Page:Colymbia (1873).djvu/125

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SHARK-HUNTING.
119

with the gallant old huntsman. But I did not know his resources. Unawed by the gaping cavity that was opened to engulf him, the old hero thrust his hand, in which he held the iron weapon before described, deep into the creature's mouth. The jaws were suddenly approximated, but the pronged and barbed iron instrument, sticking into the flesh above and below, kept them from shutting, and the baffled monster lashed about him in impotent fury, "Now, boys, close in upon him!" signed the sturdy veteran, and we all rushed at the enfeebled creature with a will. A dozen spears were plunged into his bleeding flanks, quickly withdrawn, and plunged in again and again, and in a few moments this thing of terror lay a lifeless corpse in the blood-stained water. We measured him as he lay, and found that his length from snout to tip of tail was just thirty-one feet four inches. His gaping mouth had a triple row of sharp flat teeth, lying inclined towards his throat, rendering it impossible for any living thing that had once got into his capacious mouth to be withdrawn or ejected.

I asked the huntsman how we were to transport our magnificent bag to the reef. "Well," he said, "had we been farther from the reef, we should have had to drag him back as best we might. But as we are only about half a mile from home we need not be put to that trouble. Here, Jack!" he signalled to his companion, "go and whistle for the seals."

Jack immediately Began to mount to the surface, and I accompanied him, anxious to see what was coming next. On our heads rising above the surface of the water, we could just see the top of the reef, where several persons seemed to be on the outlook for