Rhode Island American, Statesman And Providence Gazette

MISCELLANY.

SHARKS.

Then far below in the peaceful sea
Where the waters murmur tranquilly,
Tho dreaded shark is seen to rove
Through the bending twigs of the coral grove.

Who is there whose lot it has been to traverse those mighty oceans which separate the
old world from the new, and who, long out of
sight of land, and becalmed on the bosom of
the glassy sea, has not longed for some object
to break the monotony of the surrounding
waste of waters? The drowsiness of the voyager almost overcomes him, as listlessly reclining under the ample covering which shadows the
deck, he hears the sails idly flapping against
the mast, which creaks and strains, as the vessel rolls to the long and heavy swell; the
quarter master hangs half asleep over the
wheel, which is unable to prevent the ship's
head from being turned by the currents, to every point of the compass; the seamen repose
on the shady side of the booms, and lassitude
pervades every thing, in and about the vessel.
But he who, for the first time hears that one
of those fearful monsters of the deep--a shark,
has appeared in the ship's track, will not long
remain inactive, he will quickly rouse himself
and with awakened curiosity hasten to view
the dread of sailors, which has risen like a
spectre from the depths of the blue waters.

(When a whale is killed, and the operation of cutting it up for its oil and dead flesh,) no sooner do operations commence
than sharks flock around in shoals, and greedily devour the fragments which fall into the
sea, and for the seamen who may happen incautiously to slip from the body of the whale,
amongst such cannibals there is no salvation.

Of the different species of shark, the white
shark is the largest and most formidable; it
is seen commonly in warm latitudes, and is
said to reside principally in the depths of the
ocean, from whence it rises to the surface at
intervals to prowl for prey and satisfy its voracious appetite. Some of these have been
caught of the enormous length of 30 feet;--
their dreadful mouth furnished with six rows
of sharp pointed and serrated teeth, some of
which can be raised or depressed at pleasure
from the cartilage in which they are imbedded; the eye is small, of a greenish hue, and
possessing a most diabolical expression; and
the throat being extremely wide, gave rise to
the supposition, that a fish of this description
swallowed the prophet Jonah. In the British
Museum are preserved several teeth of a shark,
five inches in length; the animal to which
those belonged must have been equal to the
largest cetacea in bulk.

The ground Shark, which abounds on the
Coromandel coast, is exceedingly dangerous
to bathers. Not long ago, two officers went
into the sea at Madras, to bathe, one of them
got out of his depth, and was swimming about
unmindfully of the danger that surrounded him,
when a cry of distress from his companion
caused him to look round, when he was horrified by seeing the unfortunate man, who had
not advanced into the water beyond his knees
struggling with a large fish, which soon pulled
him under the surface. A few days afterwards,
the trunk of the officer was found on the beach,
with the head and limbs eaten off. Alligators
too sometimes attack bathers on the shores of
the Bay of Bengal; though not inhabitants of
salt water, they are supposed to travel within
the surf, along the coast, when they go from
one river's mouth to another.

An extraordinary story is told by Captain
Wallace of a lover and his mistress, who were
saved in a singular manner from the jaws of a
shark. A transport, with part of a regiment
on board, was sailing with a gentle breeze
along the coast of Ceylon, one of the officers
was leaning over the poop railing, conversing
with a young lady who had inspired him with
the tender passion; the fair one was in her
cabin, and in the act of handing a paper to her
lover, when overreaching herself, she fell into
the sea, and supported by her clothes, drifted
astern; the officer lost no time in plunging in
after her, and swimming towards her, upheld
her with one arm. The sails were quickly
backed, the ship lay to, and preparations were
making to lower a boat, when to the dismay
of all on board, a large shark appeared from
under the keel of the vessel, and glided towards his victims; a shout of terror from the agonizing spectators called the attention of the
officer to the approaching danger; he saw the
monster's fearful length nearing him, he made
a desperate effort, plunged and splashed the
water so as to frighten the shark, who turned
and dived away out of sight; the current had
now carried the officer and the lady close to the
vessel, when the shark appeared a second time
along side, and was in the act of turning on
his back to seize one of the hapless pair.
when a private of the officer's company, who
was standing in the hammock-nettings, jumped
fearlessly overboard with a bayonet in his
hand, which he plunged into the back of the
shark, which instantly disappearing, the three
were quickly released from their perilous situation.

