A great shark had seen him and had thrown himself on his back to seize
him in his rows of sharp teeth, but was prevented reaching him by the
shallowness of the water.
Robinson was too much terrified to continue longer his attempt at
fishing. He went back to his cave with only a few small ones, not
worth the trouble of dressing for his dinner.
The next day undismayed he tried again. He succeeded in drawing in
some very beautiful large fish. Their sides shone as burnished gold
and silver. "Now," he thought, "I will have a feast." He carried them
home, carefully cleaned and dressed them, seasoned them with his salt,
and broiled them over his fire. Imagine his disappointment when they
proved unfit to eat. Their flesh was coarse and tough and ill-tasting.
He saw that the catching of fish for his table was a more difficult
thing than he thought it. He must not only catch fish, but catch ones
that could be eaten. He could only tell the good from the bad by
trying them.
He was more fortunate in his next venture. He was going along the
shore at the mouth of the creek which ran near his cave when he
noticed a group of fishes, dark bluish above with silvery sides. The
largest of them were about two feet long. They were feeding on the
bottom in the brackish water at the mouth of the creek, which at its
mouth opened out into quite a little bay or inlet. They would take
up a mouthful of earth from the bottom and let it wash through their
mouths, keeping all the bits of food that happened to be in it.
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