The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-23
she'll Hunters Aaeld and AHOat In
mud About tubR.

The subject ~ sharks was one tina
could always b. relied upon to precipi-
tate u discussion" among those for
tunate persons who took part in The
Grui,c If the TomdS Bdrrcr0. re-
ported Ivy ,JonS u. HENDERSON put
nains,. Are there nan eating sharks /,
Til, debates board the Barrera. like
T. others on the same interesting topic.
W arrived ut conclusive terms.
The facts appear incontestably: that
sharks. II hiC ones. abound in Cuban
waters. hat thousands of swimmers
are never at:acked: and that there
are perfectly authentic instances Of
people being MANNED or killed by the
wolves OF the sea.
The Antillean shark is less danger
Gus than some Australian and South
Pacific species. In clear water Of nj
teen or twenty fr.t depth he is tim.d.
Near a boat anchored where the bot
tom can he seen from the surface. as
ia those waters il commonly can h.
NJ the depth named. the bathcr is sa.".
In deeper water there is risk. If there
is blood in the wtter from a wounded
man or fish. N swimmers peril ~
! great. "Indiffcrent, lazy creatures, az
y low order OF intelligence" sharks
are instantly frenzied by the presence
of blood. and will attack anything that
We
More than the sharks, the Rarre~a
cruisers feared, when inclined TO a
mo'Oing plunge, the picoua. n big and
aggressive fellow with "A protruding
jaw fitted with long. sharp teeth. I.y-
ing motionless near the bottom in
rocky retreats about the oTshore reefs.
he darts AT his prey with remarkable
swiftness. His sinister appearance.
astonishing quickness and occasional
habit of ranging the waters in schools.
like %sQuadrons Of submarine destroy
ers. have combined to give him a bad
name" The Cuban picoua is the bar
|racouta. Sphyrana barracuda. Of Flor
ida and Bermuda.
The author had planned to study and
collect specimens of Cuban marine
mollusks, hut the plat broadened with
the enlistment of unexpected recruits
TO the expedition. Mr.. Henderson IN
suited with DIR. Carlos de Ia Tore of
The University Of Havana. and DIR.
Tore not only decided To go along
himself but was able to get, free Of
charge. use Of the Tomas Barrera, 4
trim. white hulled fishing schooner 81
feet on the waterline with 30 feet of
beam. stanchly built and provided with
a tank or well amidships. "A vivero in
the Spanish. arranged for keeping fish
alive; and her launch, equipped with
dredging apparatus.
With these facilities at command. II
was decided to invite other naturalists
TO join. and the party as finally con-
stituted included George II. Clapp, n
director of the Carnegie Institute II
Pittsburg: DR.. Paul Bartsch. curator
Of the department of marine inverte-
brates of the National Museum at
Washington; Charles T.. Simpson of
Miami. Fla, expert in mollusks and
shells, and Victor J. Rodriguez. assis-
tant in the museum at Havana.
George W. Gin of the National Mu-
scum was "p%reparator." The Ameri-
can museum provided collecting APP
paratus, chemicals and so on.
President MenOcal became interested
in the project and sent Senior Manuel
Iesmes, Havana fish inspector, along
to study the life Of food fishes among
the Colorados Reefs. The Cuban
President also provided funds for the
collection and preservation OF speci-
mems for the laboratories of the Uni
vers!ty of Havana. The members OF
the expedition assembled at Havana
early in May Of 1914. While they
went overland to LA E~speranza the
schooner sailed to Whales, ITS port, TO
await their arrival.
CUBA" says The historian of the
expedition. 'is the richest island In
tho world for land mollusks. 1t pos
scsses more genera and species of
greater diversity and iovellness Of
form and color than can he found in
any other equal area in the world"
There are three faunuias. correspond
ing with the three mountain systems:
and they are so unlike that it is prob
able they had separate origins, one
of these Suh-fnunds occurs in the
Sierra lie los DrganOs, another in the
mountains of central Cu',a and the
third In tho highlands OF Oricntc or
Santiago province. They prove that