1907] On the Way to Australia 



Beyond Mary Island, almost exactly on the Line, 

 the wheezy engines of the Moana stopped a couple of 

 hours for some unexplained reason. As obviously 

 there were sharks about, we began immediately to 

 fish for them, attaching a chunk of meat to a great 

 deep-sea hook which we hung on a chain off the stern 

 of the boat. At the same time I baited and dropped a 

 long line into the depths in the hope of luring some 

 freak of the underworld. When the hook was hauled 

 up it carried a large fish as stiff as a log; this proved 

 — rather unexpectedly — to be a familiar form, the 

 "wall-eye" or "pike perch" of the Great Lakes, ^ trmeUd 

 which lives no nearer Mary Island than our own Lake "'"'^'"^^ 

 of the Woods! But unlike some current writers on 

 unnatural history, I did not jump at conclusions, 

 rashly predicating an underground channel to Cana- 

 dian haunts. On the contrary, I suspected a con- 

 nection with the ship's ice box, filled at Vancouver. 

 Such was indeed the case, for our wall-eye was still 

 frozen, and some silent humorist below decks had sur- 

 reptitiously provided a catch from his store ! So we 

 tossed it back into the sea, and turned our attention 

 to sharks. 



These crowded around, showing much interest in a sharks 

 ship that did not move. Under the blue water their "f^ , 

 light gray hides looked bright green, and the white 

 tips of their fins shone like emeralds. One lustrous, 

 bull-headed fellow nosed the bait dubiously, coming 

 around off and on for half an hour before with one 

 great gulp he swallowed it. The next minute he was 

 flapping madly in the air over the stern, with most 

 of the cabin passengers tugging at the chain. He was 

 really young and unsophisticated, being only twelve 

 feet long, while his species — Carcharias insularum — 



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