B14 THE WHITE SHARK. 



had been severed from the body ; yet for a couple of 

 hours it continued to swim in various directions. 



When taken into the boat a large shark may still prove 

 a formidable enemy, from the violent blows it is able to 

 deal with its tail. But this danger may be guarded 

 against by an immediate amputation of the offending 

 member. 



Owing to its well-known destructive character, fisher- 

 men are always eager to shorten the race of this fish ; 

 and, consequently, many hundreds are caught in the 

 course of a season. It is, however, of very little value, 

 and yields no other result than a little indifferent oil 

 from the liver, while the body is used for manure. 



We pass on to the terrible Carcharias, or WHITE 

 SHARK, which occasionally wanders into the British 

 Channel, but finds a more congenial habitat in the warm 

 waters of the tropics. 



We are not sure but that it should be regarded as the 

 most formidable of the inhabitants of the deep ; for in 

 none besides are the powers of destruction so equally com- 

 bined with a thirst for carnage. With its enormous jaws 

 it usually snaps in twain any object of considerable size 

 before swallowing it ; but if it finds a difficulty in doing 

 this, it hesitates not to pass into the stomach even what 

 is of enormous bulk : and the formation of its jaws and 

 throat is well adapted for such an operation. Ruysel 

 asserts that the whole body of a man, and even of a man 

 in armour, has been found in the stomach of a white 

 shark ; * and Captain King records the capture of a 

 monster which could have swallowed a man with the 



* Couch, " Natural History of British Fishes," i. . p. 27. 



