176 LEAVE MILFOilD HAVEN BAY. 



the intense strain thrown upon them by the ship's 

 swinging. Another day all were interested by the 

 capture of a female shark, from whose body were 

 taken seventeen small sharks. These creatures were 

 put in the deck tub, where they swam around with 

 surprising celerity. They were each about six inches 

 long, without teeth, but betraying their origin by 

 snapping at anything they could reach with their 

 toothless gums. 



I cannot take leave of Milford Haven Bay without 

 stating my conviction of its superiority to any port 

 that I had previously visited, with the exception of 

 Balli. This was the opinion of all, and often after- 

 w^ards, when we were on the eve of making an insig- 

 nificant port on the Australian cx)ast, have I heard it 

 said, "I wish we were going ashore in Milford 

 Haven ; because there you can see something." You 

 can procure no liquor there, whilst here nothing new 

 is to be seen, and rum stares you in the face at every 

 footstep. 



On the 2d of June the Isabella hove up her anchor 

 and stood out of the bay. She soon lost the breeze, 

 and was endangered by her proximity to some reefs 

 at the mouth ; but a few hours subsequently she was 

 enabled to resume her course. "We, and the rest of 

 the shipping, taking advantage of the same breeze, 

 squared our yards, and were soon merrily bowling 

 out to sea, far from the abode of sand flies, and 

 mosquitoes, wdiich had no mercy on us whilst in the 

 bay. 



