The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-05-23
TANNING A SHARK.
How the Man Eater Was Captured
and Starved to Death.
SOME FISH STORIES ANDA HUNT
ING ADVENTURE.

The Big Shark Got Accustomed to Being
Looked AT, But Wouldn't Eat-Row a
Snnfish Whipped Cat-Exciting En-
counter With a Hippopotamus.
The idea that a fish could be tanned and
taught to perform certain so-oalled tricks
occurred to me during a residence In the
tropics, where almost every day was
spent on a coral reef. I had noticed here
that there was the greatest difference in
fishes of the same kind. Some were very
timid; others aotuated, possibly by Curl
osity, would permit me to approach very
near them, while others again fled at the
first attempt at familiarity. In one large
vase or head of coral found four or five
poroupine fishes, and as passed the spot
almost every day I fell into the habit of
stopping to toss bit of crayfish perhaps,
as q morning salutation, to the little
sea poroupines. l soon found that they
were inclined to be very sociable, coming
up to the boat, and one day when
thrust my hand down into the water the
fishes approached and took bits of cray
fish from it, later swimming through my
fingers with every evidence of confidence
and sociability.
Such familiarity on the part of fish
In the open sea was remarkable, and sug-
gestivs that the fishes. like other AMI
mails, could be trained and domestioated.
One of my first experiences was with a
shark. There was on the island an in
closure or ditch fifteen feet wide, half d
mile long and eight or ten feet deep,
with clear, sandy bottom. One day
three boys might have been seen sitting
in a large flat-bottomed boat, holding on
to rope with very anxious faces, being
towed up the channel by large shark
which they had hooked. 1t was my good
fortune to hold the post of honor at the
line and to have hooked the shark, whose
PUSHES made it a matter of no little diff
Guilty to keep the rope in the notch in
the bow and prevent a oapsize.
For mile the shark lowed the boat at
a furious rate; then, firing, he was grad
ually hauled alongside, and after hard
struggle fastened astern and the tow in
light-oolored fellow, ten or eleven feet in
length, with a savage array of teeth,
which he more than once tried on the
pine keel of the dat boat during the cap
ture; but finally, by the aid of an eight
cared barge that was passing, he was
towed into port. thrashing about and
threatening everything with his powerful
tail, that was bent up with conyulsiye
effort and released with the force of cat
apult. sending the spray over his excited
oaptors and all In the vicinity.
To place the shark in the pen where it
was to be tanned and educated it was neo-
essary to haul him over shoal and lift
him over breakwater about one foot
higher than the surface of the water
The shark resisted every step, and when
on the shoal threw the water about with
his powerful TAIL throwing up the sand
and mud but all to no purpose. Several
planks were now placed against the
breakwater, the line passed through to
twenty or thirty men on the sea wall,
interested lookers-on, who at the word
walked away, hauling the struggling,
squirming, captive up the incline of the
dividing fence. Here I cut out the
hook, and with splash the huge Great
ure fell into his prison and dashed away
in vain hope that he was free.
Down tie ditch he went, stirring up
the mud and frightening the small fry
sadly. turning upon reaching the end,
and racing up and down several times
before he realized that he was trapped
and confined within certain limitations
For q week we did not trouble the
shark with out attentions. He had then
become familiar with his prison, and
swan along the side of the brick wall,
his body turned slightly upward, one eye
showing viciously with a glimpse of his
white under surface. Our first advance
was to feed him, and fine snapper was
thrown in front OF his nose, but the con-
fined man-eater paid not the slightest at
tention to it. At first he seemed alarmed
at our presence, and dashed away to the
center of the ditch, but finally he seemed
to become accustomed to us ana would
swim along as we ran by his side, and
later did not object to being touched gent
~ with pole.
But the shark would not eat, and. SO
far as we know, in the six months dur
ing which we claimed him as a Pct, he
never touched morsel. Like grim
sentinel he swan, night and day,
around his prison, in the same position,
one eye looking up at those who fol-
lowed him, and, beyond accepting our
near proximity, he never exhibited any
interest in US or his surroundings.
We attempted to harness him to small
boat. but to this he vigorously objected.
Six months after his capure the pet
shark was one morning found dead.
One Of the most Intelligent fishes I
ever possessed was a common fresh-water
sunfish. 1t was given to me by an aqua
rlan dealer, who said that it was SO
vicious that it fought every fish that was
placed in the tank with it. l found this
to be true, as transferring the pugnaoious
sunfish to my aquarium, it Immediately
attacked several three tailed Japanese