The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-03

were sharks at all. but that we knew no
other fish of such >sze existed. One es-
pecially. that gave the boat a resounding
+ blow With its tail as he turned beneath US,
( was larger in girth than she was and as
I nearly as possible OF the same length. Now
; our boat was feet inches beam amid
ships, and Is feet long. Nevertheless. l am
7 perfectly sure that this shark, vast as It
/ was, could not possibly have swallowed a
/ man, the shape and slzbe of its mouth alb
soluteiy forbidding such a thing. He could
/ nave eaten several men no doubt, but
/ swallow them whole never! But to return.
| When at break of day we succeeded in
/ raising the carcass again to the surface.
/ amid the foamlng tumult caused by the
| sun ravening multitude, more than half OF
| II was gone. At least forty tons of solid
/ flesh and blubber had been devoured in a
/ few hours.
| Another story which has been repeated
In nearly every natural history or article
! on sharks is of an alleged practice OF slav-
| ing captains. They are said to have sus-
! pended the body of negro from bowsprit
/ or yardarm Ia order TO enjoy the sight of
the sharks leaping up at it. which they
! are said to have done to the hight of twen-
| ~ feet But a shark does not leap out of
! water at all. Neither If 1t did could It bite
! wniie 50 doing, for the simple reason that
/ to do so IL must be over It's prey if right
/ side up or under it If on its back. A glance
at a. SAtdi n VIII INSTANTLY 0lslIONe inns OIL
| repeated falsehood. As an instance of this
! disability I may mention singular oc-
| currence during the cutting In" by us of
I cachalot off the north coast of New Yea
| land. The lower jaw and throat piece had
! been lifted. turning the whale on his back
| and leaving a great oval hollow of consid-
cradle depth I'm the carcass. There was a
! nasty sea running which occasionally
! broke over the whales body fore and aft,
filling the aforesaid hollow with a greasy,
! cory mixture. Alongside, the usual con-
| course Of frantic sharks fought madly foe
a morsel Of blubber, regardless of the oc-
| casional disappearance of one of their
| number with a split brain-pam
! Now, 1t Is necessary at this stage OF
| cutting in for a man to descend upon
the carcass for the purpose of passing a
/ chain strap through what Is called the
rising piece" or first cut of blubber. One
of our harpooners, therefore, jumped into
the foul pool, foolishly discarding the safe
| ~ which hampered his movements.
As wrestIed with the big links of the
! chaWeng, a combing sea lifted two of
the sharks each about seven feet long,
| into the cavity beside him. OF course he
promptly turned his attention to his visi-
! tors, laying hold of one by the tail, to
| which he chung with death grip. For a
| while the three were lndistingushable In
| the Internal broil Man and sharks with
| ed In one inextricable tangle amidst the
foaming slime. 1t was impossible to strike
| down at any moment. for fear of killing
our shipmate, and It really looked as II
! we should see him beaten to death be-
meath our eyes. But, suddenly exerting
| all his remaining strength in one great
! effort the poor fellow flung one of the
! monsters out from him at right angles
Instantly a spade descended like a fash
| upon the sharks head, killing him at
| once. But at the same moment another
! wave lippered over and swept all three
| out of the hollow into the teeming sea
| alongside. With n wild yell two Kanakas
| sprang after and seized their helpless ship
! mate in the midst of the startled crowd
of sharks. Half dozen ropes were flung
| and In two minutes salvors and saved
were on deck. The unfortunate harpoon-
! er was black and blue besides being bad
| ly strained, but of toothmarks not sign.
! As Plutarch has remarked. the deep-sea
/ shark is a tender parent. For a consider
able time after the young are born lin
the viviparous kinds they are sheltered
within the mothers body, finding instant
refuge down her throat at the approach
! of danger Numberless instances are on
| record of female sharks being caught
with from ten to twenty healthy, vigor-
/ Gus young ones In some receptacle within
! her body, they having previously been
| seen swimming about her and disappear
| ing down her throat. The friendship of
| the pilot-fish for the shark, too, Is a beau
| tiful instance of mutual aid which is en-
| tirely true. Therefore, apparently, much
! doubt is cast upon IT, many refusing to
| believe any good of the piscis anthropop-
hagus, Or. Badham gravey calls him.
Alopecias vulpes, the "thrasher" Is a
shark of aggressive and dangerous char
acter but certainly not so to man. It's
characteristic feature Is an immensely
long upper lobe TO its tail. This II Yields
with wonderful effect when, in company
with a small and fierce species OF grampus
(Orca gladiator), it attacks the peaceful
mysticetae, or toothless whales. The
blows It deals are Incredibly severe and
rapid cutting long strips of blubber from
the back of the harassed mammal, who,
incapable OF fight or fight, soon falls an
easy prey to the combined forces. The
prstiophoridae or sawfishes, are perhaps
the most terrible I'm appearance of all the
shark tribe. They are really a connecting
link between the sharks and rays, partak-
ing largely of the characteristics Of the
latter. The head is prolonged into a bony
shaft varying In length and width, ac-
cording 10 the size of the individual, but
attaining a length OF three feet and a
width at the base of nine inches. On eth
er side 1t Is furnished with pointed teeth
some distance apart the whole weapon
forming a formidable double-edged saw
carried horizontally. Neither does this
awe-inspiring monster attack man. Ii
feeds upon the soft parts of certain slug
gish fish, which 1t dsembowels with the
saw. It's teeth are few and feeble and
unless hard pressed by hunger IL does not
prey on garbage But want of space for
bids the further pursuit at present of this
most interesting subject. only the fringe
of which il has been possible to touch here.
Rare Canine Intelligence.
From the st. Louis Republic