Angling for Sharks 79 



Just beyond Mary Island at high noon, with the sun over- 

 head, the good ship " Moana " was obliged to stop for a 

 couple of hours to adjust some pieces of machinery. At 

 once we got a long line, baited it properly, and sank it into 

 the depths, in hopes of luring some freak of the deep. At 

 the same time, we baited a great sharp hook with a chunk 

 of meat, and hung the chain off the stern of the boat. 



The deep-sea hook was hauled up in due time, with a 

 large fish attached, as stiff as a log, as we drew it through 

 the water. It proved rather unexpectedly to be a familiar 

 fish, the wall-eye, or pike perch of the Great Lakes, which 

 lives no nearer Mary Island than Lake Winnipeg. Unlike 

 the current writers of unnatural history, we did not jump 

 at rash conclusions in this matter. We did not suppose an 

 underground connection between Mary Island and Lake 

 Winnipeg. We rather suspected a connection with the ship's 

 ice-box, the " Moana " being an Australian steamer out- 

 bound from Vancouver. And this, indeed, was the case, for 

 the wall-eye was still frozen, and we could imagine the 

 silent humorist below decks, who had drawn in the line and 

 put a fish on the hook (to save us from disappointment). 

 So we cast the wall-eye back into the sea, and turned our 

 attention to the lure for sharks. 



The sharks were likewise interested. A great gray fellow 

 swam near, looking bright green under the blue water, the 

 white tips to his fins shining like emerald. These white tips 

 scarcely show when the fish is dead, but in the water they 

 furnish for this species a most conspicuous recognition 

 mark. The species, by the way, is Carcharias insularum, a 

 shark of the open sea, first taken by the " Albatross " in the 

 exploration of Hawaii. 



The big, lustrous, bullheaded fellow was nosing the bait. 

 He was very dubious about it, and left off and on, for half 

 an hour, before, with one great gulp, he swallowed it. In 

 a minute he was flapping madly in the air against the stern 

 of the boat, with all the cabin passengers tugging at his 



