Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1869-03-11

| dEOUuu, odh CuS AIIC-UuOy uOdLLuB
not far from US; so, taking a good
grip of his hair, ] swan towards
| it, and having succeeded in reach.
ing it, made my unfortunate mate
fast to it, by one of the buckets,
with his head well above water.
! By this time he was coming to
himself, and l knew that if they
could see US from the brig, her
boats would soon be alongside us /;
but this did not appear to be the
case, for the boats seemed pulling
in all directions but the right one.
Suddenly l saw, but a few yards
from US, an object that in a moment
filled me with unutterable dread
the back fin of a monster shark.
Slowly the brute approached, un-
til / could clearly distinguish that
he was one of the largest of his
kind. He evidently intended to
reconnoitre, and when only about
five yards from us, began to swim
slowly in circle, but gradually
nearing, until / could clearly dis
tinguish the horrid eyes that make
the shark s countenance what it is
the very embodiment of Sata-
mic malignity. HalEconcealed
between the bony brow, the little
green eyes cleaned with so pecul-
lar an expression of hatred, such a
concentration of fiendish malice,
of quiet, calm, settled, villainy,
that no other countenance that
/ have ever seen at all resembles.
Knowing that the brute is as cow
ardly as he is ferocious, l com.
menced to splash as much as I
could with my feet. This had the
desired effect, and with a lateral
wave of his powerful tail, he shot
of, and for the moment disappeared.
Again | looked arond for the boats,
but still observed no sign that we
were seen.
Night was fast falling-there is
no twilightin those latitudes-and
/ could see little or no hope of es-
Gaping horrid death, from the
jaws of the brute who, l full we'll
knew, was not far off. Suddenly
a cry of horror from my compan-
ion, who had now qui.e regained
his senses, drew my attention to
the rapid approach of our dread
enemy. This time he seemed de-
termined not to be banked, but
came straight on for us. Again l
threw myself on my back, and
kicked and spfashed with all my
strength, which had again the ef-
feet of alarming him, tor he went
right under us, and again disap-
peared. Uttering a short but fer
vent ejaculation of thankfulness,
| again turned my attention to
the boats, and beheld, with feel
ings no pen can express, that at
last we had been made out, and
that one of the cutters was fast
pulling towards US. But even as
she came our peril increased, for
the shark was joined by another,
and both kept cruising, but few
yards off, in a circle round US. My
strength was rapidly leaving me,
and | knew that did l once cease
splAshing all would be over with
US. My companion was perfectly
powerless. Still l continued to
kick and splash, still the voracious
monsters confined their circular
tract, sometimes diving and going
under US, to reappear on the other
side; but the cutter was fast COM
ing up, and they, suspecting what
was the matter, gave way with all
their hearts and souls.
AS she neared us, the bowmenI
laid their oars in and began to
beat the water with their boat
hooks. This was the last saw.
Nature must have given out, for
when | opened my eyes again,
| was safe in my hammock on
board the brig. A good nights
rest restored me to myself; but
though | have seen many shark
since, | can never look on one
without feeling my flesh creep, as
it were, on my bones.