The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1881-10-15
SAVED FROM The SHARKS.


fertng.
Atlanta lCa,) Times.
James H. Harris, the shipwrecked
mariner from Philadelphia who was
placed in ST. Joseph's infirmary
few days ago, has recovered from his
delirium, and by request he has pre-
pared for the Ne,rs narrative of his
miraculous escape. He writes: "We
left Philadelphia with a cargo con-
sisting of 30 tons of coal, bound to
Wilmington, N. c. Our crew con-
sisted OF Ave men-two seamen, one
cook, the captain and mate; the old
est man on board was only twenty
three years of age. After we rounded
Hatteras we were struck by a hurri-.
cane. The vessel was wrecked al
most instantly, and all of US went
into the rigging. ] had made up my
mind to die. j did not think it was
possible that could be saved. The
thought never once crossed my mind.
l thought my time had come and
made up my mind to die like man.
] shook hands with the captain and
babe him good bye, asked God to
bless us and save us, and then sea
swept over and the vessel began to
sink. / was under the water some
time before / began to discover the
vessel was sinking. When l did /
let go Of the rigging and commenced
swimming towards the surface and
came near suffocating before i
reached it. The first thing l did on
reaching the surface was to get out
of my clothes, so could swim better.
Then l saw piece of white pine
scantling floating off. succeeded in
getting hold of that and managed to
keep myself afioat with it. 1t was
about four inches square and fifteen
feet long. Shortly after ] got hold
of this the captain came mp. He was
then nearly gone and did not have
life enough hardly to keep his head
out of the water. He soon sank and
never saw him more. His name
was Enoch Camp, native of Phila-
delphia, aged about twenty-one. He
was very handsome. | have been
sailing with him since January l,
1881, and we were like two brothers.
Thus the vessel and all on board per-
ished except myself who, through the
providence of God, was saved.
My dog was clinging to the piece
of timber with me. When the vessel
went over he was in the cabin; how
he managed to get out do not know.
Sometimes the seas would strike us,
knocking us nearly away from the
piece and nearly drowning us. When
| it would pass away we wonld swim
back to it again. The poor dog was
nearly drowned, and his master not
much better. He would swim up to
me and put his head on me and
whine SO piteously, asking me the
best he could to save him, and to end
his suffering killed him and pushed
him away from me. And then (God
forgive me) l tried to drown myself,
as | expected every moment to be cut
by shark, and knew l could not
live much longer that way nohow, SO
let gb and sunk. With eyes and
mouth openlI drank salt water by
the pint. / could stay under water
very well until / would go to draw
my breath; then the water would
rush. up my nose, suffocating me.
Then l would have to come up again.
/ made two attempts to drown myself,
and then gave it up and waited UNI
til God saw fit to take me. / often
sit and think how it was possible for
me to be saved, and how ! was saved
i do not know.
i was on that piece of timber about
six hours. Sometimes the sea would
wash me off and throw it some dis
lance from me; then 1 would swim
back and get hold of it again. After
a long time, or just before night, ]
discovered larger piece of timber
floating ahead of me. After trying
very hard l finally reached it and
crawled upon it. / found it; to be a
piece of the cabin about four feet
wide and twelve feet long, with three
small windows along one side about
IL by Is inches. I never had any
hope of being saved until I got on
this piece. began to have some
hope then of being saved if I did not
starve to death. Iwished then for
my poor dog ! had killed. 1 was ly-
ing at full length on my raft, clinging
ION each side with my hands, when !
happened-to look over the side, and,
oh, heavens and earth! there / was
followed by pack Of hungry sharks
swimming all around me. You can
just imagine how l felt, and how !
chung to that raft. Why it was they
never interfered with me while / was
| in the water do not know, unless it
was because / kept In motion all the
time. ii;e t
Sometimes the sea would break
over my raft and capsize it. Then
would crawl on top of it again as
quickly as possible, thinking allthe
while of the sharks around me and
Eexpecting every minute to be seized
by them. 1t was now very dark and
the wind was moderating in meas
! IRE, aud the sea was going d0wf
somewhat. 1t was still squally and
1 continued so all night, with rain.