The bay or harbor of Kinsale, in the south
of Ireland, is well known to be one of the finest in that country; the entrance is guarded
by two forts, one of which is now in ruins.--
There is always the depot of a regiment stationed at Kinsale, and according to the custom
of the service in fine weather, the men are
marched daily to the beach, under an officer,
to bathe. It happened not long ago, that a
party of the 49th were engaged performing
their ablutions, when two of the privates undertook, on a trifling wager, to swim across
the mouth of the harbor, from one fort to the
other; they stretched across vigorously, and
had got about half way over, when a large
black looking fish was observed to raise his
head out of water at some distance behind
them; a second time it rose nearer them, when
the officer in command becoming anxious for
the safety of the men, and not wishing to alarm them by calling out, caused the bugler to sound for them to return; they accordingly obeyed,
and turned towards the shore they had left:
they had no sooner done so, than the fish again
made its appearance close to them, and making a rush at the nearest man, carried him under water; the other, seeing the fate of his
companion, became petrified with fright, gave
way to his terror, and was sinking, when the
encouraging voice of the officer called out.
"Never mind my lad, strike out, nothing will
harm you;" he accordingly exerted himself,
and swam boldly towards the shore, The man
who had been down, now appeared puffing and
blowing the water from his mouth, shaking his
head, and looking wildly around him, and apparently much confused, when the officer
cheered him, and sung out, "Don't be afraid
my lad, you're all safe now, carry on" The
man accordingly recovered himself, and pushed
for the shore; again the fish appeared, made a
dart at him, and carried him under, and did
this also a third time; after each time the man
appeared on the surface, and always nearer the
beach than when he disappeared; the last time
he rose so near the party, that the officer ordered the men to provide themselves with
stones, and when the fish again showed himself he was assailed by a volley, and thereby completely scared from his prey, and the man landed in safety amidst the cheers of his companions. After he had composed himself a little,
to the inquiries--"If he was all right? and
what the devil had got hold of him?" he replied, "By the Lord Harry, what a devilish
soft belly the beast had. It catched me by
the leg," said he, showing a red mark above
the ankle, "got my foot in its mouth, and
hauled me under the water, and swam with me
tarnation fast, and my back kept rubbing
against its belly, and I'm shot if it wasn't as
soft as velvet." With the exception of the red
mark round the leg, he was unharmed, and
conjecture was at a stand still as to the nature
of the fish which had seized him; for if it had
been a shark or a fish with teeth, it would
either have taken off his leg, or wounded him
severely. In the evening several boats went
out to kill this strange animal; he was frequently seen, and many shots were fired at
him, but he could not be secured. However,
a few days afterwards, a small bottle-nosed
whale (balena rostrata) was cast ashore on
the Cove of Cork, in whose body were several
bullets, which had probably occasioned its
death, and it was therefore supposed to have
been the same fish that had attacked the soldier, to which it was perhaps driven by extreme
hunger, as its ordinary food is cuttle fish, and
its mouth and throat being small, are incapable of taking in large bodies

In voyaging in the Arabian Sea, it chanced
that the vessel in which I sailed was becalmed
for some days, and the crew were in the habit
of jumping overboard and swimming round the
ship. One day, whilst several of the hands
were amusing themselves in this way, a large
shark appeared astern; the men were immediately piped on board, and they all obeyed except a fool-hardy fellow of a boatswain's
mate, who said, "let the shark go to the devil, I am not afraid of him." In the mean time
a hook properly baited, was lowered from the
poop, by which the shark was hauled on board,
As soon as it was out of the water, the remora, or sucking fish, which is always found adhering under the fins of sharks, disengaged itself,
and swam towards the boatswain's mate,
and fastened on his lusty back. The fellow
hollered as if the devil had got hold of him;
sung out to one his messmates, "Blast my eyes
Bill, the shark is holding on my stern; bear a
hand and heave us a rope; Lord, I would give
a month's grog to be aboard. What the blazes are you about Bill? Bear a hand, will you,
you lubber." Master Billy, however, and the
other jacks, were in no haste to relieve their
messmate; they enjoyed the lark amazingly,
and provoked him by singing out, "Jeay, can't
you behave like a sodger before the enemy,
eh? don't be taken aback, Jack; kick at him
boy, and free your stern!" Jack kicked, and
plunged, and roared at being thus boarded
about, but to no purpose; the sucking-fish held
on, and at last the crew, tired of the joke,
hauled the terrified boatswain's mate on board,
not, however, before letting go the rope two
or three times, and sousing him well when he
was getting up the side. Shortly after, a breeze springing up, the vessel was swelled to her utmost dimensions, and gracefully yielding to the press of her canvass, not many days after, with a smashing breeze, we brought up with a round turn and bolay, in our destined haven.

J. E. A.

Royal Military College, March, 1828.