296 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



Havre, as the result of some piece of awkward man- 

 agement one of these cases fell into the sea. A 

 squad of negroes was immediately set to work to 

 recover it. And it happened that one of these 

 negroes fell, as if into a trap, into the sponge in 

 question, which was just deep enough and large 

 enough to contain the whole body of a man. 



"The poor devil, maddened with fright, thought 

 himself lost. By a desperate shock he succeeded in 

 detaching the sponge from its attachment, and both 



PIECE OF WOOD PERFORATED BY SHIP-WORMS. 



of them rose to the surface together, the man in the 

 sponge. This negro-eating sponge is, I believe, the 

 largest specimen that has ever been secured." 



" Now that we are talking of big things," said 

 Kene, " can you tell me what are the largest of all 

 the shells?" 



" A species of Tridacna giant clams, or holy-water 

 basins as they are called. These sometimes attain a 

 diameter of three feet. They are obtained chiefly in 

 the Indian Ocean." 



