44 DAHLAK 



Cecco soon after with a malicious grin showed me three new 

 species. I cursed him vigorously and thoroughly until a well- 

 timed shout from Gigi interrupted me. 'Sharks!' Two of 

 them, each about four feet long, were floundering in four 

 span of water a hundred yards away from us. We dashed to 

 the boat hopping between the corals, slipped our underwater 

 equipment on, grabbed our guns and were off, Gigi staying 

 to unhitch the boat. We got to within ten yards of them and 

 were about to give battle when they both began thrashing 

 the water with their tails. They then took to the deep 

 followed by our curses. We circled the entire algae forest 

 (the usual vegetable barrier before the shore) in search of 

 them and then advanced into the deep but there was not a 

 sign of even a fin. 



On our return to port we ran into an uri (a kind of long 

 primitive canoe) full of native divers. They were working on 

 the remains of a small sunken ship. Standing in the midst of 

 them, looking distinctly gorilla-like, was the immense bulk 

 of the biggest black giant I have ever seen. At that moment 

 only one of them was diving, helped by a large stone that 

 dragged him to the bottom, fifty feet down. He made his 

 return by clambering up the cord tied from the stone to the 

 uri. I timed his two longest breathholds: seventy and 

 seventy-five seconds. Other black workers, fifty yards away, 

 set off a mine ; dead fish rose to the surface and a large shark 

 cam.e up and seized them, followed by another and another. 



PLATE 9. (opposite) The nurse-shark has a very small mouth, as can 



be seen, out of all proportion to its body, and is thus quite harmless. 



The moustaches on its upper lip are used to remove the sand gently 



from the sea bed, to bring to light the smaller shells and crustaceous 



animals on which the fish feeds. The red mullet also works like this. 



