IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC. 



331 



The hammer-head is a native of the Mediterranean 

 and Indian seas, and very rarely makes its appearance in 

 British waters. It is described as scarcely less voracious 

 and formidable than the dreaded carcharias, and some 

 authorities assert that it is equally partial to human 

 flesh. On the other hand, it frequents the shores of the 

 islands of the South Pacific, without exciting any terror 



THE HAMMER-HEADED SHARK. 



among their inhabitants, who bathe and swim in com- 

 plete disregard of its supposed anthropophagic propensi- 

 ties. It may be that the Polynesians trust to their skill 

 in swimming to elude its attacks ; but, on the whole, we 

 are inclined to think that, so far as man is concerned, it 

 is the least formidable, as it is certainly the most hideous, 

 of all the Squalidse. 



