Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-10-26
FISHING FOR SHARKS.
Adventures of Three Men in the
Indian Ocean.

i! 1.-THE Singapore Trading Company
Sl Limited" was and is an organization
owning half dozen briggs and schoon
ers which voyage among the islands o
the Indian Ocean, and traffic for pep.
per, spices, cinnamon, beeswax, figs,
rare woods, medicinal roots and herbs,
etc. On one occasion-this was twenty
years ago-this company received an
order from Sydney, Australia, for a
great quantity OF sharks brains. 1t
seemed that some eminent quack doctor
in the colony had made the discovery
that sharks brains was the great pana-
cea the medical world had been looking
for to cure all diseases. They were
dried and then pulverized and mixed
with certain root, and, as silly as it
may look to you, the people went wild
over the new cure. | presume the
quack had corner on the root part of
the cure, but he could not corner the
other portion. Sharks are plentiful all
about Australia, but they could not be
caught fast enough TO supply the de-
mand. The price during the height of
the excitement was four dollars an
ounce for the dried brains, and seven
dollars an ounce for the mixture The
craze lasted about seven months, by
which time the swindler had made his
pile and was ready to skip. Then every
body ridiculed every body else, and the
price of sharks brains dropped to fifty
cents per pound, at which figure the
Chinese used them for banquet dish.
When the order was received at Sing
apore was mate of small schooner
called the "Litlo Duke" and it was
planned that should be set ashore on
some OF the islands to the north of
Australia to fill it. had voyaged from
Singapore TO Torres Strait several
times, and after little talk selected
South Aroo Island as the most conveu-
lent place for carrying out the purpose.
There are seven of these islands in
group off the New Guinea coast. While
the waters from the Straits of Malacca
TO those OF Torres are really the Indian
Ocean, they are laid down on maps and
charts as different seas Java, Flores,
Banda and Arafura. We had once been
cast away on the coast of South Asoo,
and had found the waters almost alive
with sharks. We knew it to be unin-
habited, and about twenty miles long
by ten broad.
Our outfit was very simple. was to
have couple of men with me, and we
n "a nj nf hnr nrlyl
of lances, and bedding and provisions
For firearms we had revolvers, and
double-barreled shot-guns, and after
long and tedious voyage, during which
we called at several islands, we finally
cast anchor off South Aroo, and were
safely landed on sandy beach, The
schooner was in haste to get away, and
two hours after landing us she was out
OF sight. We were to be left on the
island from fourteeen to twenty days.
Near where we landed was what sailors
call rip-that is, a narrow channel
between the main land and a sand bar.
This channel was about sixty feet wide,
fifteen or twenty deep, and open at both
ends. The sand bar was not over four
feet above high tide, half mile long,
and not SO much as spear OF grass
grew upon ii. We didn't have to look
twice to see that this rip was our shark
ing ground. A dozen dorsal fins could
be seen cutting the water, and piece
of salt pork flung out resulted in fight
in which score of the monsters par
ticipated. We erected our tent IN the
edge of the forest, set up our windlass
above high water, and next morning
after landing were all ready to begin
work. Our method of proceeding was
very simple. Our windlass was
roller, provided with handle on either
end and resting in crotchets. One end
OF the shark line was made fast to this
and the hook at the other was baited
and flung out. When shark was fast
we brought him in by turning the wind
lass. While the two men turned i
stood at the edge of the water with n
lance and jabbed him us he got near
enough.
There may be spots where the shark
Is more numerous than off the New
Guinea coast, but i doubt II. There
was no waiting about the business
of catching them. No sooner was
the baited hook thrown in than shark
seized 1t and was fist. They were not
ground sharks, nor shovel-noses, but
the genuine man-eater, ranging from
nine to fifteen feet in length. and ter
ribly strong and fierce. An ordinary
man would be snapped in two by one Of
these fishes as easily as boy bites into
a cracker. We had 10 secure tho brains
and spread them is the,sun 10 dry, and
this nade II slow work. Our catch the
first day was seventeen. We increased
this 10 twenty on the second day, and
for four days maintained that figure.
On the afternoon OF the fourth day u
sad calamity occurred. The spring at
which We got our water was about four
hundred feet inland, and we had cut
path to it. We had seen few snakes,
but they seemed desirous OF avoiding us
~ much as possible, and none Of US