catching the many birds which, as we tacked along the coast-would occasionally take refuge in the rigging, and under his skilful management soon became metamorphosed into capital stuffed specimens of natural history, and increased my already large collection of birds. He thus despite the laws of hospitality—immortalized hawks, owls, and various other land birds, together with every "booby," gull, or other sea fowl he could lay hands on, for he was in no way particular; and happened to be engaged at this, his usual vocation, and I was, as has been related, occupied in solitary grandeur at my unsocial meal on deck, when suddenly Mr. Jocko cried lustily out, whilst looking over the side of the ship: "Venez donc, Monsieur, venez voir le grand poisson avec son petit qui nage devant lui."

The mate of the watch and myself, immediately looking over the stern, beheld an enormous shark, accompanied by his attendant pilotfish, fearlessly swimming before the very jaws of the ravenous monster, whose form, partly concealed by the intervening mass of dark

waters, might be seen loitering under our counter, ready to pounce on any object, whether animate or inanimate, that might chance to be consigned to the tender mercies of the deep.

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Increasing still the terrors of the storm,
His jaws terrific armed with three-fold fate,
Here swam the direful shark,—

which appearing anxious for occupation, a large iron hook, with its appendant chain, was immediately fastened to a strong line, baited with a huge piece of pork, and thrown over the taffrail. The monster instantly made a dash towards the spot where it had, with a splash, fallen into the engulphing waters, and turned slowly on his side, as if to secure the prey.* We made sure he was on the point of seizing the tempting morsel, when suddenly prudence appeared to overcome appetite, and he provokingly refrained from the expected nibble. He continued thus, alternately approaching

* The conformation of the shark's mouth is such, that, in order to seize his prey, he is obliged to turn over on his back.

A PROTRACTED FLIRTATION.

37

and retiring for nearly half an hour, like youth first entering on the path of temptation, and coquetting with "evil," which was well represented by the glittering snow-white morsel before his nose. We tried to sharpen his appetite by throwing in smaller pieces of the forbidden fruit; these, as glittering they rapidly descended into the abyss below, he would eagerly follow, and we could, through the intervening mass of fluid, as through a mist, indistinctly see the lazy motion, which was followed by the display of a faint streak of white, and the immediate disappearance of various portions of the unclean beast as they were successively lost in the depths of his fathomless

maw.

Tired at last of this protracted flirtation of Jack Shark, who appeared to entertain no serious intentions, amidst all his assiduities towards the salt junk, I had just resumed my interrupted repast as the rest of the passengers appeared on the deck, and crowding around me, jocularly quizzed me on my propensity to solitude. The tall, ungainly form of the

38

LUDICROUS SCENE.

French captain's lady, leading by the hand the pretty little Adèle, was foremost amongst the group, and to her I was very learnedly expatiating on the superior advantages of dining al fresco, when a sudden shout was followed by the loud tramping of many feet along the deck, and ere I could rise to ascertain the cause of such a commotion, I felt the legs of my chair carried from under me, the tabouret upset, and myself struggling under the far from ariel weight of madame, whilst the cries of poor little Adèle were faintly heard to issue, amidst the crash of plates, dishes, and tin trays, from beneath the portly form of the corpulent doctor of the Clémentine.

The whole scene was ludicrous in the extreme. We arose more frightened than hurt, and found that the "flirting" shark had been the cause of all this commotion. Like many a gay Lothario before him, whilst nibbling at the bait, he had, in an unguarded moment, swallowed it, hook and all; the noose (in this instance not of matrimony, but that of a strong cable) had been slipped over his head,

CATCHING A SHARK.

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and as he was dragged in triumph along the deck, struggling in vain against his fate, a loose coil of the rope caught by a fillip from his tail, had produced the above revolution in our little party.

Although now out of his own element, and apparently completely within the power of his captors, still he was an enemy not to be despised, and the reverberating blows of his tail, as they fell heavily and in rapid succession on the deck, easily led one to conclude what would be their effect on the persons of any of the jolly tars surrounding him, and who were already feasting in imagi nation on his huge carcase. At last the boatswain, a swarthy, dark-whiskered fellow, stepped manfully forth, and, seizing his opportunity, with a single blow of a sharp axe separated the quivering tail from the now powerless trunk. The change thus effected was instantaneous: the tremulous movement of the muscles and occasional distention of the terrific jaws still shewed manifest signs of life, but it was life without power-that unerring stroke