Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1876-05-10
some stories OF Sea sharks.

A large life boat crossing the bar o
the San Juan River upset, precipitatins
the crew consisting of two officers
(white) and ten colOred men, into the
water, the boat being turned upside
down. "I felt" said the narrator
''that nv life was not worth half an
hours purchase. The cOxwain to the
boat, a weakly black man, rose along.
side Of me after the plunge; he was in
great terror, and / felt that if the sharks
did not harm him he could scarcely
reach the shore without help; so l en-
couraged him by telling him l would
swim by him, and give him a hand il
he felt tired. NO tired, massa; neber
live to be tired; look at dem round us.
1 felt that he was as near to the truth as
possible, for we were literally i'm the
centre of a shoal of sharks, whose black
triangular fins we could see on all sides
sailing round us. AS the beach was
quite close, we first endeavOred to make
that, but soon discovered that the cur
rent was so strong that we made nc
headway and we were forced to turn to-
ward the boat, which was 15O yards
away, drifting out to sea, turned upside
down, with the rest of the crew astride
on her keel. There was nothing, how
ever, for it but to swim to her, and, aided
by the strong current, we soon short
ened the distance. All this time the
sharks were around us, making, fam
cied, smaller circles, and once or twice
L thought l felt something touch my
feet with a rush, as these hOrrid brutes
do before they bite; if it was my i'm
nin
however, for we had not got twenty
yards ahead Of the spot, when my COM
paniOn shrieked, threw up his arms and
disappeared beneath the waves. A rush
of black fins, and their sudden disappear
ance under the water, was the last thing
l remembered until l found myself
alongside our ship i'm the stern-sheets of
the cutter which had been sent to the
rescue"
Considering the foolhardy rashness of
the negroes in bathing, it is surprising
how comparatively few accidents hap
pen. "Dive for six. pence, massa," in
to the water where sharks have been
seen the same morning. However he
will never venture in after dark.
Sharks, like many other fish, bite more
freely at night; in fact, sharky waters
where the fish are shy, and bathing is
comparatively free from danger during
the day, cannot be entered after night
fall without very great risk, the more
especially as at night sharks will, like
trout, prowl about shallow water barely
sufficient to cover them. The writer
recollects at Colon two stOkers of the
mail steamer Tyne taking fOrecastle
leave one night. The ship was warped
alongside the wharf, and these two men
crept along one of the hawsers, hand
over foot, to reach the wharf. The first
got over safely, but the second slipped
and fell into the water. Not at all
frightened, in a low voice he told his
companion to lower him rope from
the wharf, but he had scarcely spoken
when he DISAPPEARED and did not rise
again. A sharks stomach to a sailor is
matter of extreme interest. ''Let's
see what's inside Of him. is Jacks
first thought when the monster lies
dead on deck; though Jack is invariably
disappointed of finding treasure, silver
watch for example, would fill his soul
with pleasure.