I ventured to open my eyes. The shark was still at the
same distance from me, and on examination I perceived that the boat's
mast or spar, to which I was clinging, had been passed through his nose
in a transverse direction, being exactly balanced on either side. The
shark was of the description found in the North Seas, which is called by
the sailors the blind shark. I now perfectly understood that he had
been caught and _spritsail yarded_, as the seamen term it, and then
turned adrift for their diversion. The buoyancy of the spar prevents
the animal from sinking down under the water, and this punishment of
their dreaded enemy is a very favourite amusement of sailors.

I summoned up all my courage, and being tired of holding on by the spar,
resolved to mount upon his back, which I accomplished without
difficulty, and I found the seat on his shoulders before the dorsal fin,
not only secure but very comfortable. The animal, unaccustomed to carry
weight, made several attempts to get rid of me, but not being able to
sink I retained my seat. He then increased his velocity, and we went on
over a smooth sea, at the rate of about three knots an hour. For two
days I continued my course to the southward, upon my novel conveyances
during which I had nothing to eat except a few small barnacles, and some
parasitical vermin, peculiar to the animal, which I discovered under his
fins. I also found a small _remora_, or sucking fish, near his tail,
but when I put it to my mouth, it fixed itself so firmly on both my lips
that I thought they were sealed for ever. No force could detach it, and
there it hung like a padlock for many hours, to my great mortification
and annoyance, but at last it died from being so long out of water, and
when it dropped off I devoured it.

On the third day I observed land at a distance; it appeared to be an
island, but I had no idea what it could be. My steed continued his
course straight towards it, and being blind ran his nose right upon the
shore; before he found out his mistake I slipped off his back, and
climbing the steep side of the island, was once more, as I thought, on
terra firma. Tired with long watching. I lay down and fell fast
asleep.

I was awakened by something touching me on the shoulder, and opening my
eyes, I perceived that I was surrounded by several people, whom I
naturally inferred to be the natives of the island. They were clad in
dresses, which appeared to me to be made of