word
"whale" was mentioned in the hearing of these men their eyes glistened
with excitement.

[Illustration: Captain Slocum working the _Spray_ out of the Yarrow
River, a part of Melbourne harbor.]

We spent three days in the quiet cove, listening to the wind outside.
Meanwhile Captain Young and I explored the shores, visited abandoned
miners' pits, and prospected for gold ourselves.

Our vessels, parting company the morning they sailed, stood away like
sea-birds each on its own course. The wind for a few days was
moderate, and, with unusual luck of fine weather, the _Spray_ made
Melbourne Heads on the 22d of December, and, taken in tow by the
steam-tug Racer, was brought into port.

Christmas day was spent at a berth in the river Yarrow, but I lost
little time in shifting to St. Kilda, where I spent nearly a month.

The _Spray_ paid no port charges in Australia or anywhere else on the
voyage, except at Pernambuco, till she poked her nose into the
custom-house at Melbourne, where she was charged tonnage dues; in this
instance, sixpence a ton on the gross. The collector exacted six
shillings and sixpence, taking off nothing for the fraction under
thirteen tons, her exact gross being 12.70 tons. I squared the matter
by charging people sixpence each for coming on board, and when this
business got dull I caught a shark and charged them sixpence each to
look at that. The shark was twelve feet six inches in length, and
carried a progeny of twenty-six, not one of them less than two feet in
length. A slit of a knife let them out in a canoe full of water,
which, changed constantly, kept them alive one whole day. In less than
an hour from the time I heard of the ugly brute it was on deck and on
exhibition, with rather more than the amount of the _Spray's_ tonnage
dues already collected. Then I hired a good Irishman, Tom Howard by
name,--who knew all about sharks, both on the land and in the sea, and
could talk about them,--to answer questions and lecture. When I found
that I could not keep abreast of the questions I turned the
responsibility over to him.

[Illustration: The shark on the deck of the _Spray_.]

Returning from the bank, where I had been to deposit money early in
the day, I found Howard in the midst of a very excited crowd, telling
imaginary habits of the fish. It was a good show; the people wished to
see it, and it was my wish that they should; but owing to his
over-stimulated enthusiasm, I was obliged to