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mouth is armed with teeth of a very peculiar construction; they are triangular in form, thin and flat, the central part being thicker than the edges, which are as keen as a lancet, and cut into serratures like a saw. In very large sharks the teeth have been found nearly two inches in breadth. They are placed in rows, sometimes to the number of six, one within another, lying nearly flat when not in use, but erected in a moment to seize prey; and as they are so placed in the jaw that each tooth is capable of independent motion, being furnished with its own muscles, and as the power of the jaws is enormous, they form the most terrific and formidable apparatus for the supply of a carnivorous appetite.

The fatal voracity of the shark is well known. Instances are numerous of swimmers in the tropical seas having been severed in twain at one snap, or deprived of limbs; while on more than one occasion the whole body of a man has been taken from this living sepulchre. Yet after all, this sanguinary voracity is but the result of an unerring instinct, without the exercise of which its life could not be sustained, and it is therefore perfectly absurd to entertain feelings of personal revenge against it.

Every one may imagine how much the tedium of a long voyage is relieved by the company of

other vessels, or even by the speaking of a passing ship; but few who have only seen vessels lying in tiers side by side at quays or wharfs, are at all aware of, or can readily understand, the anxious care with which commanders guard against two ships on the high sea coming within even a considerable distance of each other. Passengers on their first voyage, when a vessel is speaking at what they think a most uncivil distance, often wish that they would come nearer, particularly if the wind is light. Little do they think that when it is a perfect calm, the dread of contact is then the greatest, as if there be wind enough to give the vessel "steerage way," she is under control and the danger may be avoided. Captain Basil Hall says on this subject: "How it happens I do not know; but on occasions of perfect calm, or such as appear to be perfect calm, the ships of a fleet generally drift away from one another, so that at the end of a few hours the whole circle bounded by the horizon is speckled over by these unmanageable hulks, as they may for the time be considered. It will occasionally happen, indeed, that two ships draw so near in a calm, as to incur the risk of falling on board one another. I need scarcely mention, that even in the smoothest water ever found in the open sea two large ships coming into actual contact

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must prove a formidable encounter. as they are apart, their gentle and rather graceful movements are fit subjects of admiration; but this admiration changes to alarm when ships come so close as to risk a contact; for these motions which appear so slow and gentle to the eye are irresistible in their force, and as the chances are against the two vessels moving in exactly the same direction at the same moment, they must speedily grind or tear one another to pieces. Supposing them to come in contact side by side, the first roll would probably tear away the fore and main channels of both ships; the next roll, by interlacing the lower yards, and entangling the spars of one ship with the shrouds and backstays of another, would, in all likelihood, bring down all three masts of both ships in one furious crash. Beneath the ruins of the spars, the coils of rigging, and the enormous folds of canvass, might lie crushed many of the best hands, who, from being the foremost to spring forward in such seasons of danger, are surest to be sacrificed. After this first catastrophe the ships would probably drift away from one another for a little while, only to tumble together again and again, till they had ground one another to the water's edge, and one or both of them would fill and go down. In such encounters it is impossible

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to stop the mischief; and oak and iron break and crumble in pieces like sealing wax and piecrust. Many instances of such accidents are on record, but to prevent these frightful rencontres care is always taken to hoist out the boats in good time, and, if need be, to tow the ships apart; or, what is generally sufficient, to tow the ships' heads in opposite directions.

"It is scarcely known why this should have the effect; but it certainly appears that, be the calm ever so complete, or dead, as the term is, a vessel generally forges ahead, or steals along imperceptibly in the direction she is looking to; possibly from the conformation of the hull."

These accidents, however, are exceedingly rare; the very danger, by the watchfulness it causes, tending to prevent their occurrence; and vessels can always approach with sufficient. nearness, without risk of collision, to carry on a correspondence or conversation. We shall never forget the bustle and excitement caused by the intelligence of a homeward-bound sail in sight; and when to our great delight she came within hail, and we heard that the captain, finding we had newspapers, expressed his determination to come on board, there was a simultaneous rush below, and pens, ink, and paper were in such request, that a dealer in stationery would

have realized a little competency. Then came the questions, Where are we? what is the day of the month? how long shall we have to write? and the pens flew over the surface of the paper like lightning. Meantime the captain had come on board, and word was soon brought that he was ready to leave. Hasty terminations, and the delightful intelligence to dear friends at home that all was well, were soon completed.

One man brought an open sheet of paper to the captain covered with letters of enormous size which no doubt his friends would understand; but he had quite forgotten to mention who his friends were, and had not this deficiency been seen by some one near, the letter would have been of little service. All business matter being completed, the stranger captain went over the side. Presently another letter was seen emerging from the hold; this also was without direction. "You are too late, Pat," was heard on all sides; but Pat did not believe it, and amidst cries of "Make haste, my boy," he completed his task in a jiffy; but the boat was gone! A cry was heard, "Fling it to them;" he did so; and, favoured by the wind, the letter dropped safely into the boat. Not one of the crowd that hung over the side but was delighted at Pat's successful throw.

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