62 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



strike the kegs, ship and crew would be blown 

 to atoms. 



But the long, awful night passed, and with the 

 dawn the hurricane subsided, and sail was set. 

 Then we ran into a dense bank of fog so thick 

 that one could not see one's hand when brought 

 close up to the face. It lasted for hours, when 

 it lifted suddenly like a curtain, and all was clear 

 around us. 



After some days of fine weather we got into 

 warm latitudes, and I began to look out for 

 sharks. 



At one time I was possessed with the idea that 

 these sea-tigers were confined to the tropics, 

 although I was aware that all round the Scilly 

 and Channel Islands large sharks (not dog-fish) 

 abounded in the deep water, and were sometimes 

 caught by the pollock and conger fishermen. In 

 crossing the Bay of Biscay I learnt otherwise. 



The Bay was smooth ; in fact, I have never 

 seen it anything else, though I have traversed 

 it a score of times, once just after the foundering 

 there of the ss. London in a memorable gale ; but 

 there is generally a mighty swell and heave — the 

 relics of some westerly storm — which produces 

 an uncomfortable motion of the vessel. 



As I walked the poop with the captain, he 



