THE SHARKS OF NARBOROUGH 185 



most every hungry fish or aquatic bird, even these 

 went by without any show of nervousness. The 

 pair of sharks passed on, aknost unnoticed, and all 

 the mass of life of this wonder world seemed going 

 smoothly and undisturbed. Far away in the dim 

 distance one of the sharks appeared again, or it 

 may have been another — when, looking around me, 

 I saw every fish vanishing. While I have men- 

 tioned what must seem an identical occurrence be- 

 fore, yet this was as diflP erent as a great battle is 

 from a street accident. Through copper and glass 

 and air I sensed some peril very unlike the former 

 reaction to the sea-lion, and I rapidly climbed a 

 half dozen rungs, swallowing hard as I went to ad- 

 just to the new altitude. Clinging close to the lad- 

 der I looked everywhere, but saw nothing but wav- 

 ing seaweed. The distant shark had vanished 

 together with all the hosts of fish, even to the bully- 

 ing, fearless groupers. I was the only living being 

 except the starfish and the tiny waving heads of the 

 hydroids which grew in clusters among the thinner 

 growths of weed, as violets appear amidst high 

 grass. Whether the distant shark was of some 

 different, very dreaded kind, or whether some still 

 more inimical thing had appeared — fearful even to 

 the strange shark, I shall never know. Five minutes 

 later, fear had again passed, and life, not death, 

 was dominant (Fig. 69). 



I climbed to the surface at last, my teeth chatter- 

 ing from the prolonged immersion. This water, 

 although in no sense the Humboldt Current, is 

 much cooler than that at Cocos and I become numb 



