Note on a Shark and a Ray, 307 



large individual will yield as much as five or six gallons of 

 oil. 



It does not appear to be dreaded by man on our coasts, 

 but in Greenland and on the Labrador coast the larger indi- 

 viduals seem sometimes to attack boats and canoes. Fab- 

 ricius 1 states it is much dreaded by the Greenlanders, as it 

 can bite through the skin bottoms of their kayaks and 

 seize the legs of the occupants. Hence, when a solitary 

 Greenlander in his kayak sees one of these animals, he 

 generally takes to flight. They are believed to be attracted 

 by the smell of putrid carcases, and also by any sound or 

 noise; and as their presence scares away the fish, the 

 fishermen keep silence in order not to bring them near. 

 He remarks that it shows little fear of man, and states that 

 when the Greenlanders are flensing the floating carcase of 

 a whale, the sharks are often as diligently employed in feed- 

 ing on it below the water. The Greenlanders occasionally 

 take it with hook and line or with the harpoon. 



Ballantyne, in his work on Hudson's Bay, tells a frightful 

 story of an Indian who, when voyaging with his family in 

 a canoe, was pursued by a large shark which attempted to 

 upset the canoe, and failing in this, to break it up. The 

 canoe beginning to give way, the terrified Indian seized his 

 youngest child and threw it to the ferocious monster to se- 

 cure his own safety. It is not, however, quite certain that 

 this story refers to the present species ; but if so, it would 

 confirm the impression of the Greenlanders that large in- 

 dividuals impelled by hunger and, perhaps, accustomed to 

 feed on the carcases of whales, may become dangerous to 

 man. It is not likely, however, that they ever venture so 

 near the shore as to attack bathers. 



Calderwood thus describes two specimens taken on the 

 Coast of Scotland and studied by him 2 : — 



" The Greenland shark is described by the various ichthy- 



1 Fauna Greenlandica. 



2 Appendix to Fourth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland. 



