ENCOUNTER WITH A SHARK.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1953, 8 April 1875, Page 3

ENCOUNTER WITH A SHARK.

Fatal as tbe white shark is to. the ijnarmed, those who cany weapons of defence very frequently cope with and master him; even women, undaunted by their teeth, have been known to stab and destroy them in their bath. One day, a little boy about eight years old happened ta be washed '-ffrora a catamaran which was managed by his father, who was thus early initiating him into the hardships of the lifewEichhe intended him to pursue; and before ho could be rescued from the turbulent waters, a shark draw, him underhandlidw;as jseeri: nomora. The father lost not a moment, but calmly rose, and placing between his teeth a largelknife which; Hfe carried sheathed in his summer-band,: plunged beneath the lashing wares. He disappeared for some time, but after a while was occasionally seen to rise, and then dive under the billows, as if actually engaged with his formidable foe. After a while the white foam was visibly tinged with blood, which was viewed with a sensation of horror by those who could only surmise what was going on under the water. The man was again seen to rise and disappear, so that the work of death, was evidently not yet complete. After some further time had elapsed, to the astonishment of all who were assembled on the beach (for a considerable crowd had now collected) the boily of a huge shark was seen for a few minutes above the white spray, which it completely crimsoned, and then disappeared. An %stant after, the man rose above -ft&e surf and made for the shore. He f Itemed nearly exhaus'ed, but had not a lingle mark on his body, which bore no evidence whatever of the perilous conflict in which he had been so recently engaged. He had scarcely landed, when an immense shairk was cast upon the beach by the billows. It was quite dead, and was immediately dragged by the assembled natives beyond the reach of the surf. As soon as the shark was drawn to a place of security, it was opened, and the liead and limbs of the boy taken from his stomach. The body was completely dismembered, and the head severed from the body, but none of the parts were mutilated. <— Popular Natural History,,