The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-08-12

| IN 1t; and Captain Basil Hall report
| the taking of Cne, in which, beside
other things, he found the whole ski
| Of q buffalo, which a short time befor,
! had been thrown overheard from hi
| ship. The blue shark is a hoTribl,
| nuisance to the fishermen, but, fortu
| nately, it is with US only in summer
/ when it makes itself known by hunting
after the fish entangled in the nets
which it does by seiziDg both fish anC
| net with its keen and serrated teeth
and swallowing fish and mesh together
As it is not always pleasant to havt
sharks following a skip, it cannot bt
too well known that a bucket or two o.
bilge water has been known to drive
them of.
The shark tribe are remarkably reten
tive of life, and instances are related
which would be almost beyond belief
If not vouched for by numbers of wit
nesses. For instance, an individual
was caught with a line its liver was
cut out, and the bowels left hanging
from the body, in which state the sail
ers, as an object of abhorrence, threw il
into the sea. But It continued near the
boat and not long afterwards, it pur-
sued, and attempted to devour mack
erel that had escaped from the net. In
another instance, shark was thrown
overheard after the head had been
severed from the body; after which, for
a couple of hours, the body continued
to use the efforts of swimming In vari-
GUS directiOns-tO employ the conjec-
ture of boy amongst the crew-as if it
were looking for it's head. Next, we
have the thrasher, which has obtained
the name of fox shark, because of the
shape of its tail. The title of thrasher,
however, is most appropriate, from its
habits of lashing the sea with its tail, by
which it has been known to put to flight
a heard of sportive dolphins, and even to
fill the whale with terror. The DOR
beagle is another of the shark tribe, and
Is a common visitor on the western
coasts in summer. Then follows that
too plentiful and rapaciOus fish, the
topper, known likewise as the white
hound, penny dog, or miller dog, How
ever, as 1t swims deep, 1t does not do so
much injury to the fishermen's nets as
some of its congeneIs. Then we have
the smooth hound, or ray-mouther dog,
or skate-to0thed shark, which are pre-
sumed to come from considerable dis
tances, from the kind of hooks some
times found in them, which resemble
those used on the coast of Spaio. They
feed upon crustaceous animals, but will
take bait. The picked dog, spur dog,
or bone dog, but commonly known as
the dog fish, is the smallest, but un-
questionably the most numerous of the
shark tribe. It frequents our coasts all
the year round, and even in the severest
weather. Then there are the spinous
shark and Greenland shark, which viii
not be driven away from feeding upon
the blubber of a stranded, half-im-
mersed whale, although pierced with
spears, but come again to the Oleagin-
GUS banquet while a spark of life exists.
The basklng shark also occasionally
casts up on our coasts. It is of q large
size, is capable of breaking a six-inch
hawser, and is only taken with consid-
erable difficulty. Then we have the
rashleigh shark, the broad headed gazer,
and the hammer head or balance fish,
which may be said to complete the list
Of these occasional unWelcOme visitors
to our shores.
The shark fishery is carried on IN
many parts of the Indian ocean, and on
the eastern coast of Africa, and recently
it has been pursued on the coast of
Norway. About Kurrachi, In India, as
many as forty thousand sharks are taken
in the year. The back fms are much
esteemed as a food delicacy in China,
from seven to ten thousand of these
being shipped to that empire annually
from Bombay. In Norway and Iceland
the inhabitants make indiscriminate use
of every species captured, hanging up
the carcasses for a whole year, like
hams, that the flesh may become mel
low. The liver, however, appears to be
strictly prohibited everywhere, as a dan
gerous article of food d.-Chan6er's
Journal.