The weekly Butte record., 1861-06-22
Catching a Shark.

week or two in '' the calm latitudes.' the
debateable border sea between the ordinary
breezes and the trades, he is no stranger te
the assiduous attentions Of this lank and 1.-THE
tenant of the tropical seas. Jack familiarly
calls him by the title of "ySea lawyer" for
reasons which are by no means complimentary
to the learned profession and views him with
that admixture of hate and fear with which
unsophisticated landsmen are apt to regard his
terrestrial representatives. To bait line and
catch the mackerel or the bonito, is always q
welcome occupation to the sailor; but to NO
amusement does Jack bend himself with such
hearty alacrity as to take the shark -
When, on approaching the northern tropic
" Down drops the breeze, the sails drop down.
It's not "sad as sad can be- for all is hilarity
and alertness. Away goes one to the harness
cask for junk of salt pork, another on his
knees before the cabin locker, rummaging out
an enormous hook, which tradition confidently
reports is deposited there third is unreaving
the studding sail halyards to serve as line,
for SO tough a customer needs stout gear a
fourth is standing on the taffrail, keeping an
eye on the monster, that now drops of and now
comes gliding up, light, green mass, through
the blue water till his whiteness nearly touch
es the surface, and telling the villain all tie
while, with uncouth maledictons, that his
time is coming. The mate is on the ib-boom
welding the grains, whose trident prongs he
has been for the last half hour sharpening with
file, ready TO take by force any one Of the
hated race who may be too suspicious for the
bait astern. And now the skipper himself
comes up, for even dignity cannot resist the
temptation, and with his own brawny hands
put on the enticing pork, and lowers away.
'Tis twiring and edding in the wash of the
ships counter the crew are divided in their
allegience-half cluster at the quarter to wit
ness the captains success, half at the cat-heads
to see the mates harpooning. There scuttle
up the two little pilot-fshes, in their banded
livery of blue and brown, from their station
one on each side of the sharks nose they
hurry to the bait, shuff at it, and then back in
all haste to their huge patron. giving his grim
ness due information Of the treat that awaits
him. See how eagerly he receives it with a
lateral wave Of his powerful tail lie shoots
ahead, and is in an instant at the pork
Look out there? Stand by to take turn
of the line round a Delaying pin, for he's going
to bite and he'll give as a sharp tug! - Every
pair of eyes is wide open, and every mouth,
too; for the monster turns on his side, and
prepares to take in the delicate morsel. But
no ; he smells the rusty iron, perhaps, or per-
haps he sees the line at any rate, he contents
himself with sniff, and drops astern; coming
forward again, however, to sniff and sniff
again. 'Tis perilous yet It's tempting
shout forward The mate has struck
one And away rush the after band to see
the sport; the skipper himself hauls in the
line and joins the shouting throng. Yes, the
grains have been well thrown, and are fast in
the heshy part of The back. What monster !!
full fifteen long, if he's an inch and how he
plunges and dives, and rolls round and round
enraged at the pain and restraint till you can't
discern his body for the sheet Of white foam in
which it is enwrappedl The stout line strains
and creaks, but holds on; dozen eager hands
are pulling in, and at last the unwilling victim
= tl,a tbo
plunging with tremendous force.
Now, one of the smarter hands has jumped
into the forechains with rope made into a
moose. Many efforts he makes to get this over
the TAIL without success at length it is slip
ped over, in an instant hauled taut, and the
prey secure.
Reeve the line through block and take
a run with it.' Up comes The vast length,
tail foremost, out of the sea; for moment the
ungainly beast hangs, twining and bending his
body, and gnashng those horrid fangs, till
halfadozen boat hooks guide the mass to his
death-bed on the broad deck. Stand clear
If that mouth gets hold of your leg, it will cut
through its sinew, muscle, and bone the
stoutest man on board would be swept down
if he came within reach of that tail What
reverberating blows it inficts on the smooth
planks
One cannot look at that face without an
involuntary shudder. The long fiat head, and
the mouth so greatly overhung by the snout
impart most repusive expression TO the coun-
tenance and then the teeth, those terrible
serred fangs, as keen as lancets, and yet cut
into fine notches like saws, lying row behind
row, six rows deep. See how the front rows
start up in erect stiffness, as the creature eyes
youl You shrink back from the terrific i'm
plement, no longer wondering that the stoutest
limb of man should be severed in a moment by
such chiurgery. But the eyes those horrid
eyes it is the eyes that make the shark what
it is-the very embodiment of Satanic malig-
nifty. Half concealed beneath the down brow,
the little green eye CLEANS with SO peculiar an
expression of hatred, and such concentration
of fiendish malice-of quiet, calm, settled vii
lany, that no countenance that | have ever
seen at all resembles Though I have seen
many a shark, could never look at that eye
without feeling my flesh creep, as it were, on
my bones.