The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-08

bly, have swallowed man, the shape
and size of his mouth absolutely for
bidding such thing. He could have
eaten several men no doubt. but swal-
low them whole, never! But to return.
When at break of day We succeeded III
raising the carcass again to the sur
face, amid the foaming tumult caused
by the still ravening multitude, more
than half of 1T was gone. At least for
ty tons Of solid flesh and blubber had
been devoured in few hours.
Another story which has been repeat
ed in nearly every natural history or
article on sharks is of an alleged prac-
tice of shaving captains They are said
to have suspended the body of negro
from bowsprit or yardarm in order to
enjoy the sight of the sharks leaping
up at 1t, which they are said to have
done to the height of twenty feet. But
shark does not leap out of water at
all. Neither IL it did could it bite while
SO doing, for the simple reason that to
DO SO 1t must be over it's prey if light
side up, or under 1t if on it's back. A
glance at shark will instantly dis
prove this oft-repeated falsehood. AS
mention singular occurrence during
the cutting I'M by us Of a cachalot off
the north coast of New Zealand. The
lower jaw and throat piece had been
lifted, turning the whale on his back,
and leaving great oval hollow of con-
siderable depth in the carcass. There
Was a nasty sea running which COCA
sionally broke over the whales body
fore and aft filing the aforesaid hol-
low with a greasy, CORY mixture.
Alongside, the usual concourse of
frantic sharks fought madly for NOR
sci of blubber, regardless of the occa-
sional disappearance of one of their
number with a split brain-pan.
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 blub-
ber One of our harpooners, therefore,
jumped into the foul pool, foolishly
discarding the safety line, which ham
pered his movements. AS he wrestled
with the big links of the chain sling, 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
visitors, laying hold of one by the tail,
to which he chung with a death grip.
For while the three were indistin-
guishable in the internal broil. Man
and sharks writhed in one inextricable
tangle amidst the foaming slime. 1t
was impossible to strike down at any
moment, for fear of killing our ship
mate, and it really looked as If we
should see him beaten to death be-
meath our eyes. But, suddenly exert
ing 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 flash upon the sharks head, kill
| ing him at once. But at the same mo-
ment another wave lippered over and
swept all three out of the hollow into
! the teeming sea alongside. With a
wild yell two Kanakas sprang after
| and seized their helpless shipnate in
| the midst Of the startled crowd OF
| sharks. Half a dozen ropes were flung,
| and in two minutes salvors and saved
were on deck. The unfortunate har-
pooner was black and blue, besides be-
| ing badly strained but of toothmarks
not sign. AS Plutarch has remarked,
| the deep-sea shark is tender parent
For a considerable time after the
| young are born Gin 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, Wig
orous young ones in some receptacle
within her body. they having previous
| ly been seen swimming about her and
| disappearing down her throat. The
| friendship of the pilot-fish for the
! shark, too, is beautiful instance of
| mutual aid which is entirely true.
Therefore, apparently, much doubt is
cast upon 1t, many refusing to believe
any good of the piscis anthrophagus, as
DR.. Badham gravely calls him.
| Alopecias wipes, or the ''thrasher,"
| is shark Of aggressive and dangerous
/ character but certainly not SO to man.
Its characteristic feature Is an inn
mensely long upper lobe to it's tail.
This it yields with wonderful effect
| when, in company with small and
fierce species of gran1pus (Orca gladia-
| tori, it attacks the peaceful mysitcetae,
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, in
capable of fight or flight, soon falls an
| easy prey to the combined forces. The
| pristiophoridae, or sawfishes, are per-
haps the most terrible in appearance of
all the shark tribe. They are really a
connecting link between the sharks
and rays, partaking largely Of the
characteristics of the latter. The head
| is prolonged into bony shaft varying
in length and width, according to the
| size of the Individual, but attaining a
| length of three feet and a width at the
| base of nine inches. On either side 1t is
furnished with pointed teeth some dis
/ lance apart, the whole weapon forming
formidable double-edged saw carried
| horizontally. Neither does this awe-in-
| spring monster attack man. 1t feeds
upon the soft parts of certain sluggish
fish, which it disenbowels with the
saw. Its teeth are few and feeble, and
unless hard pressed by hunger it does
not prey on garbage. But want OF
space foroids the further pursuit at
| present of this most interesting sub
ject, only the fringe of which it has
baan pOSsihla To touch here -Epecta tor