THE SHARKS AND RAYS 95 



of which is not apparent. The teeth are notched on the 

 outer edge, and the fish is generally described as fierce even 

 for a shark. It can only be regarded as a wanderer to our 

 seas, though large examples of 12 or 13 ft. in length have 

 been taken on the south-west coast. In Australian seas, 

 particularly in the tropical waters of northern Queensland, 

 the hammerhead is plentiful, and passengers on the steamers 

 that ply inside the Barrier Reef often have the opportunity 

 of seeing one, or even a pair, swimming close under the stern 

 of the vessel, keeping up for an hour or two with the thirteen- 

 knot speed, and apparently without much effort and scarcely 

 disturbing the water in their advance. That the hammerhead 

 feeds on substantial fare is evident when we learn that bass and 

 thornback rays have been taken from its stomach ; but its 

 danger for man seems a matter of local opinion. The state- 

 ment made in the Royal Natural History touching its ferocity 

 in Indian seas may be perfectly accurate ; but those who live 

 in the coast ports of Queensland think differently, and from 

 many enquiries made on the spot, between Brisbane and 

 Thursday Island, the writer gathered that the hammerhead 

 was there regarded as slower in its movements and less 

 dangerous than most to bathers, at any rate in shallow 

 water. 



Yet there are several ground-sharks in those waters which 

 are dreaded even in a few feet of water, so noiselessly and 

 quietly do they glide on their victims, and Australian bathers 

 are always careful to keep in the "white water," or that with 

 a light sandy background, against which they can at once see 

 the approach of a shark. 



In every sea the wise man will take no risks, but will 

 make a practice of keeping out of the water where sharks 

 find their way. Man is a land animal of great physical 

 limitations, and finds himself at incalculable disadvantage 

 when compelled to fight in the water. Even the salmon- 

 fisherman, only partly immersed and with his feet on hard 



