The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1851-02-22

j H'i '1' ronliili " OF Lieut.. UuW1fu smith
and was sunk by a sudden hurricane in the
West Indies, in spite Of every prccauton to
prepare for il.
/ AT the moment of the vessel going down
nnnncrs mate OF the name OF Medium
struck out aud succeeded in reaching a pal,
of oars that were floating in the water 10
these he clung: and having Invested him
self of n part of his clothing, he awaited in
dreadful anxiety the fate OF his companions
Not sound met his ear in vain his anx.
ious gaze cndcavored to pierce the gloom,
but the darkness was too intense. Minutes
appeared Ike hours, aud still the awful ii.
lcnce remained unbroken; he felt, aud the
thought was agonv. that out of the twenty.
four human beings who had SO lately troll
the deck of the schooner, he alone was len.
This terrible suspense became almost be.
yond the power o: endurance aud he ai.
ready began To envy the fate of his compan.
ions, when he heard a voice at no great dis.
lance iuquiring if there was any one near.
He answered in the affirmative and
pushing out in the direction from whence
the sound proceeded. ho reached boat To
which seven persons were cltnging, amongst
whom was Lieutenant Smith, the commau.
der of the sloop.
50 far, this was n subject Of coHgratu
latlon he was no longer alone but yet the
chances of his ultimate preservation were
rs distant rs ever.
The boat, which had been placed on the
booths of the schooner. had fortunately es.
capped clear Of the sinking vessel, and il
the mon had waited patiently. was large
enough To have saved them all; but the sud.
dcnucss of the calamity had deprived them
of both thought and prudence. Several men
had attempted to climb in on one side; the
consequence was, the boat keeled over, be.
came hnif iiiicd with water. and then turn.
ed keel uppcrmost 4; and when Moldrim
reached her, he found some stretched across
the keel, and others hanging on by the
sides.
Matters could not last long in this way ;
aud Mr. smith, seeing the impossibility oi
any of the party being saved ii they con.
iuucd in their present position. endcayotcd
to bring them Ia reason hy pointing out the
absurdlty Of their conduct To the honor
of the men, they listened with the same re.
spcct to their commander rs il they had
been on board the schooner; those on the
keel Immediately rclinquished their hol !,
and succeeded with the assistance of their
comrades in dghliug the boat Two of
their number got into her and commenced
bailag with their hats, whilst the ~lers re.
manned in the water supporting themselves
bv the gunwalcs.
"Ordcr being restored. thcir spirits began
to revive aud they entertained hopes of es'
Gaping from their present peril but this was
Of shoi, duration aud the suffering which
they had as vet endured were nothing in
comparison with what they had now to nn.
d,rgo.
" The two men had scarcely commenced
hailng when the cry WAS heard Of \ shark,
a shark No words can describe The con
stcrnation which cnsucd it Is well known
the horror sailors have of these vofaclous
animals. who seem appfikcd by instinct
when their prey Is at hand, All order was
at an end the boat again caps1cd and the
men were left struggling in the waters,
The general safety was neglected. aud 1t
was every man for himself: no sooner had
nne cot hold of the boat than he WAS push.
ed away l., another, and in this iruitless
contest more than one He was nearly sac.
lihced.
Even in this terrible hour their com
mander remained cool and collected his
voice was still raised in words of enconr.
agemeut. aud ~ the dreaded enemy did not
make its appearance, he again succeeded in
per.uading them TO renew their efforts To
clear the boat The night had passed
await was about ten O'Clock on the
morning of the 2sih the bailing had pro-
crossed without Interruption little more
cxcrtion and the boat would have been clear
ed, when again was heard the cry of Tho
sharks. the sharks But this was no false
alarm; the boat second Ii rc capsilcd, aud
the unhappy men were literally east among
q shoal Of these terrible monsters.
"The men for few minutes remained
uninlurcd, hut not untouched; for the sharks
actually rubbed against their victims. and to
use the exact words of one OF the survivors,
'srcuucu,ly passed over the boat and be-
tween us whilst on the gunwale,' This,
however, did no, last long; Shrek soon
told the fate of ou- o' the men n shark
had seized him by the leg, dyeiug the wa
ter with his blood. another shrek followed.
and another man disappeared.
" Bat these facts are almost too horrible
to dwell upon human nature rcvois from so
terrible picture; we will therefore hurry
over this part of our tale.