54^ THE OCEAN WORLD. 



of the water. Another cord is now thrown out, with a running knot 

 or loop, in which the body of the shark is caught about the origin ot 

 the tail. Thus bound, the captured shark is soon hoisted on deck, as 

 represented in Plate XXIII. On the quarter-deck of the ship he is 

 put to death, not without great precaution, however, for he is still a 

 formidable foe, from his terrible bites, and from the still dangerous 

 blows of his tail. Moreover, he dies hard, and long resists the most 

 formidable wounds. 



Captain Basil Hall gives a spirited sketch of the appearance and 

 capture of one of these dreaded fishes — a capture in which the ■whole 

 ship's company, captain, officers, young gentlemen inclusive, shout 

 in triumphant exultation as the body of the shark tiounders in 

 impotent rage on poop or forecastle. 



"The sharp-curved dorsal fin of a huge shark was seen rising 

 about six inches above the water, and cutting the glazed surface of 

 the sea by as fine a line as if a sickle had been drawn along it. 

 ' Messenger, run to the cook for a piece of pork,' cried the captain, 

 taking the command with as much glee as if an enemy's cruiser had 

 been in sight. ' Where's your hook, cpiartermaster ? ' ' Here, sir, 

 here,' cried the fellow, feeling the point, and declaring it was as sharp 

 as any lady's needle, and in the next instant piercing it with a huge 

 junk of pork weighing four or five pounds. The hook, which is as 

 large as one's little finger, has a cur\-ature about as large as a man's 

 hand when half closed, and is six or eight inches in length, while a 

 formidable line, furnished with three or four feet of chain attached 

 to the end of the mizen topsail halyard, is now cast into the ship's 

 wake. 



" Sometimes the very instant the bait is cast over the stern the 

 shark flies at it with such eagerness that he actually springs partially 

 out of the water. This, however, is rare. On these occasions he 

 gorges the bait, the hook, and a foot or two of the chain, without any 

 mastication, and darts ofi" with the treacherous prize with such pro- 

 digious velocity that it makes the rope crack again as soon as the 

 coil is drawn out. Much dexterity is required in the hand which 

 holds the line at this moment. A bungler is apt to be too pre- 

 cipitate, and jerk away the hook before it has got far enough into the 

 shark's maw. The secret of the sport is to let the monster gulp 

 down the whole bait, and then to gi\-e the line a violent pull, by- 

 which the barbed ])oint buries itself in the coat of the stomach. 

 When the hook is first fixed it spins out like the log line of a ship 

 going twelve knots. 



"The suddenne>s of the jerk with which the poor devil is brought 



