The Gatherer's Newspaper Clipping Archive

During the detention of the Ganges at Ongar Point, on the coast of Java, on the 5th of May, 1803, John Walker, boatswain's boy of the Ganges, aged thirteen, swimming alongside of the ship when at anchor, and at a few yards distance from the boat, with three seamen in it, was discovered by a shark, which immediately approached him, and in spite of the exertions of the boat's crew to intimidate the hungry monster, laid hold of the unfortunate boy, by including in his mouth the whole of the right leg, and more than half the thigh, pulling him beneath the water, close alongside the ship, when upwards of 100 men were spectators of the scene, and kept him below for nearly two minutes, in which time he had torn off the leg and thigh to the extent above-mentioned. The boy once more made his appearance on the surface of the water, and the shark upon his back, with his jaws again extended to make a finish of his prey, when a lad from the boat struck him with the boat-hook, and by the same instrument laid hold of the boy, and brought him on board. The boy had lost a vast deal of blood; the stump was dreadfully lacerated, and the bone splintered near an inch and a half, which required an amputation of the thigh close to the hip joint. Under all these untoward circumstances, the boy has recovered quite well within three months from the date of the operation. The fleet, as it was an extraordinary case, subscribed upwards of 280l. for him.