SHARKS JUMPING AT FOOD. 19 



steward running out his head to find the thief, it 



O 5 



was found to be a shark instead of a man ; the fish 

 had sprung at least three feet from the water to 

 secure his prize. A friend of mine, while fishing 

 with a deep sea-line, was nearly losing his hand 

 through one of these blood-thirsty prowlers of the 

 deep. The fish had not been biting rapidly, and 

 careless from want of success, the hand in which he 

 held the line was outside the gunwale of the boat 

 and close to the surface ; fortunately, he happened 

 to cast his eye at the moment overboard, and just in 

 time, for a shark, seven or eight feet long, was close 

 to the surface, coming straight for it. On examining 

 the head of a shark, it will be seen that from the 

 position of the eyes, they can well see what is taking 

 place above them, and in all instances where I have 

 observed them take a bait, they always got under- 

 neath before seizing, turning on their side at the 

 moment of laying hold. I never previously, till 

 reading Mr. Buckland's remarks, saw it stated that 

 a shark scented his prey ; nevertheless, I have long 

 thought so, and that their olfactory nerves are of the 

 greatest acuteness and use in directing them to 

 where it is to be found. On two occasions, once in 

 the Southern Indian Ocean, on another, off the north 



