116 ISLES OF StlMMER. 



exceedingly attractive, esjDecially ■when hungry, we heard, of only 

 a single instance in which any one of these usually voracious 

 monsters has dined ujion a negro, and the report in that case is 

 not very well authenticated. 



While in Florida, a gentleman having a plantation upon the 

 St. John's, mentioned to us that he could not give credit to all 

 the claims that had been made and published concerning the 

 Bahamas, and upon being pressed to state particularly what 

 claims he considered unfounded, he replied — " "Well, take for 

 instance the Bahama sharks; it is affirmed that they never injure 

 people. Now I can't believe that story. Why, last summer, at 



the mouth of the St. John's, Mr. and his family left their 



cottage to bathe in the river. His wife entered the water first, 

 and while she was wading out, in the presence of her husband 

 and children, she uttered one loud scream of pain and terror and 

 disappeared. Her body was afterwards recovered, minus one 

 arm. A shark had seized her by the arm, drawn her under 

 water, and bitten her arm off. I do not believe that over in 

 ]S"assau where sharks are plenty, they are so different from ours." 



It is proverbial that every story has more than one side — and 

 we found it so in this case. Upon inquir}', we ascertained from 

 some friends of ours who own a cottage at the mouth of the St. 

 John's, that the lady in question, in company with another lady, 

 went out upon a sand bar, and remained there about an hour; 

 that in the mean time the tide rose, increased the depth of the 

 water, and the force of its current between them and the shore; 

 that in attempting to return, one lady got into a hole beyond 

 her depth; that her companion, in endeavoring to rescue her, 

 also got into deep water; that one was in consequence drowned, 

 while the other floated away quite a long distance, upon the sur- 

 face of the water, but was rescued at last unharmed, by a gentle- 

 man who went in a boat to her relief, passing on his way through 



