Before going below, the diver generally scans the water very carefully, to see whether any of his man-eating friends are around and ready to welcome him. When he has reached the bottom, finished his labor, filled his bag with oysters, and is ready to ascend, he always takes a good look aloft, to see that no shark is waiting for him. The shark does not pick up the diver at the bottom; he makes no attack as long as the man is beneath him, but watches his chance, and as the man goes upward he makes a sudden dash, and considering the diver a stranger, takes him in. It is not unusual in the pearl diving regions to hear of men who have suddenly disappeared while below; and the inference always is, that these men have been quietly and calmly eaten. A pearl seeker whom I met some years ago while on a sea voyage told me an exciting story of an adventure with a shark in the pearl regions not far from Panama. “I had in my employ,” said he, “about a dozen divers, very active, athletic fellows, who did their duty faithfully, stole all the pearls they could when my back was turned, and sometimes, unless I was very watchful, they reduced my returns very materially. I had a curiosity to learn the peculiarities of pearl diving for myself, and so engaged one of the professional divers to teach me. Well, he taught me. “My first duty was to strip off all my clothes, swing a bag over my shoulder, take an iron rod about two feet long and sharpened at one end with which to detach the oysters, seize a stone, and after fastening my nose so as not to take in any water that way, I jumped overboard and followed the diver below. “The water was about thirty feet deep, and the first time I went down I could do nothing but come back again. I didn’t bring any oysters that time. The next time I went down, I managed to get half a dozen oysters, and then I came up. Well, after a while I got so that I could get my bag half filled on each descent, and began to think that I was a very fair diver. I did not do much of it, though. Half a dozen times a day were all that I was willing to try. My ears stood it very well the first day, but the second day I went down deeper and staid rather longer than at any previous time, and when I came up my ears were bleeding, and I felt as if there was at least a barrel of water in my head. That was enough for that day; but the next morning I felt all right, and tried it again. [Sidenote: ADVENTURE WITH A SHARK.]