THE SHOVEL-NOSED SHARK. 6j 



over the side, they were as usual very soon disposed of by his affec- 

 tionate friends and relations, waiting near, and delighted to profit by 

 the good fortune. The flesh is not bad eating when young. 



The shark is always attended by a small blue pilot-fish, which 

 swims about five yards in front of him, and evidently guides him and 

 warns him of danger, his unwieldy size and length making it difficult 

 for him to turn. The pilot-fish appears to do his kindly offices from 

 pure friendship, with no filthy lucre of gain ; but he probably benefits 

 in some way by the leavings of his great ally, or the small fry which 

 gather round a dead prey. There is another (strictly speaking) par- 

 asite which attends the shark — the sucker-fish, about sixteen inches 

 long, which fastens itself on to him by a curious patch at the back of 

 its head, not unlike the sole of an India-rubber shoe : this adheres with 

 such force that a strong man can hardly drag the fish away when it 

 has thus fastened itself to the deck. Sometimes twelve or fifteen of 

 them may be seen hanging on to one shark. Probably they find it 

 convenient to seek their food, thus traveling, as it were, on their own 

 carriage, free of cost or trouble, and rushing through the water at a 

 rate which their unassisted exertions would certainly never attain. 



Fig. 2. 



Sharks' Teeth. 



But, on the other hand, they must endure some very hard quarters 

 of an hour, when their great friend gets into trouble, helplessly hang- 

 ing on to his fortunes as they are. 



The perils of the sea are certainly doubled in the regions where 

 these dreadful jaws are to be found. And the certainty of such a 

 death was one of the most touching parts of the simple heroism shown 

 by the soldiers on board the Birkenhead. As is well known, she 

 was a transport-vessel employed to take out detachments to various 

 regiments in South Africa, with the wives and children. She struck 

 on a pointed rock near Simon's Bay, and it was soon found impossible 

 to save her. The men were drawn up on deck by their commanding 

 officer, and not a man stirred from his place as the women and children 

 were put into the few boats and sent off in safety to the land. Then, 

 standing as firmly as if on parade, with the sharks swimming around, 

 the whole body of men, with their officers, went down in the ill-fated 

 ship, very few of them being able to reach the shore. 



There are more gallant things done in quiet, unobserved moments, 

 and obscure corners of the earth, even than before the enemy. It 



