546 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 of 
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 flounders 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, quartermaster?’ ‘ 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 curvature 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 off 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 give the line a violent pull, by 
which the barbed point 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 suddenness of the jerk with which the poor devil is brought 
