, 1898-01-10
SHARK FISHING EXTRAORDINARY.
.(Chureh Family Newspaper 10Th Dec

HE RSv. II. G. BN'nacle vicar of Holmes
Chapel, Cheshire, who acted as Astronomer
ON tie Gov rumeut Tra.slt f Eeun~ EXpe-
dlti"n TO the Sandwich Stands in l~71, hay
ing seen an account Of some shark fishing in
one OF oar rereu, issues sends rs fire follow
ing communicative
Some lime ago it happened that ! was at
HlIo, on tie Island If H wall (the OWhyhee
OF Captain Cook when some of the natives
asked ne + | should like 70 see heir amnSe-
men Of sh Uk fishing, aud on my answering
III the affirmative, preparations were made for
It to taxi place on the morrow.
Wheg morning dawued several Of the ma
t9veS, clad IN nothing but tile "m 10" round
the waist we've GA the shore in f,out Of the
house, where | was staying, and close at
hand we've about a dozen OF their ctuoes,
which ar t'unas Of trees followed out, with
a oram tl,' ed securely cross the bow AMI
anoth or nt2r ne ste1n, and The ends Of
these laShed to a thick pole, so as to form
an o~utrigger, When | had entered one Of
;hese canoes the natives pushed off, then
Jumped in, and the whole hotilla ptddled
away. It wos beautifully calm, hardly a rhp.
on the wafer AT last we came TO the place
where the fishing WIS t. take pace. ! WIS
much startled hv the natives suddenly all
taking a "heldeI' INTO the water, and leav-
ing me the on.y occupant Of all The canors
but found out that it was because they had
seen 4 shark. When they came to the sur
face, they We're all as still as possible, and
very snsn Mr.. Shnrk, or as he is called Her
Majesty's Mail, - could be seen making to-
wards us. On he came uutiI he was among.
the men, then begau the fun.
The swimmers we've LOW all "treadiug'
water, and the fin on the b l.k If the shark
was visible out of the water. At times tins
fin would disappear, which was the signal
that the shark had turned on his side, for rs
the sharks awful mouth is underneath and
somewhat behind his nose. he has ~ turn
upon bis side before he can bite, then every
man would put up his hand and sink, and by
the time they came to the surface the shark
had turned back and his fin was again to
be seen.
This went on several times the men gradu.
ally diminishing the circle round the
monster. Some would get close TO him aud
hit him on the tail or back With a short but
very strong, tough stick. Soon MIR ssShark'
got angry, and ut last made n dash at one of
the men, who this time did not sink, but
with great presence of mind and exactly ut
the right moment and in the right position,
when the monsters dreadful jaws were
wide open to close on the poor man.
he thrust in his hand holding one of
the sticks, then tue awful jaws, instead Of
closing upon the man, were held wide open
by the stick, which the shark grasped quite
fast. Then was the exciting time, the man
held on now with both hands, instantly the
others beat the beast with their sticks, others
pulled at the stick and the mans legs to
keep the Shark from sinking, and it was not
very many minutes before Mr.. Shark showed
symptoms of drowning. They pulled him,
pushed him, beat him, and soon he was a
helpless l,g. Ropes were obtaped from the
canoes and tied to the stick, and then they
towed him towards The Greek" where |
suppose he was boiled for the oil, after "a few
steaks had been taken out of INN, and his fms
cut off to eat with curiie.
We returned to where we had started from,
and on our way l learned thai it was Il very
risky and excltabIe gaA--nd in truth I
thought sO-md that sometimes the shark
had the best Of it, as it all depends upon
putting the stick il at the right moleut and
the right way.