Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-08-08

Altetto, Spanish diver who had been at
work on the wreck of vessel thus speaks
of an extraordinary adventure which he
once had AT that time was at the bot
tom of the sea, and was Just about to signal
to be drawn up for moment rest, when
noticed shadowy body moving at some
distance above me and toward me. In Is
moment every fish had disappeared, the
very crustaceans lay still upon the sand,
and the cutie fish scurried away as fast as
they could. ! was not thinking of danger.
and my first thought was that it was the
shadow Of 4 passing boat But suddenly a
feeling of terror seized me. ] felt impelled
to flee from something, | knew not what
A vague horror seemed grasping after me,
such as child fancies when leaving a dark
ened room. By this time the shadow had
come nearer and taken shape. 1t scarcely
needed a glance to show me that it was II
man-eater and of the largest size. Had
signaled to be drawn up then it would have
been certain death. All could do was to
remain still until ii left. 1t lay off twenty
or twenty-five feet, just outside the rigging
of the ship, its body motionless its fms
barely stirring the water about the gills 1t
was Il monster as IL was, but, to add TO the
horror, the pressure of the water upon my
head made it appear as if pouring flaae es
y
meut of It's fins and tail seemed accom-
panied by display of fireworks. | was
sure the fish was thirty feet long, and so
near that I could see its double row of
white teeth. Involuntarily | shrunk close
to the side of the vessel. But my first
movement betrayed my presence. | saw
the shining eyes fixed upon me; its tail
quivered as it darted at ME like streak of
light | shrank closer to the side of the
ship. [ saw it turn on one side, its mouth
open, and heard the teeth snap as it darted
by me. 1t had missed me, hut only for n
moment. The sweep of It's mighty tail had
thrown me forward. ] saw it turn, balance
itself, and its tail quivered as it darted at
me again. There was no escape Ittmned
on its back az it swooped down on me like
hawk on sparrow. The jaws opened
and the long, shining teeth grated as thev
closed on my metal harness. It had me
l could feel its teeth grinding on my cop
per brcast-plate as it tried to bite me in
two, for fortunately, it had caught me lust
across the middle, where | was best pro
tected. Having seized me it went tearing
through the water. | could feel it bound
forward at each stroke of its tail. Had il
not been for my copper helmet my head
would have been torn off by the rush
through the water. | was still perfectly
all. There was only feeling of numbness.
| wondered how long before those teeth
would crunch through, and whether they
would strike first into my back or my
breast. Then l thought of Maggie and the
baby and wondered who would take care of
them, and if she would ever know what
had become of me- All these thoughts
passed through my brain in an instant, but
in that time the connecting air tube had
been snapped and my head seemed ready
to burst with pressure, while the monsters
teeth kept crunching and grinding upon
my harness. Then | felt the cold water
begin to pour in and heard the bubble, bub-
BILE, bubble, as the air escaped into the
creatures mouth. | began to hear the great
guns, and TO see fireworks and rainbows
and sunshine and all kinds of pretty things,
then | thought l was floating away on
rosy summer cloud, dreaming to the sound
of sweet music. Then all became blank.
The shark might have eaten me at his leiS-
ure and would have never been the wiser.
Imagine my astonishment, then, when
opened my eyes on this boat and saw you
fellows around me. Yes, sir, | thought
was dead and ate up sure" Alfetto was
found by his comrades few minutes after
the swapping of the line. He was picked
up insensible, with several holes punched
in the metallic part of his diving suit
Household Words.