with a three 

 pound fish is taken with a boat and dropped in the channel ; the 

 line is coiled up on the shore, and we wait for results. When a shark 

 finds the bait, which may be in. ten minutes, or an hour, the line 

 slowly moves off ; when time is given for swallowing the bait, (there 

 is no nibbling in this kind of fishing) we give a strong pull 

 to fasten the hook, and all hands lay hold of the line to bring the 

 captive - to the shore. The sport is lively for a few minutes, as a 

 shark of eight feet long will drag three or four men to the water's 

 edge, when we have to give him line. Ten minutes of this work 

 will tire the shark, which is dragged ashore and knocked in the 

 head with *an axe but beware of the sweep of his tail, and trust 

 not yourself near his head ; either end of him is dangerous. 



^The first time I went shark fishing, we caught seven, from six to 

 eight feet long, in an hour's time. A man who was planting in that 

 neighborhood came with a large boat and took them away for his 

 compost heap. The livers contain from one to three gallons of oil, 

 excellent for leather dressing., jB. C. Pacetti during the war made 

 a business of catching sharks for their oil, which he sold to the tan- 

 ners at one dollar per gallon. He had a windlass at the land- 

 ing near his house, with which big reel he could handle a shark 

 alone, or if too large, his wife could help him land the monster. He 

 used to set his line at night, and usually found a shark on it in the 

 morning, unless, as sometimes happened, a bigger shark would eat 

 him up, all but the head. He once found in the stomach of a large 

 shark, half of an alligator five or six feet long when living the 



