Nautilus and Ammonite, 127 



* Who was the first sailor ? tell me wlio can ; 



Old father Jason ! — no, you're wrong, 

 There was another ere Jason began, 



Don't be a blockhead, boy ! Tightly and strong. 

 Over the waters he went — he went, 

 Over the waters he went. 



" Ha ! 'tis nought but the poor little IsTautilus— 

 Sailing away in his pearly shell ; 

 He has no need of a compass like us, 

 Foul or fair weather he manages well ! 

 Over the water he goes — he goes, 

 Over the water he goes." 



Many more poems of the like nature we might 

 quote^ for this little shelled cephalopod lias been a 

 favourite with the poets time out of mind^ and in 

 some instances they and the less imaginative natu- 

 ralists have disagreed in their accounts of its form 

 and operations ; for instance^ Pope says — 



" Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, 

 Spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale." 



'' Catch a fiddle-stick/^ say some naturalists, the 

 little Nautilus does nothing of the sort ; and if you 

 go to him to learn navigation, you will never be 

 much of a sailor. He may teach you how to sink 

 to the bottom and rise again, and that kind of 



