520 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



The fishing operation is conducted as follows : Choosing a dark night, 

 a hook is prepared hy burying it in a piece of lard, and attaching it 

 to a long and solid wire chain ; the shark looks askance at this prey, 

 feels it, then leaves it ; he is tempted by withdrawing the halt, when 

 he follows, and swallows it gluttonously. He now tries to sink into 

 the water, but, checked by the chain, he struggles and fights. By-and- 

 by he gets exhausted, and the chain is drawn up in such a manner as 

 to raise the head out of the water. Another cord is now thrown out 

 with a running knot or loop, in which the body of the shark is caught 

 about the origin of the tail. Thus bound, the captured shark is soon 

 hoisted on deck, as represented in PL. XX Y. On the quarter-deck of 

 the ship he is put to death, not without great precaution, however, for 

 he is still a formidable foe, from his terrible bites and from the still 

 dangerous blows of his tail. Moreover, he dies hard, and long resists 

 the most formidable wounds. 



Captain Basil Hall gives a spirited sketch of the appearance and 

 capture of one of those dreaded fishes ; a capture in which the whole 

 ship's company, captain, officers, young gentlemen inclusive, shout in 

 triumphant exultation as the body of the shark flounders in impotent 

 rage on poop or forecastle. 



" The sharp-curved dorsal fin of a huge shark was seen rising 

 about six inches above the water, and cutting the glazed surface of 

 the sea by as fine a line as if a sickle had been drawn along it." 

 ' Messenger, run to the cook for a piece of pork,' cried the captain, 

 taking the command with as much glee as if an enemy's cruiser had 

 been in sight. ' Where's your hook, quartermaster ?' ' Here, sir, 

 here,' cried the fellow, feeling the point, and declaring it was as sharp 

 as any lady's needle, and in the next instant piercing with it a huge 

 junk of pork weighing four or five pounds. The hook, which is as 

 large as one's little finger, has a curvature about as large as a man's 

 hand when half closed, and is six or eight inches in length, while a 

 formidable line, furnished with three or four feet of chain attached 

 to the end of the mizen topsail halyard, is now cast into the ship's 

 wake. 



" Sometimes the very instant the bait is cast over the stern the 

 shark flies at it with such eagerness that he actually springs partially 

 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 



