THE TERRIBLE. 



force with which he was dragged through the 

 water. 



On first opening his eyes it appeared as if a 

 stream of fire was passing before them; but, as he 

 descended, it grew dark, and he felt a terrible 

 pressure on his brain, and there was a roaring as 

 of thunder in his ears. Yet he still remained con- 

 scious, and still made vain efforts to reach the 

 knife that was in his belt. At length, as he felt 

 his strength failing, and his brain reeling, the line 

 for an instant slackened by the whale's pausing in 

 its descent; he reached and drew his knife; the 

 line again became tight, but the edge of the keen 

 blade was across it, and in an instant he was 

 freed. From this moment he remembered nothing, 

 until he awoke to light and life and agonising 

 pain, in his bed. 



Ferhaps the reader is familiar with a dreadful 

 example of the voracity of the great white shark. 

 About thirty natives of the Society Islands were 

 proceeding from isle to isle in one of their large 

 double canoes. A storm coming on, the lashings 

 of the two canoes were torn apart by the violence 

 of the sea, and they were separated. Their depth 

 and narrowness rendered them incapable of float- 

 ing upright when single; and, though the crew 

 strove hard to keep them on an even keel by 

 balancing the weight, they were every moment 

 capsized. In these circumstances, they endeav- 

 oured to form a raft of the loose spars and beams, 

 the boards and paddles, which they could get at, 

 hoping to drift ashore thereon. From their num- 

 bers, however, compared with the small size of the 

 raft, the latter was pressed so deep, that the 

 waves washed above their knees. At length they 

 saw the horrid sharks begin to collect around 

 them, which soon grew so bold as to seize one of 

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