“‘There are three down!’ cried out some of the other passengers.
“‘How many?’ said the old woman, raising her head; ‘three! Then count the sharks which are coming up.’
“‘Count the sharks, mother! why count them? There’s plenty of them,’ replied Shedden, laughing.
“‘I tell you that there will be but three sent,’ replied the old woman who then sunk down her head and said no more.
“Well, the negroes who were passengers on board, most of them Mr Shedden’s slaves, look very blank, for they knew that old Etau never spoke without reason. In about ten minutes afterwards, three large sharks swam up to the vessel, with their fins above water.
“‘There’s the three sharks, sure enough!’ said the passengers.
“‘Are they come?’ said Etau, raising her head.
“‘Yes, moder, dere dey be—very large shark,’ replied one of the negroes.
“‘Then three are doomed,’ said the old woman, ‘and here we stay, and the waves shall not run, nor the wind blow, till the three sharks have their food. I say three are doomed!’
“The passengers were more or less alarmed with this prophecy of old Etau’s, according as they put faith in her; however, they all went to bed quite well, and the next morning they got up the same. Still there was not a breath of wind, the whole sea was as smooth as glass, and the vessel laid where she was the night before, in about six fathoms water, about a mile from the reef, and you could see the coral rocks beneath her bottom as plain as if they were high and dry; and what alarmed them the next morning was that the three large sharks were still slowly swimming round and round the schooner. All that day it remained a dead calm, and the heat was dreadful, although the awnings were spread. Night came on, and the people, becoming more frightened, questioned old Etau, but all the answer she gave was, ‘Three are doomed!’