Thrilling Stories of the Ocean

Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean

Project Gutenberg's Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean, by Marmaduke
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Title: Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean From Authentic Accounts Of
Modern Voyagers And Travellers; Designed For The Entertainment
And Instruction Of Young People
Author: Marmaduke Park
Release Date: October 6, 2004 [EBook #13604]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
THRILLING STORIES OF THE OCEAN ***

Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Juliet Sutherland. The scans made
available through the generosity of the Internet Archive Children's
Library.

[Illustration: THE WHITE SHARK.]

THRILLING
STORIES OF THE OCEAN.
FROM AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS OF MODERN
VOYAGERS AND TRAVELLERS;
DESIGNED FOR THE

ENTERTAINMENT AND INSTRUCTION
OF
YOUNG PEOPLE.
BY MARMADUKE PARK.
With Numerous Illustrations.
PHILADELPHIA:
C.G. HENDERSON & CO.,
NO. 164 CHESTNUT STREET.
1852.
[Illustration: THE WHITE SHARK]

STORIES OF THE OCEAN.

VOLNEY BECKNER.
The white sharks are the dread of sailors in all hot climates, for they
constantly attend vessels in expectation of anything which may be
thrown overboard. A shark will thus sometimes traverse the ocean in
company with a ship for several hundred leagues. Woe to the poor
mariner who may chance to fall overboard while this sea-monster is
present.
Some species of sharks grow to an enormous size, often weighing from
one to four thousand pounds each. The skin of the shark is rough, and is
used for polishing wood, ivory, &c.; that of one species is
manufactured into an article called _agreen_: spectacle-cases are made
of it. The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of
wedge-shaped teeth, which are notched like a saw: when the animal is
at rest they are flat in his mouth, but when about to seize his prey they
are erected by a set of muscles which join them to the jaw. His mouth is
so situated under the head that he is obliged to turn himself on one side
before he can grasp any thing with those enormous jaws.
I will now give you an account of the death of a very brave little boy,
who was killed by a shark. He was an Irish boy; his name was Volney
Beckner, the son of a poor fisherman. His father, having always
intended Volney for a seafaring life, took great pains to teach him such
things as it is useful for a sailor to know, and tried to make him brave
and hardy; he taught him to swim when a mere baby.
[Illustration: VOLNEY BECKNER'S FIRST VOYAGE.]

Volney was only nine years old when he first went to sea in a merchant
ship; the same vessel in which his father sometimes sailed. Here he
worked hard and fared hard, but this gave him no uneasiness; his frame
was robust, he never took cold, he knew not what fear was.
[Illustration: VOLNEY BECKNER AT SEA.]
In the most boisterous weather, when the rain fell in torrents, and the
wind howled around the ship, the little Irish boy would fearlessly and
cheerfully climb the stays and sailyards, mount the topmast, or perform
any other duty required of him. At twelve years old the captain
promoted the clever, good tempered, and trustworthy boy; spoke well
of him before the whole crew, and doubled his pay.
Volney was very sensible to his praises. His messmates loved him for
his generous nature, and because he had often shown himself ready to
brave danger in order to assist them; but an occasion soon arrived in
which he had an opportunity of performing one of the most truly heroic
deeds on record.
The vessel in which Volney and his father sailed was bound to Port au
Prince, in St. Domingo. A little girl, the daughter of one of the
passengers, having slipped away from her nurse, ran on deck to amuse
herself. While gazing on the expanse of water, the heaving of the vessel
made her dizzy, and she fell overboard.
Volney's father saw the accident, darted after her, and quickly caught
her by the dress; but while with one hand he swam to reach the ship,
and with the other held the child, he saw a shark advancing towards
them. He called aloud for help; there was no time to lose, yet none
dared to afford him any. No one, did I say? Yes, little Volney,
prompted by filial love, ventured on a deed which strong men dared not
attempt.
Armed with a broad, sharp sabre, he threw himself into the sea, then
diving like a fish under the shark,