18 CATECHISM OF 



can elevate or depress * at pleasure, and its throat 

 is extremely capacious. 



Q. Proceed with your description. 



A. The tail of this genus has one of its lobes 

 much longer than the other, and such is its 

 strength, that even a young shark of only six feet 

 in length, is able, with a stroke of it, to break a 

 man's leg ; for this reason, it is usual, with sailors, 

 to cut off the tail of the shark with axes, the mo. 

 ment it is taken on board. 



Q. Is this fish formidable as well as voracious ? 



A. Yes, highly so ; for, notwithstanding its 

 immense bulk, it exceeds all other fish in agility, 

 and can outstrip the fleetest ships. They gene- 

 rally attend vessels for the purpose of catching the 

 garbage that is thrown overboard. Should a man 

 have the misfortune to fall into the sea, his de- 

 struction is merit able, as he is devoured in a mo- 

 ment, without a possibility of rescue i. 



Lobes, s. divisions. 



Inevitable, . unavoidable, certain. 



* Raise or sink clown. 



t Sharks are the constant attendants of slave ships r and 

 feed sumptuously on the bodies of the unhappy victims that 

 perish in the passage, or voluntarily throw themselves over- 

 board. A young female slave, abandoning herself to des- 

 pair, on being torn from her friends and country, had de- 

 termined to drown herself, but her design was discovered 

 and prevented. To giv her, however, a taste of the death 



