Note 2 — Chapter XXIV · Tagals as Soldiers and Sailors.

Sharks of all sorts, enormous saw-fish,2 hideous devil-fish,3 and monstrous conger eels, as well as poisonous black and yellow sea-snakes, abound, so that the fisherman does not have everything his own way. Amongst these men are to be found some excellent divers. I have found them quite able to go down to the keel of a large ship and report whether any damage has been done. Where a sheet of copper has been torn off, they have nailed on a new sheet, getting in two or three nails every time they went down. I enquired from one of these men who had frequently dived for me, when a European diver with diving-gear could not be obtained, if he was not afraid of sharks? He answered, “No es hora del tiburon”—it is not the sharks’ time—and I found he considered that he was very fairly safe from the sharks between ten and four. Before ten and after four was a dangerous time, as the sharks were on the look-out for a meal. I cannot say that I should like to trust to this, especially as I have seen sharks about at other times, and one afternoon, in the bay, had to keep off a hammerheaded-shark from coming near a British diver who was examining the rudder of a steamer, by firing at it from the stern. Some sharks are heavy and slow-moving creatures, but the hammer-headed kind are endowed with a surprising activity, and twist and turn like an eel.