New-York tribune., 1898-11-27
CONCERNING SHARKS.
THEIR HABITS OF FEEDING. GREAT SIZE
AND WONDERFUL VITALITY.
Frank T. Bulen, in The National Review


obtainable food is always sufficient to secure tht
undivided attention of the shark tribe Whei
cutting in" whales at sea have oiteh - .vtn
amazed at the Incredible numbers OF thtSs
creatures that gather in a short slarc OF I'm"
attracted by some mysterious means from heaN
on only knows what remote distances. III mas
often occurred to us. when Whaling in the nelSl
borhood Of New-Zeaand to get a sperm whale
alongside without sign Of shark below ''
bird above. Within an hour from the time oi
our securing the vast mass Of ilesh TO the Shil
the whole area within at least an acre has ncei
alive with a seething multitude OF sharks Wnli'
from every ART came drifting silently an IN
caculable host OF seabirds. converting TN" plut
surface of the sea into the semblGnce ol a pam
Of new fallen snow The body OF 4 whale before
an lncisOn is made in the blubber presents
smooth, rounded surface. almcst as hard as
india rubber with apparently no spot Wher'
any daring eater could find toothhold. But
oblivious Of all save that internal anguish "l
desire. the ravening sea wolves silently Wrltheo
in the density Of their hordes for Il place at tht
5ounteous feast. Occasionally one pre-cmncn'
among his fellows for enterprise would actually
set his lower jaw against the black roundness
/ OF the mighty carcass. and. with steady, sihu
GUS thrust Of his 1.-the tail. gouge out therciroH
a mass Of a hundrcdwegh: or 50. II ne man
aged to get away with IL. the space LETT pre-
sented a curious corrugated hollow, where th'
serrated triangular teeth had worried their way
, through the tenacious substance, teIllhS pldlihS
what vigorous force must have been behinC
! them But il was seldom that we permlttec
such premature toll to be taken OF our spoh
The harpOOnerS and officers from tHtlf loilS
position on the cutting stage slew scores upof
scores by simply dropping their keen-edSec
blubber spades upon the soft crowns OF the strug
Cling fish the only place where a snark Is
| vulnerable to instant death. The weapon SINK:
into the creatures brain, he gives convusiv'
vrithe or two releases his hold and slowly
sinks, followed in his descent by knot OF hi'
immediate neghbors, all anxious to provide
him with prompt Sepuchre "lthlH lhcli o"i
yearning maws. !,
At such time as this the presence of man II
/ the water right in the midst of the hungry most
passes unnoticed by them as long as ne lS upOi
the surface and in motion. Among the lsandS
while engaged in the "humpbacked Whale nsh
/ cry, the natives were continually IN ana OUT y
the water alongside where the sharks swarne'
/ iunumerabe, but we never saw or heard or one
hning bitten And some Of those sharks were o
the most enormous dimensions approaching
length Of tmrty feet and of bulk almost equ'
to one Of our whaleboats With that unerrihs
instinct for spoil characteristic OF the sharks
/ they begin to congregate in these seas almos
contemporaneously with an attack upon a "haI
by whale fishers. Now, one ot the most IreIusn
/ eXpericnces in this perilous trade Is that OF
"stove" boat necessitatng subsequent so
iourn in the sea unprotected sometimes 1o
hours Under such circumstances ana tne1
have many times fallen to my snare am ifr'
to confess that | have always had a curious
feeling a bout my legs as II they were much to'
long. and whenever anything touched theih
sympathetic thrill Of apprehension Woulu rui
nm my SHINE but my legs are still or the usua
lrngth Nor did l ever hear of a man being
attacked in the water at such times.
A TRUCE WITH MAN.
IN fact. it is an article Of faith with whale
mon that sharks have sufficient intelligence tC
Lnow that the human hunters Of the whale
are busy providing feast for mem. anS
that therefore a truce Is then rlsldiy %
served between them; for aithough ti'
rovanous creatures cannot refrain from at
temDting to sample the blubber in stu, their op
portunity arrives when the mountainous mass
Of reeking meat. stripped OF Its external coa,
ing of fat is cut adrift from the snip siut
and allowed to float away. Then do they attacf
it in their thousands. and in an incrediDiy snor'
time reduce IL to cieahIy Picheu On M
since even their prowess is not equal 10 dcVour
ing the enormous framework or bone. bu
what they are capable Of in the way oi ieeuihe
NAV he Judged from the fact that hump
hacked whale Of about eighty tons IN weight
u'bfrh eank after we had killed him, in about
ton rathoms of water and which we were unable
TO raise for six hours for want OF sullaolc Seai
was so reduced in size by the time We iilteu
him to the surface again as not TO be worth Tow
ING IN the ship In those lattudeS. l. g., among
the South Pacific Islands. are. believe To DC
found the largest sharks in the world certainly
the largest of those voraclous klndS that SO
ahIv FIJI the office of sea scavengers very
large specimens Of the basking shark, some
nearly thirty feet long and OF much greater
pirth than the ordinary ones. have been round
tn our own seas. but these unwieldy creatures
are as harmless as whales. and quite as tmd
Sharks Of the size have mentioned as abound
ing i'm the South Pacific have olteh seven rows
Of teeth ranked behind each other only the
Gret row we're erect; the others lay nat as II
ready to replace a sudden loss OF those in use.
put after watching their operations upon pieces
of "kreng" am bound TO say that swallowing
a man whole, even by the largest Oh theh' APP
pears to me an utterly impossible fe I.
THE SHARKS STRUCTURE.
Another popularity Of the shark IS that their
colossal bodies are built upon a framework Of
cartilage. not bone. This may possibly account
for their complete recovery from the most
al ipi1rieS once caught an eight