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372 A V O Y A G E OF D I S C O V E R Y
1 ■ M5- ifland a young hog, in very excellent condition, was feen by him and January. J . r u \ . 1 —•v — } fome of his party, but on his difeovering our people he haftily retreated
into the thicket. Although at no very great diftance from this ifland
we had feen fuch numbers of turtle, it was Angularly remarkable that
there was not the moft diftant fign of their reforting to thefe thores,
which’abounded with white and brown rats, and vaft numbers of land
crabs. All the birds of the oceanic tribe, common to the tropical regions;
repaired hither in great flocks, and were by no means bad eating.
Befide thefe were feen hawks, a fpecies of brown and white herons,
■ -rails,'a kind of blackbird, and a few others, that chiefly inhabited the
woods'; which, with fome ducks and teal, were ■ what was obferved principally to compofe the-feathered race. A great variety and abundance
of excellently-good filh frequented - the thores; {harks alfo were
very numerous, and the moft -bold and voracious 11 had ever before
feen. Thefe affembled in the bay in large Ih'oals, conftantly- attended
n on our boats in all their motions, darting at the oars, and every thing f ! that by accident fell, or was thrown overboard. They frequently took the filh from the hooks before they could be . got clear of the
water, and what was ftill more Angular, when one of their own fpecies
ll i|J Was- fo taken, and they perceived he could no longer defend himfelf, he Was inftantly attacked, torn to pieces, and devoured by his companions;
■m -whilft yet alive;. and, notwithftanding that thefe numbers fubjefted Il ÎIÏ themfelves to be greatly annoyed by the harpoons, knivesy &c. of'our people, by which they received many deep wounds, yet even that did
not deter them from renewing the attack upon the one which was caught,
until every part of the viftim’s flelh was thus torn from its bones. On
if. this occafion we had an opportunity of obferving, that it is erroneous to fuppofe the {hark is under: the neceflity of turning on his back for the
purpofe of taking his prey, as thefe lharks moft commonly attained their n III objeft without firft turning themfelves, as has been generally believed.
The general warfare that exifts between fea-faring perfons and thefe
1 l i voracious animals, afforded at firft a fpecies of amufement to our people,
by hooking, or otherways taking one:-for the others to feaft upon,
but as this- was. attended with the ill confequence of-drawing immenfe
:
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numbers
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R O U N D T H E W O R L D .
numbers round the (hip, and as the böatfwain and one of the young gentlemen
had both nearly fallen a facrifice to this diverfion, by narrowly v---- '
éfcaping from being drawn out of the boat by an immenfely large fhark,
which they had hooked, into the midlt of at leaft a fcore of thefe voracious
animals, I thought proper to prohibit all further indulgence: in this fpecies
of entertainment ; which, independently of its being likely to be
attended1 With feriöus confequencêS, was in itfe'lf of too cruel a nature to
bè witneffed without pain. Thefe {harks appeared to be of three dif-
tinct forts ; the riioft numerous were of the ty'ger kind, thefe were beautifully
ftrèaked down their fidès'; the other forts were the brown and the
blue lharks’ ; and itwlis Angularly' remarkable, that although they all.vo-
racióüfly devbüred the twO former, yet when one of the latter was caught,
it" remained tuimolefted by the reft, and even when killed, and cut up,
its flefh was not eaten by its'companions. *
The other kinds of tithes that fell under my notice* befide thofe common
to the tropicalTeas, were two forts of bream, the large fnapper of the
Weft Indies, a fort o f rock fifh, and another kind commonly called yellow
mil ; thefe werè all Very excellent, and took the hook readily ; and to
thofe who may follow us, and ftand in need of refrelhments, they may
prove a moft definable rcfource ;‘ and there can be little doubt but that per-
fons under fuch circumftanceS wOuld: foon fall upon fome expedient, to
evade the inconvenience to which they might be liable from the extreme
vigilance of the {harks. Nor is it improbable, that on a more minute
examination, • the furface' of this little ifland may be found to produce
many articles j of refrethment ; but as we did not ftand much in need of
any, excepting the neceflarv article of water, our attention was undire&ed
to fuch inquiries, bemg wholly engrofled in ufing every pofhble means óf
difpatch in providing ourfelves with thofe few particulars with which we
could not difpenfe.
We happily flood in no great need of fearching for refrethments at any
great diftance from the thoreS of the ifland ; for, excepting that I continued
to be in ' a very feeble and debilitated ftate, there was not on
Board 'either of the veffels' a Angle individual who was not in the
higheft health imaginable. In confequence of the indifpofition under
. 0 , which