Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-07-05
A FATEFUL VOYAGE.

A FAITHFUL VOYAGE.
In the year 1865 signcd papers with
Captain Dciano, OF The brig Josephine,
for voyage fro.:i Sidney 20 Auckland
and return She WAS ~ English craft,
and was loaded with general cargo, and
had made many voyages acfosS Tie New
Hcalnnd Sea. The crew consisted of
Captain, ui:;ic, cook and fonr mun before
The masi, and every one ;)I the cook was
white anG spoke English was then
cigh;eea years old and i,is: ou, of my
apprenticeship. siic;l;l have had !,
second mates berth, h;:i In Josephine
carried no such Office. The Captain
Stood his own watch. a.i,! :hrrc were oc-
casions whcn the mate hal a. so aloft
with the n.en. Captain D..lano wa. =
g0a' sailor and GOOD hearted mnn. and
there WIS rnthin,; i'll ~ grab OF t,.c dis
cipiinr to And fault WITH. We icii Sid
ney one mo:,;fg wi.h y sair wind for the
Observation-Disclosures Yoyasc and had :,ny
one predicted the liice; adventures and
tic tragedies which we're 10 hYfall us nc
wonld have been looked on rs - unaiic.
portion OF tic story :l,n going to
linn papers Jwcnty wears n;go. bu. only
portion, an.i that full ri errors. Ii was
only IL month ago t;,at was asked 10
scnd my affidavit; II CERTAIN facts to n
lawyer Mt Melbourne, and 50 :lr whole
series OF adventures is fresh in nly mem
DRY.
For the iirs! three days ont We had fair
winds and smooth sea, and the brig
, made lin" progress. Al midnight on the
> third night the wind shifted, blew up Il
.squall which lasted half an hour, and then
died away rs flat us yen please. We were
left rolling on the wares 10: IN hour or
two, but when daylight came the surface
OF the sea MAS without a ripple, while
there was not the sli"htas. breath OF air
moving above. The ss:n CAME mp like IL
ball of lire, and the greenc.'; hand aboard
knew that we were in for Il calm IT was
terrible hot by midiorcnoon, and orr
humane Captain ordered III! hands to
knock or and make themselves rs com
Portable us possible. By noon tine brig
was like an oven. The decks were so ho;
that even the cook with his tough fcct
dared not walk them unShol Down in
the fo'castic in was sitting. bui rs it was
IL.
1t was about noon when tie cook, who
had gone 10 the side ~ throw over some
Stops, called ont 10 ,is Ia cone and see
the largest shark which human eyes ever
behcld. crawied up from the fo'castic,
always curious to see on o: the monsters
close Mt hand, but e2pect;n. that the cook
had greatly exaggerated, and when
looked over ill. rail / WAS astOnishrl.
There lay shovcl-nosci shark of such
dimensions tha. | dared not crcii; my
own cyesight He lay parallel and not
over ten fee! away, and when, after Il
View minutes, Captain and ail hands hal
reused up to look al The Fellow, we got
his exact length by tap. line along the
deck. He WAS thirty two AMI onc-haif
feet long, with jaws capable of cutting n
bullock in two ut one snap. The only
sign of life he gave Was Il slight move
ment of the eye HOW and then. he iay
with his great tlorsai lin baking in the
hot sun, and so near that We could see
every little detail. All agreed that he
was the largest stari; any one had ever
seen, although all OF us lad sailed in the
warm seas, and some OF the men had
turned away when the COOK climbed upon
the rail and said he woull stop lille
for game with the big fellow. He
meant by that that he would have a talk
with him. have met numbers of ships
cooks who claimed to have 'smat,c up''
with sharks and were not afraid OF being
hurt by them. The cook sat Just oppo-
site the sharks middle, and he had be-
gun a sort of chant, when | passed for
ward intending to find missile, and
heave it over and scare the monster away.
hadtust found an old bit of iron and
got back to the rail when there was n
splash and yell. The cook was in the
water through some careless move of his.
had my eye on the shark, and his move
ments were like lightning. With one
flirt of his tail he Slowed himself around,
his great jaws opened, and was looking
right down upon him rs he took the cook
in clear to the middle and bit him in two
so slick and clean that the upper part of
the body rolled away from the shark S
nose and remained on the surface directly
below me. After half a minute it began
slowly to sink, but was not yet out of
sight when l saw the Shark seize it. As
he grabbed it he rushed away and We
saw him no more.
The tragedy upset lis in more ways than
one. Here we were, left without cook
at the beginning of the voyage, and there
was something in his taking off which
aroused the superstition of the hands for
ward. ] think the Captain felt it as much