GOOD ADVICE. 333 



venturous experience, as the following condensed narra- 

 tive will show.* 



The writer was chosen to act as harpooneer, and re- 

 ceived from his friend, the owner and skipper of the 

 yacht in which he was " hunting the shark," elaborate 

 directions as to the proper mode of using it. 



" Remember," he said, " the fish has but one bone, the 

 backbone, which is about twelve inches thick. The 

 great object is so to strike the fish that when the harpoon 

 opens, it will hook under the bone ; if not, the flesh is so 

 soft and tender that it may draw out. You must be per- 

 fectly cool ; if you cannot be so, be as cool as you can ; 

 remember, there is no hurry. The fish does not care a 

 straw for the boat, which is not half his size. About 

 two feet beneath the dorsal fin you will see a whitish 

 streak along his side ; strike him there, and downwards ; 

 always remembering to keep the curved end upwards, 

 that it may open round the bone. You must try to cal- 

 culate this. When you strike, do it with a will ; the in- 

 stant you feel him plunge from you, seize the hatchet, 

 and hold it poised over the rope that will then be flying 

 out ; if it kinks [that is, if it gets entangled], cut it for 

 your life." 



All this advice was excellent, but, unfortunately, in 

 the moment of action it was not easily remembered. A 

 fish was discovered, the boat got within forty yards of it ; 

 nearer and nearer; twenty yards, fifteen yards, ten ! The 

 amateur harpooneer was overcome with excitement. 

 Grasping the handle firmly, he raised his harpoon on 

 high ; he saw, as through a mist, a huge brown mass 

 before him, more like a rock than a fish. He forgot his 



* " Corn hill Magazine," vol. xxviii., pp. 187-197. 



