And, from the partners of that cruel trade
Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons,
Demands his share of prey, demands themselves."
A dreadful instance of the voracity of these formidable animals occurred a few years ago among the Society Islands. Upwards of thirty natives were passing from one island to another, in a large double canoe, which consists of two canoes fastened together, side by side, by strong horizontal beams, lashed to the gunwales by cordage. Being overtaken by a storm, the canoes were torn apart, and were incapable, singly, of floating upright. In vain the crew attempted to balance them, they were every moment overturned. Their only resource was to form a hasty raft of such loose boards and spars as were in the craft, on which they hoped to drift ashore. But it happened, from the small size of their raft, and their aggregated weight, that they were so deep in the water, that the waves washed above their knees. Tossed about thus, they soon became exhausted with hunger and fatigue; when the Sharks began to collect around them, and soon had the boldness to seize one and another from the raft, who being destitute of any weapon of defence, became an easy prey. The number and audacity of these monsters every moment increased, and the forlorn wretches were one by one torn off, until, but two or three remaining, the raft at length, lightened of its load, rose to the surface, and placed the survivors beyond the reach of their terrible assailants. The tide at length bore them to one of the islands, a melancholy remnant, to tell the sad fate of their companions.
