made
annually, by the sea insects in that quarter of the world; but, then,
you are not to form your notions of an insect in such an ocean, by
the insects you see in such a bit of water as this."

"As big as our pickerel, or salmon trout, I dare say?" returned the
commodore, in the simplicity of his heart, for by this time his local
and exclusive conceit was thoroughly humbled, and he was almost ready
to believe any thing.

"I say nothing of their size, for it is to their numbers and industry
that I principally allude now. A solitary shark, I dare say, would
set your whole Lake in commotion?"

"I think we might manage a shark, sir. I once saw one of those
animals, and I do really believe the sogdollager would outweigh him.
I do think we might manage a shark, sir."

"Ay, you mean an in-shore, high-latitude fellow. But what would you
say to a shark as long as one of those pines on the mountain?"

"Such a monster would take in a man, whole?"

"A man! He would take in a platoon, Indian file I dare say one of
those pines, now, may be thirty or forty feet high!"

A gleam of intelligence and of exultation shot across the weather-
beaten face of the old fisherman, for he detected a weak spot in the
other's knowledge. The worthy Captain, with that species of
exclusiveness which accompanies excellence in any one thing, was
quite ignorant of most matters that pertain to the land. That there
should be a tree, so far inland, that was larger than his main-yard,
he did not think probable, although that yard itself was made of part
of a tree; and, in the laudable intention of duly impressing his
companion with the superiority of a real seaman over a mere fresh-
water navigator, he had inadvertently laid bare a weak spot in his
estimate of heights and distances, that the Commodore seized upon,
with some such avidity as the pike seizes the hook. This accidental
mistake alone saved the latter from an abject submission, for the
cool superiority of the Captain had so far deprived him of his
conceit, that he was almost ready to acknowledge himself no better
than a dog, when he caught a glimpse of light through this opening.

"There is not a pine, that can be called of age, on all the mountain,
which is not more than a hundred feet high, and many are nearer two,"
he cried in exultation, flourishing his hand. "The sea may have its
big monsters, Captain, but our hills have their big trees. Did you
ever see a shark of half that length?