210 
SOUTH SEA 
reflection we found ourselves in close contact with them, 
and their glistening fangs were within a few feet of us, 
while their growling was awfully fierce and loud. Still 
nearer they came ; no stop was made, although they saw 
us directly in their front. But just as the monsters 
were about to drive us into the sea, just as their snap- 
ping jaws were in the act of seizing one of our compa- 
nions, Jack Palmer, who was in our van, commenced a 
furious attack upon them with a club, a weapon with 
which we were all supplied, and the New Zealander, to 
whom the above name was given by our crew, dealt 
his blows around both thick and heavy, which proved 
the signal for a general attack ; we all followed his 
example, and in a few minutes twenty of these marine 
beasts, which only just before had threatened to destroy 
the whole of us, were to be seen rolling and sliding 
down the rocks in a stunned or half insensible state. 
But although we had succeeded in rendering them 
harmless w T ith respect to their jaws, they still continued 
to descend upon us in consequence of the convulsive 
movements of their fins continuing to act upon the 
craggy points in such a manner as to favour the weight 
of their bodies slipping down an inclined beach, which 
was exceedingly slippery from their constant j>assage to 
and fro over it. We were obliged to climb over the 
bodies of the conquered as they came rolling upon us, 
to finish the victory which we had commenced so glo- 
riously, and as the upper ones descended they met with 
the same fate as their companions. But while we were 
congratulating ourselves upon the nature of our escape, 
