DUR GHELLA AND ITS INHABITANTS 187 



mouse tail coming out of its cloaca. It was giving birth ! The 

 sting-ray was forcing itself to its utmost. Although unpractised 

 in the noble art, I decided to improvise as midwife to help it. 

 I pressed its abdomen gently, not trusting to pull the new- 

 born by the tail — it too had the iron tip. Cecco arrived on the 

 spot in time to take some photographs. Two little sting-rays 

 were born, but the mother died. I was sorry. I would have 

 put it back in the sea with at least one of its offspring. One 

 of the twin monstrosities was in fact allowed its liberty and 

 the other ended in formalin. 



One day it took more than the usual energy to draw up 

 the net. In thirty yards of mesh three sharks had got stuck — 

 two black-fins of three and four feet respectively, and the 

 other a new species under three feet long, a brown colour 

 with a round head and close, minute teeth. In addition there 

 were six sting-rays weighing about six pounds each, a red 

 bream of eight pounds, half a grey-skin (the other half must 

 have been guzzled by a shark), and finally about fifty small 

 fish, many not previously encountered. The whole catch 

 was weighed down by blocks of coral uprooted from the sea 

 bottom and firmly enmeshed. If I am not mistaken, this was 

 the day that our triple net received its coup de grace. 



We were repeatedly amazed to find sharks trapped in the 

 triple nets, and we found an explanation of the phenomenon 

 by sheer chance. We observed that sharks were caught in 

 the net at a particular time, at the time of the movement of 

 the tides. We deduced that the sharks approached land at 

 high tide and returned with the fall of the waters. On the 

 way, coming or going, they found their path blocked by the 

 mesh. But why did they not go a short distance to one side 

 and avoid the trap ? 



One day, Cecco and I went under in masks to make an 

 inspection of the submerged net. The net had been let down 



