In the days when pirates sailed the Spanish Main, the British warship Sparrow suspected the brig Nancy of carrying contraband and stopped it off the coast of Haiti, An examination of the latter’s papers and cargo yielded only circumstantial evidence. Nevertheless, the captain of the Sparrow deemed this sufficient for him to tow the Nancy into Kingston, Jamaica, and charge the captain and crew with transporting illegal cargo.

Meanwhile, the officer in charge of a tender of the British frigate Abergavenny, which happened to be cruising in the same waters, noticed a school of sharks feeding on a dead bullock. He decided to see if he could catch one of the predators for sport and ordered his ship to pull up alongside the dead animal. The sailors succeeded in hooking one of the sharks.

Hauling the shark aboard, they opened it up and discovered in its stomach a bundle of papers. Examination showed that these belonged to the Nancy. Convinced that they might serve a useful purpose, the captain set sail for Kingston.

The Abergavenny arrived in port not long after the case of the Nancy came up for trial. The latter’s captain and crew, and even her lawyers, were sure the case would be thrown out of court for lack of evidence. But what must have been their consternation when they were suddenly confronted with the papers found in the shark’s belly. Instead of being acquitted, they were convicted.

Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.

Thanks to WITandWISDOM(tm) – August 9, 2000 subscribe-wit-wisdom@xc.org