New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-02-19
Capt. Boyton's Encounter With 4
Shark.


Il have experienced some rough
usage, " said Capt. Boyton. !" and
have bad some very narrow escapes
while testing my armor in the waters
Of Europe, but" he said, modestly, 81
don't imagine it would be of much in
terest now to your American readers to
recount them, as they have already ap-
peared in print, in one form or another.
My encounter with q shark, however,
while crossing the Strait of Messina in
1877. will long be remembered by me
and those who accompanied me on that
eventful trip. don't believe would
have undertaken the trip had it not
been for the rumors that were in circu-
lation that / dare not try it. The wa.
tiers of this famous strait are alive with
shark of the fercest description at al
most all seasons of the year, and, be-
fore my venture, it was said that but
one man had ever succeeded in cross
ing it alive, and this was no less per-
sOnage than Saint Francisco, who, as
the legend has it, threw of his cloak
and passed over dry.shOd. When it
was given out that was to make the
attempt to swim over in my arm0r, old
fishermen and the natives gave me up
as either insane or man in an alliance
with the devil. When all my arrange
ments were perfected, on the 10th of
March of that year, entered the water
during the morning, accompanied by
two boats filed with members of the
Italian press, officers of the Marine De-
partment, and others, each Of whom
was thoroughly armed to protect me
in case was attacked by the man-eat-
ers, as the sharks of the straits are
Justly termed. The water was some
what rough and the current fearfully
strong and hard to battle against, but
padded away with all my strength,
and succeeded in making the middle of
the strait without accident or encoun-
tering any of my expected foes, al
though the people in the boats sighted
several and shouted to me to be on my
guard. All at once, when near .
crested wave, l saw a dark object
shooting under the water toward me.
and knew that II was shark. raised
my head and the upper part Of my body
from the water. and, drawing my long
and sharp knife which usually carry,
awaited his coming. had to
wait but second, as the
monster was then on to me. saw him
turn on his back and open his jaws,
and then l made q lungc for his white
belly with my knife. The blade pene-
trated the skin short distance from
the mouth, and rs soon as the shark
felt it he made turn with lightning
like rapidity and hit me fearful blow
on the side with his tail, breaking one
of my ribs. l still retained my hold on
the handle of the knife, resolved not to
lose it, and was drawn under the water
by the shark. When arose to the sur
face my antagonist was not to be seen,
but it was evident he had got all he
wanted. l was not frightened in the
least by the fish. but confess had
considerable fear of the men in the
boats us they fired wildly ~, the shark,
and narrowly escaped the bullets in
tended for him. Well, to make long
story short, succeeded in making the
trip all right. The fishermen had never
heard of such thing before and dubbed
me Saint something and looked upon
me with awe"
Capt. Royton describes his trip across
WIZ cehoA VA SAoA 1lCtbI I'D OAV
the most dangerous as we'll as import
ant of his countless feats. He took the
water at Tarifa, the southernmost port
of Spain, and in fact of Europe, on the
26th of March, 1873, at ten min
utes to eight o'clock in the morning,
steering southwest. the weather being
calm and the sea smooth at the time.
lie battled with the fierce currents,
watched for the sharks. drifted here
and there throughout the day, and
finally made shore in the Bay Of Tan
gier on the Barbary Coast, at five min.
utes to one o'clock on the following
morning. His longest trip WAS made
on the River Tagus, from Toledo to Lis
bon, this occupying twenty-seven days.
The Captain describes the scenes along
the banks of this river as unusually in
teresting. The American flag which
he displayed was seen for the first time
by the natives. On arriving at Lisbon
he was received by thousands Of peo-
pie, and was very warmly Welcomed
N. Y. Graphic.