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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 454, 19 January 1869, Page 2

During the past few days numbers of people have been enjoying the healthful pleasure of sea-bathing, at the [river mouth and along the beach. It would be a pity to interfere with the health and pleasure which might be derived from the practice at the present warm season, but it is really necessary to caution "bathers agaiast the risk they run from the attacks of sharks, and to insist upon them exercising watchfulness even in shallow water. It U usually believed that sharks will not venture into shallow water or to the landward of the surf, but yesterday there was soruo evidence that this is a delusion. MiBishop, stationer, Gladstone-street, and Mr A. Reid, of this office, went to bathe early in the morniag. They went into the sea nearly at the end of Molosworth-street, and, as there had been some casual conversation about sharks, they chose a spot where the surf seemed heaviest, believing that there, at least, none could come. Their previous practice had been to go into the smooth, as otherwise the most agreeable. Mr Reid had gone out some distance several times, and was out again, inviting his companion to join him, with such encouraging exclamations as "glorious," "jolly," and so on. Suddenly he saw what very materially diminished his enthusiasm, and rather interfered with his powers of speech and the free use of his limbs. He was rising on the top of a blind wave, with his faje seaward, and was mentally contemplating a point which he thought of making the destination of his last swim—as it really might have been when he saw, at the very spot, the figure of a large shark passing through the water, straight towards him, and at an alarming pace. It was first seen between the two rollers immediately beyond that on which he was swimming, and as the waves broke, it became more palpable passing through the surf. The swimmer rounded very rapidly.you maybesure j and, extremely interestmgaatheobjectbehindhim,nodoubt, was at the time, he never once coi« descended to look again in the same-direction.

