A DREADED SHARK A Source of Terror to Fishermen About Taboga Bay.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 254, 11 April 1888, Page 3

A DREADED SHARK A Source of Terror to Fishermen About Taboga Bay.

A \l u\ large and ancient looking --hark ha- been -n imminc about. Tabo^a Ba\ rccenth. It i- known to the i-I.uideis and geneivilH dm\ n the bay by it.- nuuk-, and by thu-o who know it it 1- called the '' -Soni brcteta, ' ouinr to it- luuing -ei/ed ami eaten a. man of! Anton -omc \eai- ago undei pecuhai oireum-tanee- It appeal - a -choonev \\a v -. Miling -iow h along oil Anton Point w hen the hat of one ot the uew wa- blown o\eiboaid The man lumped into the <-ea to lpgain his hat. when he \\a--ei/ed b\, this -haik, which promptly di\ed with it* piey Kubsequeuth , otl ihe Moiro inland the -arne anim d \\a- to -ei/e the biothei ot the Rev. fSahna- ot Tabntj.i, while he ua- l»atliino, and to cany him undei Ko tuitliei trace- of thi- second \ictim \\ereo\ei seen. The -an % e nharU »- eiedited by the bay •Niilois with othci death*, but the m-Lance- mentione r l are vouched foi liy many. The native-, who claim 10 iccocni-o it a«> an annual M-itor, -peak of thcf>e incident- a- a matter ot island hi-tor\, dating fiom the period when the factory of the T'aciiie Na\i«\ition Company wa- at the Mono, and when the animal tu-taequned notoriety b\ eatinir an Englishman who attempted to su im fiom a vt— el then at mchor to another All the ii-heimen ha\e n pecuhai, and it appeai> a\ ell founded, teiror of this animal, and none of them will due in the vicinity of it- haunt, although the water ioiiobcner hve ieet in depth. In connection vi th the carni\ ovou- monetei the old inhabitant-, of Taboga relate a legend, and in which they appear to ha\e pel feet faith, which i- worth recounting. They behe\e that below the -pot-, where he «o constantly •swini'- when on hi- peiiodical \i-its to Tabogo there lie- a valuable coral bed, and that when in that vicinity the v-hai k believes it to be it- peculiar duty to keep constant and c.ueful guard o\er the trea-ure. One thing in connection with thi- peculiar legend is, however, ceitain, and that i- that none of the bay diver.- and they are all good men, as they have proved when pearl-fishing — will attempt to dive in that vicinity, and you cannot persuade any of the Islanders, addicted as they are to the water, to bathe in that place. This animal, we areinformed, i-< ot the tiue fhark species, and not a marine monster of the Hat-headed type, such as wa 5*5 * the last big one caught there some few r years ago by an Italian man o'-war which was then at anchor oil that island. — Panama " Star 51 and " Herald."