“Now is the opportunity for the shark-hunters. They take possession of the remains, tow them to some convenient nook of the Bocas, as the channels between the islands are called, and there anchor them. All is now prepared, and nothing remains but eagerly and silently to watch for the assembly of the ravenous brutes to their midnight orgies.”
The liver of the shark yields a most valuable oil, largely used in the colony as a [pg 162]substitute for cod-liver oil. The liver of a shark fifteen feet long will yield from twelve to sixteen gallons of oil.
The canoes used for shark-hunting are some twenty feet in length. In the bow a deep groove is cut, to guide the rope after the fish has been struck. A coil of fifteen fathoms of rope, carefully arranged under the thwarts, is secured at one end to a piece of strong chain, at the other end of which is a harpoon. A lance is kept on board to assist in giving the coup de grâce to the shark when he has exhausted himself sufficiently.
The inhabitants of many parts of the African coasts worship the shark, and consider its stomach the road to heaven. Three or four times a year they row out and offer the shark poultry and goats to satisfy his appetite. This is not all; a child is once a year sacrificed to the monster, which has been specially fattened for this occasion from its birth to the age of ten. On the fête day, the unfortunate little victim is bound to a post on a sandy point at low water; as the tide rises the sharks arrive. The child may shriek, and the mother may weep, but it is of no avail; even its own parent thinks that the horrible sacrifice will ensure her child’s entry into heaven.
THE DOG-FISH (Acanthias vulgaris).
The dog-fish—from which we derive the skin known as shagreen, used for spectacle and other cases—the furious and voracious hammerhead, and the saw-fish, belong to the same great order. The last named will attack any inhabitant of the deep whatever, and even dares to measure his strength with the whale. Its length is from twelve to fifteen feet, while its weapon of defence is sometimes as much as two yards in length. Occasionally it dashes itself against the side of a ship with such fury as to leave its sword broken in the timber.
Of the fourth great order, Ganoidea, the sturgeon is the most prominent example. It is essentially a sea-fish, although ascending rivers at stated periods, as does the salmon. It is particularly noticeable for the number of bony plates or scales on its back and belly. In the sea the sturgeon feeds on herrings, mackerel, and other fish; in the rivers on salmon. It is caught in traps, or in nets. The prepared roe, cleaned, washed in vinegar, and partially dried, is the caviare of the Russians. The eggs of a female sturgeon will weigh over one-third of its entire body, and as they sometimes reach a weight of nearly 3,000 pounds, the preparation of caviare becomes an important and profitable industry.
THE GLOBE-FISH (Tetrodon) AND SUN-FISH (Orthagoriscus mola).