Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-02-14

healthy and full of hope. found nv.
self IN company With lS3 other adven-
| turoas spirits passenger on board the
good ship Revenue, Capt. Seth Croveli
/ OF Cape Cod master, bound for Austral.
, ia. This vas, think. the second shi,
! of the Cameron Line, which sailed from,
New York direct to the autipodes: the
Helena being the first. Though do NO,
clearly recollect whether the GRAY
Eagle sailed before or after the Reve
nue..
Our p assenRers were splendid lot OF
fellows. hailing mostly from Upper Can.
ada. Quebec and Nova Scotia. with some
four or five from New York CITY and
Brooklyn. With the exception of two
Benedicts, who bad their families with
them. every man of Us was under thirty
years OF age. Even our captain, "a fine
specimen of an American sailor AS
ever trod a deck, had not reached his
third decade.
We sailed east around the Cane of
Good Hope; and when say that oar
passage extended to lQ4 DAYS without a
sight OF land except the Island of ST.
Paul, seen AZ distance, yol NAV form
some idea of the shifts and expsdients
We were put to in order to pass the time,
and of the fun and diviltry and diver
sion" thence arising. We exhausted
every hill. time device known to weary
and impatient mariners. Each man
had, over and over again, rallied of his
superhuOus effects, the general and final
result being to leave every ono with Just
about what he had At starting. This
mild form Of gambling was the ONLY
vice INDUCED In, all Of the passengers
being of steady and superior class.
and none feeling inclined to risk money
in games of chan0e.
We read every scrap Of printed paper
to be fO0nd 80 many times over that We
were all cfammed With literature to the
lips. We told stories, played euehre,
whist, cribba9e, old siedge, and every
other game known to Hoyle; got MP con-
certs and giee clubs; pitched ouoits..
with rope instead Of iron; INDUCED in
private theatricals; shot at floating
marks; caught dolphins. porpoises, fiy-
tng-hsh, gulls, albstross, and Mother
Carey's chickens; worked mp the posi-
ton and progress of the ship each day,
and even carried on daily paper until
it died out for want of mental pabuium;
and then, with the distant gold fields
still far beyond our eager and expectaut
gaze, We sighed for new delights.
One day We found ourselves becalmed
IN the Indian ocean, south latitude
twenty-three degrees, east longit 1de
eighty degrees; within the Tropic of
Capricorn. between the Island Of NADIA
gascar and the Australian coast, For
nearly week a monstrous shark and
bis two attendant pilot fish had been
following Ne, much to tho ANNOYANCE of
the old salts, whose superstitious fears
pointed to some i'll coming.
While tho ship one day Law lanpuidlv
hsaving upon the slight swell Of the
calm but ever restless ocean, the old
man-eateY displayed his huge bulk close
to the port side and there remained. evi-
IDENTIFY waiting for the contents OF the
cooks garbage bucket. We had never
yet caught shark, and I asked the cap
tame permission to take this fellow. It
was readily granted, and We proceeded
at once to business.
about two feet Of chain, from the mate,
we tied strong line to tho chain, put
upon the hook a chunk Of pork and
threw It overheard. After moments
inspection the monster slowed lazily
over on his side and took tho bait. Two
OF rs had hold of the line, and by
strong Jerk we fastened him securely.
Then We got whale harpoon and drove
1t well into hts shoulder. Next We took
stout rope, made . running bowline at
one end, passed tho loop over and
around the hook and harpoon lines,
pulled the sharks head . little ont of
the water and jammed the bowline firm
" about him and behind the first fin.
Then we ran the rope through block
at the main yard, fifty willing hands
seized 1t and ran aft, and his sharkship
was speedily on board.
All this time, to the inter confusion
OF my preconceived ideas, the fish made
no resistance whatever, but SO soon as
he reached the deck there was the mis-
chief to pay. He Topped and jumped
and plunged about In a terrific manner,
opening and closing his fearful Jaws in
q vicious and highly suggestive style.
There was on board the ship a spaniel
dog, which, upon seeing the unusual
commotiOn, ran up to the prize, barking.
He was Just In time to receive a violent
blow from the tail Of the fish which sent
him heels over head clean across the
deck. where he brought up bowling
against the bulwarks. The owner of the
dog, q little French Canadian, now
seized handspike and dealt the savage
monster several heavy blows near the
tail, and afterwards chopped that pow
erful member OF. This put q stop to
his acrobatic feats, and he lay quiet as
q log.
1t was a very large specimen of the
great blue or white shark. He measured
a trif1e over fourteen fest in length;
greatest girth, seven and a half feet;
weight, 1900 or 1000 pounds.
Great curiosity was manifested By all
hands as to the contents of his stomach,
and upon opening this We found-oh
leg Of . sailor-'s overalls,
and nothing else.
got, a. my own share, the dressed
backbone Of the creature, which long
used q walking stick, and afterwards
sold to q squatter In the interior for two
pounds sterling. We found the strong,
musty smell % offensive that We speed
lily threw the CARCASS overload, when II
was quite pftiful to sec tho bereaved
pilot fish swimming about it In q dazed
and wondering state. These looked
very much like striped bass, and seemed
to be about six or eight pounds in
weight. They followed the remains Of
their deceased patron down into the
depths of the ocean, and finally disap-
Americas angler.