140 WHITE SHARK. Class IV, 



and asserts that in the belly of one was found a 

 human corpse entire, which is far from incredible, 

 considering their vast greediness after human 

 flesh. 



They are the dread of the sailors in all hot 

 climates, where they constantly attend the ships 

 in expectation of what may drop overboard ; a 

 man that has that misfortune inevitably perishes : 

 they have been seen to dart at him, like gud- 

 geons to a worm. A master of a Guinea ship 

 informed me, that a rage of suicide prevailed 

 among his new-bought slaves, from a notion the 

 unhappy creatures had, that after death they 

 should be restored again to their families, friends, 

 and country. To convince them at lest that they 

 should not re-animate their bodies, he ordered 

 one of their corpses to be tied by the heels to a 

 rope, and lowered into the sea, and though it was 

 drawn up again as fast as the united force of the 

 crew could be exerted, yet in that short space of 

 time the sharks had devoured every part but the 

 feet, which were secured at the end of the cord. 

 Swimmers very often perish by them ; sometimes 

 they lose an arm or leg, and sometimes are bit 

 quite asunder, serving but for two morsels for 

 this ravenous animal : a melancholy tale of this 

 kind is related in a JVest India ballad, preserved 



