re all drowned, and the nervous
dread I suffered on account of those devils of the deep, although all
the while I actually never saw one. This was fortunate for me, as I'm
sure only the sight of one in my then state of mind would have taken all
the fight out of me and made me an easy prey!

"My fear of the sharks indeed grew so strong upon me that I absolutely
tried to drown myself, but I could not keep myself down below the
surface of the water long enough to carry out my intention. The
attempt, however, did one good thing for me, as, seeing that I could not
sink, try as hard as I could, it appeared to me that I wasn't born to be
drowned--sailors,--you know, are rather superstitious sometimes--so,
thinking this, and assured that I was certain now to get to land, if
only the sharks left me alone, I struck again towards the direction of
the two trees that I saw every now and then to encourage me as I rose up
on the crest of each alternate wave, determined to persevere to the last
as long as the breath was left in me.

"Why, sir, it was a swim that beat poor Captain Webb's exploit in
crossing the Channel, for the pinnace had gone down soon after daybreak,
and I had been swimming ever since, while now the sun was sinking in the
west, looking as if it were going to dip in another hour at the most.
Yet, I seemed as far off from the land as ever, those two trees that I
watched so earnestly, and shaped my course by never appearing to rise
out of the water or come nearer to me than two miles off--for, whether
the tide had turned or there was a current carrying me along in a
parallel direction with the shore, or some other cause, for ever so long
a time I never got any closer than that. It was very hard, I thought,
with the land so near to me now, and I unable to reach it, strive how I
may! Perhaps, I fancied, those trees are a mere fanciful dream like the
fairy-like mirage of the desert that tortures poor lost wanderers with
pictures of cool lakes and rivers, while they are really in the middle
of burning sandy plains. I began to doubt they were real trees at all,
for I should have got up to them long since; and so, harassed again with
despair, I tried a second time to drown myself, clenching my hands
tightly to my side and making no effort to swim--but it was all in vain,
I could not keep down. I must have been delirious I think then, and
perhaps imagined it all, going out of my senses as poor Russell had done
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