Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 50, 15 Nowemapa 1893 — Shark Hunting in the ineiian Oeean. [ARTICLE]

Shark Hunting in the ineiian Oeean.

Oolonel Nicholas Pike relates in Frank Leslie’s Montbly some interesting experiences with sharks iu Malay waters. On one oeeasion he made np a party of two Ea*ilish armv officers to aeeouin — panv him on a shark-baitiug excursion. aml took with him several Malay fishermen whowere expertsin the dangerons busiue>>. “AVe embarked iu a whaleboat. ’ be says, ‘with a ‘pirogue (dngout> trailing at our stern, and a dead hulloek asteru of that. Ou board we had whaling gear of everv description used to the capture and destroction of these monsters of the deep, w th a pailful of hulloek s blootl from the abattoir. Ve proceeded abont half a mile from the outer reef. and here we ancbored ourbulloek in nbout thirty feetof w«ter. The carcass was made to tioat by artificial means, our boats moving twenty five or tbirty feet away from it. The hulloek s blood was thrown overboard. Sharks, ]ar"e aud small, began to assemble aml iu a few miuntes we had a groat number around us. 8ome of the large one were seen to bite huge pieces from the legs and neek. We bronght our boat near, so that we conld see aml study their hal>its, especially while feediug. So eager were tbey, and the nnmbers so great, all eouhl not get a ehanee for a moutbful, and they began to fight eaeh other. It isgenerally sup{>osed that these man-eating sbarks — in fact, all sharks—turn on their backs when they bite, but this is a misbike. If you examine a sbark s jaw yon will at ouee seo that it would be impossible for him to bite at all in the position attributed to him. The shark turus on his side when feeding, and bites semicircolar pieces with oue row of teeth; the other rows of teelh are seldom used except when fightiug or when very augiy. At anv rate, I had on this occasion an excellent opportunity of satisfving rayself that the genus Carcharias of the Indiau Oeean do this. We were wiihin a few feet of a large numbar of sharks of all sizes, from tbree feet to eighteen, aml sorae over twenty feet in length, all so intent on feeding that our prosence was hardly noticed by them. After stndying all we wisbed of their habits and deciding somo points previously iu doubt. we commenced our sport. Our Malay fishermen were experts in uoosing the shark. It was vcrv dangorous bosine.>s to lean over the boat's side. as tbeso brutes had got a taste of blood and were ready to bite at anything that thev eonhl get hold of. A whnleroan’s line was carefully co:Ied in the bow of th» boat, aml a noose was prepared bv the Malays to slip over the tail of the largest shark. We appr aeheel slowly two gootl-sizod fellows, and the first attempt was sncce«8fnlly accoraplished: after a few minutes the secoml one was secured. We then backed slowly away. throwing over tbe slack line. till we were some distance, or near the of tbe outer reef, when we began to take in the slack line and pull. As soon as the shark felt tbis he began to fionnder and plnnge in his. endeavor to escape. The second one all tbis time was qoitely feeding.

WLen vre l>egan him hō piungeil at onoe iulo <ieep wator, where he remaiueii quiet. e were over au bour getting tho two tish into sho.il water on the reef. Now the real sport began. Just a< soon a- they realizevl th*t thev were in shoaI water aml there was not mueh tension ou the lines thev eaeue forthe l»oats with «11 the feroeity of tigers. I had now drawn ray piroguo to the si<le of the boat and >tep|>eil into it. with my traiut-d Malay boatman who was to mauage it while I ki!ledoneof thesharksWe had previonsly separatetl them bv allowing ono a large amount of line, so that he had swam away uearlv to tiie outer reef into deop water. The individual 1 was ab»»ut to tac'sle was a verv s iv:*ge and mignacions mm, .»i;«1 I was a little afraid of him. As I appr >ached, head he eame for me in the groate«t fury, but lv-fore he reacheil ino he sidied off about ten feet to ni\* riglit, and swam ont to the full extent of hi? line. He w.is turned agaiu hy thnse īn the boat and eame rapidly t>ward :ue. striking the b;wt b'iqnely on ti — left sitie to w!iere I sI«xh1, »lm >>t throwing .ue d*>wn. Turning qnickly he eaine the third tio.e, goingdown under the water, eoming np on the otherside of the hoat. making the fonrth attack anil the last one, for I struck him fairly, killing him instautiy. We now puil««l on the other one, dr»wing him from his retreat. My fnend, Captiin S—. wh* had excelieut nerve, took my plaee in the lx*w of the pir *gne, aud after mueh skiiful skirmishing killeel the other shark handsomely with one blow. He dech»r«d the sport wns more exciting than tiger or «lephanl hunting in India. Although these brntes are so savage an*i qnick in their movementa, man is a match f>r them and the greatest eneray they have. —(Current Literature).