The Shark Fishery for the Oil obtained. 235 



then pulled in, and beaten with clubs till stunned. A large 

 hook is now hooked into its eyes or nostrils, or wherever it 

 can be got most easily attached, and by this the shark is 

 towed to shore ; several boats are requisite for towing. 

 The mhor is often 40, sometimes 60, feet in length ; the 

 mouth is occasionally four feet wide. All other varieties of 

 shark are caught in nets, somewhat like the way in which 

 herrings are caught at home. The net is made of strong 

 English whipcord ; the meshes about six inches ; they are 

 generally six feet wide, and from 600 to 800 fathoms, or 

 from three-quarters to nearly a mile in length. On the 

 one side are floats of wood about four feet in length, at 

 intervals of six feet; on the other, pieces of stone. The nets 

 are sunk in deep water, from 80 to 150 feet, well out at sea. 



They are put in one day and taken out the next, so 

 that they are down two or three times a week, according 

 to the state of the weather and success of the fishing. 

 The small sharks are commonly found dead, the larger 

 ones much exhausted. On being taken home, the back 

 fins, the only ones used, are cut off and dried on the sands 

 in the sun ; the flesh is cut off in long strips, and salted for 

 food ; the liver is taken out and boiled down for oil ; the 

 head, bones, and intestines left on the shore to rot, or 

 thrown into the sea, where numberless little sharks are 

 generally on the watch to eat up the remains of their 

 kindred. The species chiefly caught are the Rhyncobatus 

 pectinata, R. l<zi.>is, and Galiocerda tigrina. 



Owing to the large size of the sharks from which the 

 livers are taken, the Malabar fishermen, unlike those of 

 Sind, are unable to capture them with nets. Putrid beef or 

 porpoise flesh is employed, large pieces being buried for a 

 day or two previous to being used. The hook is attached 

 by a chain to the line whilst the fishing is carried on. 



