Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/180

 1'20 SuRvEy OF THE INTERTROPICAL ..?_s. heads, and if this had the desired effect, it ,y is. was a happy cir:umstance for them, for an im- mense shark .was caught in the' middle of .the night, which, from the extraordinary capacity of its mouth and maw, could have swallowed one of them with the greatest ease. On opening the animal, we fully expected to discover the limbs of some of the natives, who we assured our- selves had crossed over to our side the water; but we only found a crab, that had been so re- cently swallowed, that some of our people made no hesitation in eating it for their supper. The night passed without our being disturbed by or hearing st. any thing of the natives; but, at daylight, on look- ing at the place where they had been concealed during the last evening, a canoe, which had been observed hauled up among the bushes, was missing, and we concluded that they were dose to us; this proved to be the case, for no sooner had we cleared the point, than the natives sallied .forth from the thicket, and, running up .to their middles in the water to within thirty yards of the vessel, set up a loud shout which starfled us not a little; for, busied as we were in securing the anchor and making sail, our attention at the moment was otherwise directed; and the first intimation that we had of their vicinity was from the noise they made, which was accompanied by

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