VORACITY OF SHARKS. 
19 
an end, the man made for the shore, as already 
stated, and shortly after the huge carcass was cast 
upon the beach. 
Before we left Madras, another event occurred, 
which may not be considered unworthy of a place in 
these pages. A very spirited horse of high breed, 
and greatly valued by its owner, who was about to 
proceed with it to the opposite coast, resisted every 
attempt to get it into the Massoolah boat so ef- 
fectually, that there was no alternative but to tow 
it through the surf, by attaching it to the stern, or 
to leave it behind. The creature took to the water 
willingly, gallantly stemming the billows. Its head 
was kept above them by the syce,* who held the 
rope by which it was attached to the boat’s stern ; 
but what was the man’s astonishment, when they 
got alongside the vessel, and were about to hoist 
the noble animal upon deck, to find that the sharks 
had literally torn out its entrails ! The agitation of 
the water prevented a discovery of the mischief until 
they came to get the horse on board. 
In order to afford some further idea of the vora- 
ciousness of these creatures, I will state a circumstance 
which occurred to a lady during her passage from 
England to Bombay. She was at work in her cabin, 
sewing some riband upon a pair of shoes, when a 
sudden lurch of the ship overturned her work-table, 
and all that was on it was precipitated through the 
port into the sea. On the following day a huge 
* An Indian groom. 
