SHARKS 15 



all kinds, but the late Professor Jordan has recorded a specimen 

 taken near Soquel, California, in 1880, which had a young sea 

 lion in its stomach. Mr. Coles mentions a large shark more 

 than 20 feet in length seen by him near Cape Lookout, North 

 Carolina, in 1905, which he believed to be a Man-eater. " It 

 apparently had no fear of us." he writes, " as it struck the 

 side of the skiff with some force. It then swam away for a 

 distance of several hundred yards, then turned and swam 

 rapidly towards us. I was about to fire into it as a large 

 loggerhead turtle arose to the surface and was attacked by the 

 shark. The shark seized the turtle in its jaws and both 

 disappeared beneath the surface. The next day I harpooned 

 this turtle and found the upper shell for a width of nearly 

 30 inches showing the marks of the shark's teeth. The edge 

 of the shell and the right hind flipper had been torn away." 



Further testimony as to the voracious habits and catholic 

 diet of this shark is provided by the late Sir Frederick McCoy, 

 who wrote as follows concerning a specimen from Port Phillip, 

 Australia : "A specimen between 15 or 16 feet long had been 

 observed for several days swimming around the ladies' baths, 

 looking through the picket fence in such a disagreeable manner 

 that the stationmaster had a strong hook and iron chain made 

 so as to keep the rope out of reach of his teeth, and this, being 

 baited with a large piece of pork made to look as much like a 

 piece of lady as possible, was swallowed greedily, and then, 

 with the aid of a crowd of helpers, the monster was got on 

 shore. On opening the stomach, amongst a load of partially 

 digested objects, a large Newfoundland dog was found, with 

 his collar on, identifying him as one lost the day before, 

 no doubt swallowed while enjoying a swim in the comparatively 

 shallow water." 



Perhaps the queerest meal of all is one mentioned in what 

 must rank as one of the most remarkable of all shark stories. 

 This is vouched for by Mr. Frank Cundall, Secretary of the 

 Institute of Jamaica, and though the shark was never identified 

 it may well have been a Man-eater : " In the eighteenth century 

 an American privateer was chased by a British man-of-war in 

 the Caribbean Sea, and, finding escape impossible, the Yankee 

 skipper threw his ship's papers overboard. The privateer 

 was captured and taken into Port Royal. Jamaica, and the 



