Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-03-29
Sharks.

A large life-boat crossing the bar of
the Jan Juan River upset, precipitating
the crew, consisting of two officers
(white) and ten colored men, into the
river, the boat being turned upside
down.
81 felt" says the narrator. "that nv
life was not worth half an hours pur-
chase. The cockswain to the boat. a
weakly black man, rose alongside of
me after the plunge; he was in great
terror, and 1 felt that if the sharks did
not harm him he could hardly reach
the shore without help; so 1 en-
couraged him by telling him I would
swim by him, and give him hand if
he felt tired. No tired, massa; neber
live to be tired; look at them round
u.s. felt that he was as close to the
truth as possible, fol we were literally
in the center of shoal of sharks,
whose black triangular fins we could
see on all sides sailing round us. AS
the beach was quite close, we first en-
deavored to make that, but soon dis
covered that the current was SO strong
that we made no Roadway, and we
were forced to turn toward the boat,
y
to sea, turned upside down, with the
rest of the crew astride on her keel.
There was nothing, however, for us
but to swim to her, and aided by the
strong current, we soon shortened the
distance. All this time the sharks were
around us, making, [ fancied, smaller
circles, and once or twice [ thought I
felt something touch my feet with a
rush, as those horrid brutes do before
they bite; if it was my imagination, it
was not a great stretch, however, for
we had not gotten 20 yards ahead of
the spot, when my companion shrek
ed, threw up his arms and disappeared
beneath the waves. A rush of black
fins, land their sudden disappearance
under water, was the last thing I re-
membered until I found myself along
side our ship in the stern-sheets of the
cutter which had been sent to the res
cue"
Considering the foolhardy rashness
of the negroes in bathing, it is surpris-
ing how few accidents happen. "Dive
for sixpence, massa," into the water
where sharks have been seen the same
morning. However, he will never ven
ture 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 nightfall without very
great risk, the more especially that 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, 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
sailor is matter of extreme interest. |
Let us see what's inside Of him" is
Jacks first thought when the monster
lies dead on the deck; though Jack is
invariably disappointed of finding
treasure, a silver watch, for example,
would fill his soul with pleasure.