PERILS OF THE DEEP.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11976, 11 July 1906, Page 4

PERILS OF THE DEEP.

BESET BY SHAKKS. j The loss of the schooner Tahitienno rind nine of her crew, including Captain Baxter —as reported in despatches recently received from Sah Franeicso, by the Cunard liner Ivernia— is one of the most harrowing stories in the annals of shipwrecks. Two survivors were recsued after spending five days on a raft. The schooner was bound for one of the islands in the Pantotu Archipelago, and was left in a dismasted a.nd sinking condition in the South Pacific Ocean by the crew of eleven men, who had to abandon their ship and take to a huriedly constructed raft. The sailors jhuddled together on the raft as best they could, but the frail craft was so small that several of them had to' take it in turns in letting their legs hang overboard into the sea. They had no provisions, and as time wore on the unfortunare men suffered fearfully in the heat from the laok of fresh water. On the second day after they had taken to the raft a new horror presented itself. The sailors were surrounded by hundieds of unn-eating sharks, which swarmed round the little craft and made ferocious rushes at the legs of the shipwreoked men as they hung over the sides. The terror of the seamen, divided between fear of drowning and being eaten alive, may be imagined. Finally, one tremendous monster made a dash for Captain Baxter, and, seizing him by one leg, dragged him into the sea before the horrified gaze of hia companions. They were powerless to render him any help, and had the terrible experience of seeing their master devoured. On the following day the cook and cabin-boy died from exposure and exhaustion. Six others subsequently perished, after awful sufferings caused by hunger and exposure. When tho two survivors were picked up one was almost insane. It was Several days before he could tell what had happened to him.