aloft to secure it, but
when half-way up the top-mast rigging, he got on to the
top-mast back stay, and slid down on deck. He was speechless
for some time after reaching the deck. At last he jerkingly
articulated that there was nothing wrong with the sail, but
that which was believed to be sail was really some ferocious
living thing. Whereupon great consternation spread; and
volunteers were asked for to go aloft, and ascertain
precisely what it was. It turned out to be an eagle, and
after considerable difficulty a rope was got round it, and
it was safely landed on deck. It so happened that shortly
after the capture was made a tremendous sea struck the
vessel, causing her to leak badly, and taking the remaining
two boats overboard. This was put down not merely as a
coincidence, but a coincidence that was sent for a purpose,
and every mind was fixed upon the steward. The wretched man
was stricken with panic. His thoughts centred on his past,
and he became an abject drivelling confessionist, emptying
himself of deeds that were awful to listen to, and had been
kept to himself for years. The voyage soon ended, and the
last I heard of him was that he was drinking himself to
death; he had never got over the conviction that the Divine
wrath was upon him.

The sight of a shark is an everyday occurrence in some
latitudes. Nothing is thought of it, and sometimes much
sport is derived in attempting a capture. But should a
vessel be dogged for a succession of days by a shark, or (as
very frequently happens) by a shoal of them, gloom begins to
spread, imaginations begin to widen; whisperings and close
consultations for evil purposes take place; and soon there
has developed an epidemic of melancholia. Conjecture is
rife. The explanation of it all is that these sharks have
designs on human flesh, or they would not follow with such
tenacity. There is much speculation as to how the
unfortunate men are to be delivered into the grip of their
ferocity, and whether the feast will involve the sacrifice
of one or all of them. The more dismal the weather, the more
impressive the danger becomes. Perchance a man falls
overboard, or an accident occurs, no matter which; it is at
once attributed to the proximity of the sharks. "They would
never follow a vessel if they did not know they were to be
rewarded by some tasty recompense." Indeed they were
believed to have supernatural instincts as well as
gluttonous intentions, which filled the sai