On a quite recent voyage a talkative passenger confidently stated having seen a shark 70 feet long.

I ventured to measure out that distance on the ship's deck, and asked him and his credulous listeners to regard and consider it.

It gained me an enemy for life.
One of the most famous and historical sharks was San Jose Joe, who haunted the harbour of Corinto, a small coast town in Salvador.

Every ship that entered the harbour was sure to have some bloodthirsty fiend on board to empty his cartridges into this unfortunate creature.
His carcass was reckoned to be as full of lead as a careful housewife's pin-cushion of pins.

But all this battering had no effect on him.