p. 206

The Shark

[Joan?] animal so well known and often described
that nothing new can be said about it, the Shark is man's
dreaded enemy in warm latitudes where bathing is not only
a luxury but much needed, it is the most voracious of
all fishes, and will follow ships to pick up whatever may
happen to go overboard, and I have seen an old basket that
was thrown into the sea, pulled underwater several times and in
all probability by the sharks, but they did not, I suppose
find [it?] worth [botting?], but it is well known that very extraordinary
substances have been found in the stomachs of those fish. indeed
there is a story of a very large one who used to haunt the
landing place of one of the West India Islands, being killed
and in his stomach was found a saddle and bridle and a suit
of clothes, and the shore people believed he had swallowed
a horse and his rider but could not digest the Trappings!

We got very expert in catching sharks with a hook
and line baited with a piece of pork, several were
caught but as it was necessary sometimes to haul them
on board from the stern of the vessel, complaints were
rife from the officers that so much dirt and mess was made
across the poop and quarterdeck, and a stoppage of the fun
was the consequences. The shark has several rows of teeth
one within the other and some of their sides like a saw or
serrated. The backbone is continued through to the end of the
tail which is not equal-lobed like the tail of other fish;
the nose also protrudes over the mouth a long way, in
fact the dog-fish of our oasts and which is so much
trouble to our herring fishers is a good type and belongs to
the same family. The shark is very powerful with his tail
when caught, and [to?] 'stand clear' of [underlined] that [end underline] is the order of the
day. There are [underlined] land [end underline] sharks as well as sea sharks
and "poor Jack" often wants a true friend to warn him
to "stand clear" of the [underlined] "Land Shark" [end underline].