Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-10-27
DESET BY PIRATES.

"'l'he Singapore Trading Comany,
owning half u 60 en- brigs and schooncrs
which voyage among the islands of the
Indian Ocean. and traffic for pepper,
spices, cinnamon. hecSwav, figs, rare
woods. medicinal roots and herbs, etc.
On one OCCASION this was twenty years
ago-this company received an order
from Sydney. Australia. for great
quantity of sharks brains. 1t seemed
that some eminent q"ack doctor in the
colony had made the discovery that
sharks brains WIS tic great panacea the
medical world had been looking Tor to
cure all diseases. They were dried and
then pulvcrizcd and mixed wilha certain
root. and. as silly rs it may look to
You, the people went Wild over the new
cure. l presume that the quack had
corner OIL the ROOT part OF the cure,
but he could not corner the other por-
ton. sharks are plentiful all about
Australia, bit they could not be CAUGHT
fast enough to supp y the demand. The
price during the he; ght of the excitement
was 81 an ounce for the dried brains,
and s, al ounce for The mixture. The
craze lasted about months, by which
time the swindler had made his pile and
was ready TO skip. Then everybody
ridiculed everybody else, and the price
OF sharks brains dropped to 20 cents
per pound, at which figure the Chinese
used them for banquet dish.
When the order WAS rcceiveda at Singa-
pore was mate of small schooner
called the Little Duke, and it was plan-
ned that should be set ashore on some
of the islands TO the north of Australia
to ell it. | had voyagcd from Singapore
to Torresi Strait several times. and after
q little talk selected South Aroo Island
as the most convenient place for carry
of these islands in a group OF the New
Guinea coast. While the water from
the straits of NIalacca to those Of Torres
are really The Indian Ocean, they are
laid down On maps and chatS as differ
ent seas: Java. Flores, Banda AID Ara.
fura We had once been cast away on
the coast OF South Aroo, and had found
the waters almost alive with sharks. We
knew it 10 be unnhabitec, and about
twenty miles long by ten broad.
Our outfit was very simple. was to
have couple OF men with me, and VIC
took tent, 4 lot of shark lines. Il couple
of lances, and bedding and provisions.
For firearms We had revolverS, and dou
ble-barreled shotguns. and after Il long
and tedious voyage, during which we
called at several islands, We finally cast
anchor off South Aroo, and were safely
landed on 4 sandy beach, The schooner
was in haste to get away, and two hours
after landing us she was out of sight.
We were to DC left on the island from
fourteen to twenty days Near where NC
landed was what sailors call rip, that
is, narrow chanucl between the main
land and sand bar. This channel was
about sixty feet wide, fifteen or twenty
deep, and opcu at both eutls The sand
bar was not over four feet above high
tide, half Il mile lony, and not so much
as spear of grass grew upon it. We
didn't have to look twice TO see that this
rip was our sharking ground. y dozen
dorsal fms could he seen cutting the wa
ter, and ap.cce of salt pork flung out
resulted IN fight. in which score of
the monsters participated. We crested
our tent in the edge of the forc,t set up
our windla;s above high water, and next
morning after landing were all ready to
begin work. Cur method Of preceding
was very simple. Cur wiudass was a
roller, provided with Il handle on either
end and resting in crotchet>. One end
Of the shark lire was made fast to this
and the hook at the other was baied and
flung out. When Il shark WAS fast we
brought him in by turning the windlass.
While the two men turned stood ut the
edge of the water with Il laace and
jabbed hin as lie got near enough - .,
There may he spots where the shark
is more numerous than off the New
Guinea coas,, but doubt it. There
was no waiting about the business Of
catching them. No sooner was the
baited hook thrown in than shark
seized it and was fast. They were not
ground sharks, nor shovcl-noses, but the
genuine man-catcr, ranging from rinc to
fifteen feet in length, a..d terribly Strong
aud fierce. An ordinary man would be
snapped in two b. one of these fishes as
easily as boy bites into cracker. We
had to secure the brains and spread them
in the sun to dry, and this made it slow
work. Our catch tic first day was
seventeen. We increased this to twenty
on the second day, and for four days
mainta ned that figure. On the after
noon of tie fourth day q sad calamity
occurred. The spring at which We got
our water was about four hundred feet
inland, and we had cut path to it.
We had seen q few snakes, but they
seemed DESTROYS of avoiding us as much
as possible, and none OF us were alarmed
about them On this afternoon, as one
of my helpers went after water, he was
struck by snake lying in the tangle,
and although he was back within live
minutes. | could tell by his looks that
he had received Il deadly bite. In ten
minutes he was rolling OH the ground in
agony, and in fifteen his body began to
swell. While he had not seen the ser
pent, we had no doubt of its species. 1t
is known in the East as the collar snake,
and is found on all tie islands in the
Indian Ocean. 1t attains length OF
two feet, and has white ring or collar
about its neck. Thclc is no more
poisonous snake. In forty m nutcS from
the time the man received the bite he
was dead, and his body was terrible
sight to look at.
when we had buried our companion
in the sand, we loaded our guns with
fine shot and went snake hunting. We
killed rouad dozen of the collar snakes
between the tent and the spring, and
felt assured that the firing would rid the
neighborllood of any which had cs-
capped us. They had probably been
drawn that way by the scent OF the blood
and meat. The tragedy had upset us
both. and neither was inclined to sleep
that night. 1t was well that we were in
wakeful mood. Ever since the Indian
Sea was navigatcd by European vessels
IT,, has been more or less piracy. At
this time almost every island had its
boss wrecker, who was no better than
a