FISH, THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA 



ers, and often grow very big indeed. Forty and 

 fifty pounds is not an unusual weight for them. 

 The amber fish is slightly tawny and swims in 

 company with a few friends or a shoal, while the 

 albacore is almost always alone. The bonita, on 

 the other hand, likes to go with the crowd, many 

 hundreds often being met with together; and, 

 though good sport, it, will often infuriate the 

 angler with its whole-hearted contempt for any 

 dinner attached to a line or leaping along in an 

 unnatural way in the wake of a fast-moving 

 boat. 



Anything that swims in these waters may hap- 

 pen to be in the Sea Gardens, which seems to be 

 a highway for fish as much as for craft. I have 

 seen a fifteen-foot shark there, the fish shark, or 

 grey nun, which is blue grey and has a sharp 

 nose and ghastly smile. The round-nosed brown 

 sand shark also I have met with swimming round 

 the Hog Island landing stage. But sharks are 

 not numerous unless there is something special 

 to attract them. They are the scavengers of the 

 sea, and are certainly on to their job. The ham- 

 mer-headed shark has been caught at times in the 

 harbour, but is rather scarce. As its name im- 

 plies, it is an odd-looking creature. It grows very 

 large and fierce, but there are so few accidents 

 on record from sharks that one may safely say 

 the danger is a good deal overstated. Unless 



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