Ho spoke'Uot a word. In fact lie could not havedoneso, if he had tried. He bas a deficient recollection also of what he did or did not do in other-respects, and disclaims'any knowledge of whether he came onshore on his head, his feet, or it la shark. It was ebb-tide and the water was for a considerable distance 'favorable rather for walking than swimming, but the water seemed suddenly to acquire an extraordinary amount of gravity. The swimmer's face had previously done the same, and his feet threatened to follow the example of his face to such an extent tliat it became very difficult to move them at all. There was extreme acuteness of the senses of sight and hearing. He remombers seeing stars in the sky, although it was broad daylight—there were stars all round him, in fact. What he heard was, no doubt, an incentive I to his exertions, but it was hot altogether reassuring. Mr Bishop appealed chiefly to his sense of hearing by exclaiming " Come on; come on for Heaven's sake. He is close up to you." It was, no doubt, very convenient-to have Mr Bishop in a position in whieh'he could observe the Rapidly reducing distance between his friend and the shark, but his urgent appeals, and his fantastic actions, had the unfortunate effect of rather confirming the condition of " funk " in which his friend already was. Mr Bishop had also seen the shark somewhat early, but was close in shore, and had not much to do to reach sufficiently shallow water. And it required to be shallow, for the'ugly thing came in for a considerable distance where' the water was not more than knee-deep, and, then making a sudden turn, swept out to sea following some smaller fish, but it certainly seemed to have a direct design of associating man with fish in its morning meal, and in a few more seconds would, probably have accomplished the amalgamation. Itcertairily made for the bathers " as if it meant it/' and it was only by a distance of a few feet, added to the active use of their own feet, that they avoided any participation in the execution of its disgusting intentions. The human survivor of this little bit of excitement found his appetite for breakfast considerably subdued, although shaking nerves and hastily swallowed salt-water hadacted admirably as a preparatory vomit. With every possible erlihle that could be offered the subject shark seemed tobecoine associated. Sharks, indeed, appeared to be swimming about in the air in perfect shoals, and for some time afterwards. There could be no mistake that the original was really a shark, and no other fish; and, with the keen recollection he has of his sensations, we feel justified in recommending, for general adoption, Mr Reid's resolution not to go swimming in the surf again without considerable caution, and not to inform his friends that the sea is "jolly" and "glorious" until he is satisfied that he is a safe distance from sharks. It is usually recommended to sea bathers to go into the water quickly. However beneficial this may be, we have Mr Reid's assurance that to come out of the water with such a remarkable degree of quickness as that which he acquired yesterday is by no means to be recommended. Notice is given that, from and after the first day of April next (April Ist, 1869), the harbor establishment at Mokihinui will be discontinued, and the harbor light at present exhibited there will be extinguished. Such is the order of the Post Master General, in whose name all such orders are now made. By it only a very paltry saving will be effected, while the disadvantages will be considerable, small though the trade of the place may be. An adjourned inquest on the late fire at Wanganui has been held. A number of witnesses were examined, including Mr C. H. Chavannes, son of the proprietor of the Rutland Hotel, Sergeant Reid, Messrs M'Coome, Morrow, and others. Suspicion seemed to point at a man named Dare, who had used threatening language towards Mr Chavannes, and prophesied his ruin within three months, but nothing was elkited connecting him in any way with the origin of the fire. Another breach of promise case is said to have arisen in Auckland, in which the defendant is the proprietor of a golden claim, and the plaintiff is member of a widely extended English family, namely, the Smiths. In this case, as in the case of Knox v. Hunt, the damages are laid at £SOOO. Lake Wakatip, according to the Mail of the 24th inst., in consequence of warm weather and rains, had risen to an alarming height, and threatens to flood the buildings at the rear of Rees street, Queenstown. The Greymouth Annual Race meeting will be held on Wednesday, the 17th of March— St Patrick's Day. The Canterbury races were run last week. The following were the results :—Tuesday, January 12—Criterion Stakes : Slander, 1 ; Blackboy, 2. Wednesday, January 13—The Derby: Manuka, 1 ; Southern Chief, 2. Club Handicap : Mainsail, 1 ; Blackboy, 2. Tyro Stakes: Slander, 1; Backbiter, 2. Stand Handicap: Star of the South, 1; Miss King, 2. Hurdle Race: Don Pedro, 1Trump, 2. Thursday, January 14—The Plate: Manuka, 1; Knottingley, 2. Railway Stakes: Slander, 1; Blackboy, 2. Metropolitan Stakes: Flying Jib, 1; Magenta, 2. Sir George Grey and his niece Miss Matthews arrived at Plymouth on October 7th, in the Royal mail steamer Doi.ro. His Excellency the Governor, Sir G. P. Bowen, has been enthusiastically received at Lyttelton and Christchurch, He does not intend at present to visit the West Coast. Last week, says the Grey River Argus, as a storekeeper was proceeding up the river on the Cobden side, he had the misfortune to drop from his saddle-bag a bundle of notes amounting to .£7OO. A reward of £IOO is offered for the recovery of the moneys and it is stated that the numbers of the notes are known. A monster meeting has been held at Hoki" tika, " to discuss fully the action taken in the County Council within the past few

days"— the action, in fact, regarding th e appointment of a chairman. A correspondent writes:—" Over 600 people attended the Duke of Edinburgh Theatre lait night to expreas their abhorrence of the proceedings which werecarried on in the Couneil'Chaniber the night before. Various resolutions were put and carried. In one instance the Chairman said there were 600 to 1— another illustration of 600 (£600) to one, when a wag proposed that the individual one should be put in a glass ense. Mr Rees, who, it is said, is 'totally to blame, has made a great mess of it, and for his sake Mr Hoos ought to resign." The Waipara will take an extra mail to catch the Gothenburg at Greymouth to-mor-row. The chief portion of the Westport mail was despatched yesterday morning overland to Greymouth. A handsomely illuminated testimonal, contained in a neat box of colonial woods, is to be presented at Greymouth to Mr Kynnersley on the arrival of the Gothenburg, bj which vessel 'he is expected on his way to Melbourne. We learn from Hokitika that Dr Mourilyan, who was committed for aianslaughter, was tried before the Supreme Court, and acquitted. The important case of Lewis, for conspiring to defraud creditors, wus to follow. John Lewis, one of the parties implicated, had left for Melbourne.