j 6¿ t h e s t r a i t o f s u n d a .
an object of small importance, when compared with the
health, the safety, and the comfort, of a ship's company.
In no other part of the world do I recollect to have observed
such shoals of sharks as are constantly prowling near
the shore at Anjerie, attracted no doubt by the offals that
float down the river or are thrown upon the beach. When
on board the Hindostán, at this anchorage, I hooked one of
these voracious animals from the stern gallery, in doing
which, however, I had a very narrow escape from being
dragged by it into the sea. No sooner did the fish feel the
hook in its jaw than, plunging towards the bottom, he drew
the line to its full-stretch, which, being entangled in the railing
of the gallery, swept away at once a great part of the
balustrade. In the rapidity with which the rope ran out, a
eoil of it got round my arm, but just as I was forced among
the wreck, the shark, by darting back to the surface, slackened
the rope sufficiently to enable me to disengage my arm
and to get clear. Greatly as I was alarmed at this accident,
a poor Javanese appeared to be still more so, who happened
at that moment to be astern of the ship, paddling his canoe
with a load of fruit and vegetables. His apprehension lest
the wounded shark, in rolling and plunging and lashing the
water with its fins and tail, should overturn his little skiff,
which was not much larger than the animal itself, his exertions
to get out of its reach, and the marks of terror that
were visible on his countenance, struck our fellow traveller,
Alexander, so forcibly that, though of momentary duration,
he caught with his pencil a spirited sketch; which, having