318 THE FISH AND THE BAIT. 



absolutely necessary ; for a voracious shark will sometimes 

 take the bait so deep into its stomach, that, but for the 

 chain, it would snap the rope by which the hook is held 

 as easily as Samson burst the withes of the Philistines ! 



A good strong line being made fast to the chain, the 

 bait is cast into the ship's wake. The shark is generally 

 hungry; but in the few cases where its appetite is indif- 

 ferent, it sails slowly up to the bait, smells at it, and 

 turns it over and over with its muzzle. It then sheers 

 off to the right or left, as if it apprehended mischief, but 

 soon returns, to enjoy the "delicious" flavour of the 

 damaged pork. 



During these proceedings, the whole after-part of the 

 ship is so clustered with heads that not one inch of spare 

 room is visible. The rigging, the mizzen-top, and even 

 the gaff, the hammock-nettings and the quarters, almost 

 down to the counter, are thronged with breathless specta- 

 tors, speaking in whispers, if they venture to speak at 

 all, or can find leisure for anything but fixing their gaze 

 on the monster, who as yet is free to roam the ocean, but 

 who, they trust, will soon be in their power. 



It is supposed by seamen that the shark must perforce 

 turn on its back before it can bite anything ; and, gener- 

 ally speaking, it does so turn before it takes the bait. 

 But this arises from two circumstances : one of them 

 accidental, and belonging to the particular occasion; the 

 other due to the peculiar conformation and position of its 

 mouth. When a bait is towed astern of a ship that has 

 any motion through the water at all, it is necessarily 

 brought to the surface, or nearly so. This, of course, 

 compels the shark to bite at it from beneath ; and as its 

 mouth is placed under its chin (so to speak), it must turn 



