42 THE OCTOPUS. 



residents, the "" cat-fish,"), to lure the former from their holes. A 

 long arm of the octopus is suspended at the entrance, and no 

 sooner does the lobster or cray-fish catch sight of the dreaded 

 weapon covered with suckers, than away he rushes in terror, and is 

 soon caught by a noose of split bamboo firmly fixed over his tail. 



In localities where the octopus abounds, the Crustacea probably 

 learn to regard it as an enemy to be dreaded, but this is certainly 

 not the case with those which I have had opportunities of ob- 

 serving. The common shore crabs on which this animal is 

 habitually fed in the Aquarium have no knowledge of their 

 danger in its presence. When tossed into the tank they frequently 

 run towards the monster who is waiting to devour them, and even 

 scramble on to and over his back. It may be that, as in countries 

 previously unvisited by man the birds and beasts, unacquainted 

 with his destructive powers and carnivorous habits, show no fear 

 of him at first sight, so the crabs and lobsters at Brighton so 

 rarely see an octopus in their native haunts that they have not 

 learned to recognise their deadly foe. 



Another amusing illustration of the pedestrian powers of the 

 octopus occurred some time afterwards at the Brighton Aquarium. 

 In anticipation of the arrival of some literary and scientific friends, 

 I had transferred an octopus from its tank to a large vase of water 

 in my private room, that they might be able to examine it minutely. 

 I left it for a quarter of an hour, and, on my return with them, 

 found it toppling and sprawling along on the carpet. It had got 

 out of the vase, tumbled off the table on to the floor, and reached 

 the further, side of the room. Of course, it was immediately 

 replaced in the v/ater, and seemed none the worse for its singular 

 promenade. 



An incident described by Mr. Thomas Beale, surgeon of a 

 South Sea whaling ship, in his " History of the Sperm Whale," 

 has been quoted over and over again, not merely as proving that 

 the octopus can quit the water, but as an illustration of its 

 ferocity. It should rather be cited as an instance of unintentional 



