II 



The actual consumption of the captured fish we 

 were not allowed to witness; the squid perhaps 

 was fearful that some of its fellows, who were no 

 doubt hovering near, would insist upon a portion 

 of the meal. 



We now should have been free to follow our 

 original plan — for by this time the spider-crabs 

 were coming in fast — but for a quite different 

 though equally diverting episode which sought to 

 detain us. In drifting over a small area of sand, we 

 came upon one of those singular sights which em- 

 phasize the glaring contrasts so often found in the 

 salt-water world. But in this instance the contrast 

 lay not in a striking difference in form. We had 

 just seen in one type of sea-dweller a display of 

 ferocity; it was now our privilege to see in another 

 the benign trait of friendliness. 



Three full-grown rays, in nearly exactly the 

 same manner as that of kittens, were amusing 

 themselves at play. 



To some it may seem strange that even a fish 

 may be motivated in certain of its actions by im- 

 pulses not unlike those manifested in the mental 



