SHARK. 
225 
himself from his enemy. The crews of the sur- 
rounding vessels saw that the combat was decided ; 
but they were ignorant which was slain, till the 
shark, exhausted by loss of blood, reached the shore, 
and along with him his conqueror; who, flushed 
with victory, redoubled his efforts, and with the aid 
of an ebbing tide dragged him on the beach. The 
story concludes with saying that he ripped up the 
bowels of the fish, obtained the severed remains of 
his friend’s body, and buried it with the trunk in the 
same grave. 
A negro, armed with a sharp knife, will some- 
times attack one of these dangerous animals, and 
generally with success. The Black is well aware 
of the shark’s inability to hurt him unless he first 
turns upon his side ; he therefore boldly ventures 
towards the creature ; and while he is preparing to 
give the fatal gripe, the negro dives beneath and 
wounds him in the belly : these blows followed up 
with dexterity, soon put an end to the combat, and 
the victor returns to the shore in triumph. It is 
probably owing to their address in avoiding the at- 
tacks of so formidable an enemy, that the South 
Sea islanders are not at all afraid of sharks. Cap- 
tain Portlock asserts that he saw five or six large 
sharks swimming about the ship at a time when 
upwards of a hundred Indians, both men and 
women, were in the water. It is singular that 
these ravenous animals, though they greedily seized 
the bait thrown to them by the sailors, never offered 
to molest the Indians ; nor did they in their turn 
Q 
VOL. II. 
