t make its appearance, he again succeeded
in persuading them to renew their efforts to clear the boat. The night
had passed away--it was about ten o'clock on the morning of the 28th;
the baling had progressed without interruption; a little more
exertion, and the boat would have been cleared, when again was heard
the cry of--'The sharks! the sharks!' But this was no false alarm; the
boat a second time capsized, and the unhappy men were literally cast
amongst a shoal of these terrible monsters.

The men, for a few minutes, remained uninjured, but not untouched; for
the sharks actually rubbed against their victims, and, to use the
exact words of one of the survivors, 'frequently passed over the boat
and between us, whilst resting on the gunwale,' This, however, did not
last long; a shriek soon told the fate of one of the men; a shark had
seized him by the leg, dying the water with his blood; another shriek
followed, and another man disappeared.

But these facts are almost too horrible to dwell upon; human nature
revolts from so terrible a picture; we will therefore hurry over this
part of our tale.

Smith had witnessed the sufferings of his followers with the deepest
distress; and although aware that in all probability he must soon
share the same fate, he never for a moment appeared to think of
himself. There were but six men left, and these he endeavoured to
sustain by his example, cheering them on to further exertions. They
had once more recommenced their labours to clear out the boat, when
one of his legs was seized by a shark. Even whilst suffering the most
horrible torture, he restrained the expression of his feelings, for
fear of increasing the alarm of the men. But the powers of his
endurance were doomed to be tried to the utmost; another limb was
scrunched from his body, and uttering a deep groan, he was about to
let go his hold, when he was seized by two of his men, and placed in
the stern sheets.

Yet when his whole frame was convulsed with agony, the energies of his
mind remained as strong as ever, his own pain was disregarded, he
thought only of the preservation of his crew. Calling to his side a
lad of the name of Wilson, who appeared to be the strongest of the
remaining few, he exhorted him, in the event of his surviving, to
inform the admiral that he was going to Cape Ontario in search of the
pirate when the unfortunate accident occurred; 'Tell him,' he
continued, 'that my men have done their duty, and