s of the morning, the lovely sky, and the
cheerfulness of the slaves, whom our morbid philanthropists wish to
render happy, by making discontented, would altogether amply repay the
trouble and expense of a voyage, to those who have leisure or money
enough to enable them to visit the tropical islands.

The delightful, and, indeed, indispensable amusement of bathing, is
particularly dangerous in these countries. In the shallows you are
liable to be struck by the stingray, a species of skate, with a sharp
barb about the middle of its tail; and the effect of the wound is so
serious, that I have known a person to be in a state of frenzy from it
for nearly forty-eight hours. In deeper water, the sharks are not only
numerous but ravenous; and I sometimes gratified their appetites, and
my own love of excitement, by purchasing the carcass of a dead cow, or
horse. This I towed off, and anchored with a thick rope and a large
stone; then, from my boat, with a harpoon, I amused myself in striking
these devils as they crowded round for their meal. My readers will,
I fear, think I am much too fond of relating adventures among these
marine undertakers; but the following incident will not be found
without interest.

In company with Charles, one beautiful afternoon, rambling over the
rocky cliffs at the back of the island, we came to a spot where the
stillness, and the clear transparency of the water invited us to
bathe. It was not deep. As we stood above, on the promontory, we could
see the bottom in every part. Under the little headland, which formed
the opposite side of the cove, there was a cavern, to which, as the
shore was steep, there was no access but by swimming, and we resolved
to explore it. We soon reached its mouth, and were enchanted with its
romantic grandeur and wild beauty. It extended, we found, a long way
back, and had several natural baths, into all of which we successively
threw ourselves, each, as they receded farther from the mouth of the
cavern, being colder than the last. The tide, it was evident, had
free ingress, and renewed the water every twelve hours. Here we
thoughtlessly amused ourselves for some time, quoting Acis and
Galatea, Diana, and her nymphs, and every classic story applicable to
the scene.

At length, the declining sun warned us that it was time to take our
departure from the cave, when, at no great distance from us, we saw
the back, or dorsal fin of a monstrous shark above the surface of the