Wichita eagle., 1888-11-06
LOOKING FOR SHARKS.


age among the islands of the Indian ocean
end traffic for pepper, Spices cinnamon, bees
wax, igs, 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 guam
tity Of sharks brains. Il seemed that some
eminent quach doctor in the colony had
made the discovery that sharks brains was
the great panacea the medical world had
been looking for to cure all diseases They
We're 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.
When the order was received at Singapore
] WIS mate Of a small schooner called TIE
Little Duke, and ii was planned that l should
be set ashore on some Of the islands to the
north Of Australia to FL it. 1 had voyaged
from Singapore to Torres strait several
times, and after little talk / selected South
Aroo Island as the most convenient place for
carrying out the purpose There are seven
Of these islands il group OF the New
Guinea coast. While tie 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 Aroo,
and had found the waters almost alive with
Sharks. We knew it to be uninhabited, and
about twenty miles long by-ten broad.
Our outfit was very simple. was to have
couple Of men with me- and we took a tent
g lot OF shark lines, a couple Of lances and
bedding and provisions For firearearmssswe
had revolvers and double barreled shotguns,
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
II haste TO get away, and two hours after
landing US she was out Of sight. We were
30 be left on the island from fourteen to
twenty days. Near where we landed was
what sailors call a rip, that is, narrow chan
rel between the main land and a sand bar
This channel was about sixty feet wide, fif-
teen or twenty Ieet 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 it. We
didn't have to look twice to see that this rip
was our sharldng ground. A dozen dorsal
Tins could be seen cutting the water, and
piece Of salt pork flung out resulted in a fight,
il which score of the monsters participated
We erected our tent il the edge of the forest,
set up our windlass above high water, and
next morning after landing were ell ready to
begin work. Our method of proceeding was
very simple. Our windlass was a roller,
provided with handle on either end and
resting III crotchet6. Ono end of the shark
line was made fast to this, and the hook at
the other was baitod and lunG out. Wien a
Shark was fast we brought him in by turn
Ing the wlndlasS v lille the two men turned
i stood at the edge of tho water with lance
and jabbed him as he got near enough
There may be spots where the shark is moro
numerous than OF the New Guinea coast, but
] doubt 1T There was no waiting about the
business of catching them. No sooner was
the baited hook thrown in than shark
seized ii and was fast. They were not ground
Sharks nor shovel noses, but the genuine
man eater, ranging from nine to fifteen feet
ii length, ard terribly strong and fierce An
ordinary man would be snapped in two by
one OF these fishes as easily as 4 boy bites into
cracker. We Lad to secure the brains and
spread them il Che sun to dry and this made
il slow work Our catch tho first day was
seventeen. We increased this to twenty on
the second day, and for four days maintained
tla1 figure. On the afternoon Of the fourth
day sad calamity occurred. The spring at
which we got our water was about 100 feet
inla2d, and we had cut a path to it. We
had seen few snakes, but they seemed de-
sirous Of avoiding Us rs much as possible,
End none Of Us were alarmed about them
On this afternoon, as one of my helpers
went after water, he was struck by
snake lying in the tanglc, ard al
though he was back within five minutes, |
could tell 10y his looks that he had received a
deadly bite. In ten minutes he YVES rolling
on the ground in agony, and in fifteen his
body began Il. While he had net seen
The serpent, '.c Had no doubt of its species.
II is known IN the cast as the collar snake,
and Is found on al the islands in the lndian
ocean. 1t Gttains length Of two feet, and
has white ring or collar about its neck:
There is no more poisonous snake. In forty
minutes from the time the man received the
l-te he was dead, aul mis- body was a terrible
6 GIT 10 lool, %.
v hen VIC had buried our companion in tho
Sands We loaded our guns with fine shos and
went snake hunting. We killed a round
dozen OF the collar snakes between tie tent
and tho spring, and felt assured that the iir-
ing would rid the reighborhooi of any which
had escaped is. They had probably been
drawn that way By the scent OF the blood
E2d meat The tragedy had upset us both,
and neither was inclined to sleep that night
II Was we'll that we were in waheful mood.
LIVER since the Indian sea was navicated bv
European vessels there has been moro or less
PIRACY. At this time almost every island
had its boss wrec6er, who was no bet
Ter than 6 pirate. Rhiio not daring to
stt2C2 "a ship, if she WAS caught
Ia distress II went hard with her It
was quiet, starlight n 5ht, and was sitting
OUTSIDE The tcn1 while my conrSde was lying
down inside, VIXEN l caught sound from
tie water which alarmed me AS rose Up
and advanced L caught ight Of Q native craft
Stealing INTO the rip from tie lower side She
WIS from he Pindo islands, to the north Of Us,
and was spice boat. She had single mast
sGd lateen SAL, and during a cain was
pulled by cars. ran back 70 NV coInDauion
era we crePt forward on hands and knees TO
discover tho object o. the visit Had the
men been EoIesV they would have been talk
ing ana singing. They would not have como
into the rap had tLey E05 known of our pres
e2cc, and tho tact CT their coming SO quietly
boGe3 al for rs, The craft was grounded
about 100 feet above us, and twelve or fifteen
nctivos leaped out ca J5e beach.
When ne had seen tAis much xsa rn.rr,aa
to cur tent secured TIE three Guns and ,,,r,s,,
ammunition and TOOK ug our ions between
the tent and the water. IN i've minutes we
had burrowed out ri.ie pits ana CHARGED TIA
guns with buckshot. 1t Was not for MS N
open the fight We could just make ont the
group or figures around the boat, aad they
would soon let Us know whether they wsre
friends or eucaliss. We had just got fairly
settled when u-e saw the crowd stealing over