swim! Oh, de tiburon! he berry bad bite, come de shark; he hab berry big
mouth; he eatee a Senor all up down!"

Such was the exclamation of Sambo, in the best English he had been able
to pick up, in a few years' service, in unlading the American vessels,
that came to the Havana. It was intended to apprise the bold but
inexperienced stranger, that the waters were filled with sharks, and
that it was dangerous to swim in them. The words were scarcely uttered,
and, even if they were heard, had not time to produce their effect, when
Cuffee responded to the exclamation of his sable colleague, with--

"Oh, Madre de Dios! see, see, de tiburon! de shark!--ah, San Salvador!
ah, pobre joven! matar, todo comer, he eat him all down, berry soon!"

This second cry had been drawn from the kind-hearted negro, by seeing,
at a distance in the water a smooth-shooting streak, which an
inexperienced eye would not have noticed, but which Sambo and Cuffee
knew full well. It was the wake of a shark. At a distance of a mile or
two, the shark had perceived his prey; and, with the rapidity of sound,
he had shot across the intervening space, scarcely disturbing the
surface with a ripple. Cuffee's practiced eye alone had seen a flash of
his tail, at the distance of a mile and a half; and, raising his voice
to the utmost of his strength, he had endeavored to apprise the
incautious swimmer of his danger. Brook heard the shout, and turned his
eye in the direction in which the negro pointed; and, well skilled in
all the appearances of the water, under which he could see almost as
well as in the open air, he perceived the sharp forehead of the fearful
animal rushing toward him, head on, with a rapidity; which bade defiance
to flight.

[Illustration: ESCAPE FROM A SHARK]

In a moment, the dreadful monster had shot across the entire space that
separated him from Brook; and had stopped, as if its vitality had been,
instantly arrested, at the distance of about twelve feet from our
swimmer. Brook had drawn himself up in the most pugnacious attitude
possible, and, was treading water with great activity. The shark,
probably unused to any signs of making battle, remained, for one moment,
quiet; and then, like a flash of lightning, shot sidelong off, and came
round in the rear. Brook, however, was as wide awake as his enemy.

The plashing of the oars of Sambo and Cuffee warned the sagacious
monster of gathering foes. Whirling himself over on his back, and