50 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



Pacific waters, but he will sometimes attack a 

 man. In shallow water (fifteen or twenty feet), 

 especially if clear, sharks are timid. Close to 

 a boat anchored where the bottom can be seen, 

 a bather is quite safe. In deep water even near a 

 boat the risk increases. A long swim away from a 

 boat or the shore is not to be advised. If there is 

 blood in the water from a wounded man or fish, a 

 bather is in real peril. There are certain places 

 where sharks prowl about for food, such as city 

 dumping grounds, fish-cleaning docks, slaughter- 

 houses near the shore, etc. To enter the water 

 there, would, of course, be attended with danger. 

 They are in fact indifferent lazy creatures of a low 

 order of intelligence that become instantly aroused to 

 a frenzy of activity by the smell of blood. At such 

 times they will attack anything that moves, — even 

 each other, and are of course exceedingly dangerous. 

 We relied upon the Patron*s advice entirely and 

 only kept out of the water when he actually warned 

 us, and this was seldom. Indeed we dived into the 

 deep pools of the sand-bars near the reef where sharks 

 abound and were often in sight, but we dared not 

 jump overboard in Bahia Honda or Cabanas harbors 

 where never a shark was seen. 



