Sharks are generally quickly frightened by splashing and a noise, and I had never seen any so bold and ferocious as those we met with about this island.  In a little time we got accustomed to them, and often have I seen them gliding in and out among our lines, far down in the depths of the lagoon, though they did not prevent us from catching as many fish as we required.  Sometimes, however, as we were hauling up a fish, a shark would catch hold of it and deprive us of our prize.  We never went out without catching a large quantity, so we had always a good supply of fresh fish--the rest we preserved.  We had two ways of doing this.  Some we cut open and dried in the sun; others we salted.  We made some salt-pans by blocking up the outlets in the rocks when the water ran off at high tide, and by scraping others in the sand.  We thus had a supply of salt for all our wants.  Mr McRitchie also found in his chest some papers containing a variety of vegetable seed.  We accordingly scraped a spot clear for a vegetable garden, and it was surprising how quickly many of them sprang up and became fit for food.  Thus I may say that we were furnished with many of the necessaries of life.