88 WONDERS OF THE DEEP 



must confess that, as far as our experience went, 

 they were 'not so black as they are painted.' It 

 may be that even sharks acknowledge the mild 

 influence of the climate, and that the benignant 

 atmosphere of the land of eternal afternoon has, 

 like music, 'charms to soothe the savage beast'; 

 for certainly in the Bahamas the shark appears to 

 be a cowardly fish, and unless impelled by hunger 

 rarely assails a human being, except first attacked. 

 Instances of their devouring the bodies of people 

 who have been drowned are frequent, but we did 

 not hear of any case in which any living person 

 had been taken by a shark. Personally, we found 

 the sharks really forbearing creatures. On one 

 occasion some members of our party, including two 

 little boys, who would have been toothsome morsels 

 for a shark, were bathing in the harbour close to 

 the barracks. A soldier was observed shouting and 

 gesticulating, but my husband failed to catch what 

 the man said. On leaving the water, he learnt that 

 the soldier had been trying to caution him about 

 the vicinity of a large shark. The small boys had 

 heard the man cry 'A shark! A shark!' but had 

 maintained a judicious silence about it, as they 

 were afraid of being made to leave the water 

 sooner than usual. This shark was killed a couple 

 of days afterwards, and measured fifteen feet in 

 length. 



" One of the most singular instances of the 

 voracity of the shark was related to us by a gentleman 

 on whose testimony reliance may be placed. At a 



