ing downpour stinging on the bare brown backs of the
shivering fishermen; and lastly a black shadow, lowering above a
foam-flecked sea, driving quickly shorewards. Then came the sun, anxious
to show its power after its temporary defeat. It beat pitilessly on the
bare bodies of the men huddled together on the rocking keel of the boat.
First it warmed them pleasantly, and then it scorched and flayed them,
aided as it was by the fierce reflection thrown back from the salt
waters. For a day and a night they suffered all the agonies of exposure
in the tropics. Burning heat by day, chill airs at night, stiffening the
uncovered limbs of the fishermen, who now half mad with hunger, thirst,
and exhaustion, watched with a horrid fascination the great fins, which
every now and then showed above the surface of the waters, and told them
only too plainly that the sharks expected soon to get a meal very much
to their liking.

On the second day Che' Leh, the owner of the boat, urged his fellows to
attempt to right her by a plan which he explained to them, but at first
the fear of the sharks held them motionless. At length hunger and thirst
aiding Che' Leh's persuasions, they dropped off the boat, making a great
splashing to scare the sharks, and after hours of cruel toil, for which
their exhausted condition fitted them but ill, they succeeded in
loosening the mast, and releasing the palm-leaf sail. Long pauses were
necessary at frequent intervals, for the men were very weak. At last the
sail floated upwards under the boat, and by a great effort the castaways
succeeded in spreading it taut, so that the boat was half supported by
it. Then, all pushing from one side, gaining such a foothold as the sail
afforded them, they succeeded, after many straining efforts, in righting
her. Slowly and painfully they baled her out, and then lay for many
hours too inert to move.

Late on the third day they reached the shore, but they had been carried
many miles down the coast to a part where they were unknown. The eight
naked men presented themselves at a village and asked for food and
shelter, but the people feared that they were fugitives from some
_Raja's_ wrath, and many hours elapsed before they received the aid of
which they stood so sorely in need.

The beliefs and superstitions of the Fisher Folk would fill many
volumes. They believe in all manner of devils and local sprites. They
fear greatly the demons that preside over animals, and will no