ESPERANZA TO CAYO HUT I A 49 



gesture he suddenly approaches his disputant and 

 hurls at him an argument like canister hot from 

 the cannon's mouth. The other staggers, but 

 recovering from the charge and reinforced by 

 others who rush into the wordy affray, he delivers 

 back an argumentative broadside and the battle is 

 on. We of the north glance at each other appre- 

 hensively. Something really should be done to 

 quell this riot before our fine crew is destroyed 

 or we ourselves, as innocent bystanders, shall be 

 injured. Then the cook announces that coffee is 

 ready and the dove of peace flutters in and the 

 shark swims out. 



This shark debate was never settled. Appar- 

 ently there never will be a unanimity of opinion on 

 the subject. There are, however, certain incon- 

 testable facts to be accepted in any shark discus- 

 sion : first, there are sharks everywhere in Cuban 

 waters and big fellows too; second, thousands 

 of people enter the water and are not attacked; 

 third, there are authentic cases of "accidents." 

 A careful sifting of evidence from many sources, 

 reliable and otherwise, tend to show that the 

 Antillean shark is not nearly so dangerous as are 

 certain species living in Australian and South 



