BITTEN BY A SHARK.

A SHOCKING OCCURRENCE.

A melancholy accident} occurred last Saturday, afternoon in our harbour, says thg "Samoa Times" of the 16th ult. One of the of the German war. ship Sperber, named Hermann Schwebke § while receiving a swimming lesson alongside the ship, waa attacked by a shark. Nob being a good swimmer,/ the man had a line fastened round his waist. The shark first got hold of the man's right foot. He cried out, and the two mates who were acting as swim* ming instructors, assisted by the officer on duty, immediately pulled the line to haul him in; They plainly saw the shark swimming under Schwebke, who managed to get loose, leaving part of his toot with the shark. He just! managed to reach the lower step of the gangway when the shark jumped out of the water and got the poor fellow again and tore away large pieces of flesh from his hip* and down his legs. . , He was hauled on board, and the ship'a surgeon, Dr. Lotch, took charge of the frightfully . wounded man. His righjb foob showed 3 wounds across the instep, jthe flesh and sinews being torn away to the bone; and also across the , sole of the foot; another above the ankle, and one on the thigh, the bone in each case being laid bare; and the flesh on the two hips is completely gone. Schwebke did nob lose consciousness, although he was bleeding profusely. He complained of suffering great pain. The splinters of bone were removed; the veins closed ; the flesh and ekia sewn up, and all the wounds well dressed with antiseptic bandages. Dr. Funk assisted the ship s surgeon. Both Imedical men entertained at first but little hope of his recovery ; but after a fresh bandaging nexfc day, they had more hopes of the poor sufferer's chances. 1 This ie the firsb case in the memory oj even tho oldest of our residents that a sailor has been attacked in our harbour, me crews of the men-of-war of all nations coming to our waters have always, withoub any thought of danger, been in the habib of bathing alongside [their ships. This accident will certainly pub a stop to the practice. The bamoans declared the shark in question to be nob of the common species of shark, called in batnoan malic, which abound in great numbers in our harbour, bufc of an especially ferocious, man-eating kind known as matam/a, which they never suspected ci coming into the harbour. F When after the accident, the crew of thd bperber tried to catch theehark.it bit att once at the baib thrown to it. bate was unfortunately lost again, the shark' hook giving way ln the afctfl J i j*! ,1 lb aboard whiJ e alive. Ifc would have been of considerable interest t<2 have ascertained the species of the shark, By eye-witnesses its length, was estimated