thrown overboard from vessels; and as the White Shark only cared for
the big pieces, all the tender little morsels fell to my lot. I lived
well in those days, but I had to give up the job after awhile, the
nervous strain was too great.

"You see the White Shark that I was with then was a very big fellow,
(fully thirty feet long), and just as strong and ugly as he was big.
Once, down in the tropics where he usually lives, I saw him break a
man's leg with one stroke of his tail. His temper was awful, and he
would stop at nothing when angry. He had enormous jaws, with six rows
of flat teeth, and to see him turn on his side, and open those jaws
was enough to give you cold chills for a week.

"The good food that we got from our ship usually kept the White Shark
in a fairly good humor, but, knowing him as I did, I was well aware
that if the food should happen to run short, he would not hesitate to
make a meal off of me; and although I am an excellent swimmer, and
stood a good chance of being able to escape (else I should have never
been there at all), still there was always a possibility of something
unpleasant happening, and it got to be rather wearing.

"So, one day when we were following a particularly promising vessel, I
made an excuse to stay behind, while the White Shark went on alone,
and when he and the ship were both out of sight, I took the
opportunity to escape. Since then I have carefully avoided the society
of all sharks, but what I have learned about them and their ways has
been of great benefit to me, and will be a help to us now, since they
prefer the warm waters of the tropics, and that is where we are bound.
However, you may trust me to keep as far out of their course as
possible.