THE SHARKS OF NARBOROUGH 193 



not I for one, would have dared to think otherwise 

 than he did of the sharks of Darwin Bay. And yet, 

 after all, their man-eating, dangerous qualities 

 were circumstantial, and engendered by what he 

 observed in their attacks on hooked fish, of their 

 own or other species. 



Less than a month after he left this wonderful 

 bay, the Arcturus anchored in it, and a few days 

 thereafter Dr. Gregory, Ruth Rose, myself and all 

 the rest of my staff were diving in helmets, and 

 walking about the bottom, with these self-same 

 "man-eating" sharks swimming by and around and 

 over us, dashing at and taking our hooked fish, but, 

 except for a mild curiosity, paying no attention to 

 ourselves. It was as unexpected to me as to any- 

 one, yet I will go on record as saying that it is per- 

 fectly safe to sit or walk around, or climb up and 

 down ladders and ropes, to leap or twist quickly 

 about, or to sit motionless, protected only by a 

 copper helmet and a bathing suit, among the sharks 

 of Cocos and the Galapagos, whether they are 

 swimming slowly along, or devouring some fish, 

 dead or in obvious trouble. 



