nant for the men on the keel to
relinquish their position they instantly obeyed, the boat was turned
over and once more the expedient was tried--but quite in vain; for no
sooner had the two men begun to bail with a couple of hats, and the
safety of the crew to appear within the bounds of probability, than
one man declared he saw the fin of a shark. No language can convey an
idea of the panic which seized the struggling seamen; a shark is at
all times an object of horror to a sailor; and those who have seen the
destructive jaws of this voracious fish, and their immense and almost
incredible power--their love of blood and their bold daring to obtain
it, alone can form an idea of the sensations produced in a swimmer by
the cry of "a shark! a shark!" Every man now struggled to obtain a
moment's safety. Well they knew that one drop of blood would have been
scented by the everlasting pilot-fish, the jackalls of the shark; and
that their destruction was inevitable, if one only of these monsters
should discover this rich repast, or be led to its food by the little
rapid hunter of its prey.--All discipline was now unavailing, the boat
again turned keel up; one man only gained his security to be pushed
from it by others and thus their strength begun to fail from long
continued exertion. However, as the enemy so much dreaded did not make
its appearance, Smith once more urged them to endeavor to save
themselves by the only means left, that of the boat; but as he knew
that he would only increase their alarm by endeavoring to persuade
them that sharks did not abound in these parts, he used the wisest
plan of desiring those who held on by the gun-wale, to keep splashing
in the water with their legs, in order to frighten the monsters at
which they were so alarmed. Once more had hope began to dawn:--the
boat was clear to her thwarts, and four men were in her hard at work;
a little forbearance and a little obedience, and they were safe. At
this moment, when those in the water urged their messmates in the boat
to continue bailing with unremitted exertion, a noise was heard close
to them, and about fifteen sharks came right in amongst them. The
panic was ten times more dreadful than before; the boat was again
upset by the simultaneous endeavor to escape the danger; and the
twenty-two sailors were again devoted to destruction.--At first the
sharks did not seem inclined to seize their prey, but swam in amongst
the men, playing in the water, s