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"But he is a killer of men, Big Brother, a beast and a devil," the Goat Man protested. "He must not be killed, Brother. It is our way not to break our word." "It is a foolish way." "Still it is our way," Grief answered gravely, turning the strip of shark-meat over on the coals and noting the hungry sniff and look of Tehaa. "Don't do that, Tehaa, when the Big Devil comes.
Upon this was suspended, as upon a spit, so many slices of shark-meat as could be accommodated with room, and when all was arranged, a "taper" was handed up from below, and the wick set on fire.
It is superfluous to say that, like the little flying-fish, the shark-meat had to be eaten raw; but to men upon the verge of starvation there is no inconvenience in this. Indeed, there are many tribes of South-Sea Islanders not such savage either who habitually eat the flesh of the shark both the blue and white species without thinking it necessary even to warm it over a fire!
Neither did the castaway English sailor nor his young comrade think it necessary. Even had a fire been possible, they were too hungry to have stayed for the process of cooking; and both, without more ado, dined upon raw shark-meat.
This was the loss of a large portion of their stock of provisions, consisting of the dried fish, partly those that had been half cured by Snowball previous to the union of the two rafts, and partly the flitches of shark-meat, that had been taken from the lesser raft, and added to Snowball's store.
The extinction of the flame had led to a scene which was reaching its maximum of noisy excitement at about the time that the crew of the Catamaran were munching their roast shark-meat and sipping their canary. This scene had continued long after every individual of the latter had sunk into a sweet oblivion of the dangers that surrounded them.
"Ef 'im be dat, wha' den?" inquired the Coromantee, seeing that Brace had stopped short in what he was going to say. "Why, only that we're in an ugly mess. There's no reason to think they have picked up a stock o' provisions, since we parted wi' them. I don't know how they've stuck it out, that is, supposin' it be them. They may have got shark-meat like ourselves; or they have lived upon "
Both were again preparing to repeat their angling operations; and in a few seconds' time each had his hook ready, with a piece of shark-meat temptingly attached to it, the bait being rendered still more attractive from having a little shred of scarlet flannel looped around the shank of the hook, while several fathoms of stout sennit-cord served as trolling-lines.
As a preliminary, the flitches of shark-meat were removed from the little raft, now doomed to destruction; while that ingenious contrivance of the sailor, the canvas water-cask, now no longer required, was emptied of its contents; which, with the greatest care, were decanted into the safe depository of one of the empty hogsheads that had been hitherto acting as supports to the embarkation of Snowball.
It is to be remembered that they had been deprived of this on the preceding night through the violence of the gale, and that they had got but very little on the night before that from being engaged in scorching their shark-meat. Exhausted nature called loudly for repose; and so universally, that the complete crew yielded to the call, not even one of them remaining in charge of the helm.
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