1-105 (Text)

File contents

WARNING
Voracious Sharks in Port Jackson.
Sydney, January 12th., 1807.
The presence of voracious and monstrous sharks cruising in the waters of Port Jackson should be only too well-known to parents of thoughtless children and those that indulge in acquatic pursuits to require further warning; but such is the case.
Yesterday, a man swimming in Cockle Bay was attacked by a shark, which severely wounded him on the wrist. His account of the circumstance states his having seen the voracious animal advancing towards him, but was unfortunately too far beyond his depth to enable him to regain the shore in time to avoid the danger, the very consideration of being exposed to which, almost deprived him of all power of avoiding it.
The shark quickly gained upon him, and an immediate painful death seemed unavoidable. He soon found himself in the pursuer's grasp, but when seized upon, he gave a hideous roar, excited equally by pain and terror; when the shark forsaking his hold for a moment, afforded him an instant's respite, which brought him within the reach of safety.
Previous cases that can be recalled shew that even boating parties are not immune from the risk of a dreadful demise.
On October 11th., 1805, some people who were at work in North Harbour were suddenly surprised by the shouts of terrible distress vociferated by a native, whom they observed to be paddling for the shore with every exertion of which the human frame can be conceived capable.
The author of his terrors was a prodigious shark, which escorted him with voracious attention, and had once struck the little wretched vehicle that scarcely separated him from his apparently devoted prey. The poor fellow had been successful in collecting a little pile of fish; and these he, one by one administered to the appetite of his pursuer, by which happy artifice he reached the shore at the very instant that his whole stock was expended.
He appeared thoroughly sensible of his obligation to the providence that had preserved him, and declared in amazement, that ten yards further, he must have sacrificed himself.
In February, 1804, an angling party consisting of three men, one of whom had a young daughter in the boat, which was moored off George's Head above 150 yards from the shore, were surprised with a visit from a shark of such enormous size as to be mistaken for the head of a sunken rock, whose summit rose nearly to the surface of the water.
But terror and trepidation were aroused when the voracious monster, whose bulk was probably magnified by fear appeared close alongside the little boat, and eagerly seizing the baited hooks, plunged and darted with a strength and velocity that threatened momentarily to dislodge the tremblers, who had no other expectation than to be hurled out to the mercy of the furious assailant.
The formidable creature at length seized the killick rope within his ponderous jaws, and forced the bow down even with, if not below the water's edge, but happily the line snapped, the boat recoiled, and for several seconds continued to vibrate, as if conscious of the threatened danger.
The shark was however seen no more, and this circumstance which was far from being unwelcome or unpleasant, was attributed to, by one of the survivors, its having swallowed the iron 56 lb. weight by which the boat was moored, and which the acquatic spoiler required time to digest.