CHAPTER VI.
SHARK-HUNTING.
UNDER the guidance of Julian, I was gradually initiated into all the sports and pastimes of the Colymbians. In some of these the ladies take part; but there is one sport of too violent and dangerous a character for women to engage in, so it is pursued by men only. It demands such agility, address and courage, that it is only the most adventurous and daring among the young men who engage in it. When I mention that it is the pursuit of the formidable white shark, the reader will understand that it must be attended by difficulties and dangers which all but the boldest would shrink from.
In remote times, as I was informed, these finny ogres of the ocean were not unfrequent visitors of the calm inland waters, to which they gained access by numerous gaps in the surrounding coral reef. But all these gaps had long ago been filled up, and the reef rendered a perfect barrier against the incursions of these ferocious monsters.
As the numbers of the inhabitants increased the original boundaries of the reef were greatly extended by the planting of corals outside the existing reef, which rapidly grew up. In place of a separate reef
