200 The Albacore 



cavernous jaws were wide agape. Down into those 

 enticing interiors our people plunged eagerly, silently, 

 without thought or, had they known it, hope of return. 

 As I have already said, I knew those pleasant-looking 

 but deadly entrances too well to be taken in by them ; 

 so carefully avoiding them I swam on, steadily on, 

 through the black ranks of the monsters so busily 

 entombing my companions by hundreds. That was 

 all any of us needed to do, just to avoid the gaping 

 throats, otherwise we were perfectly safe from molesta- 

 tion at the mouth of any whale that ever swam. 



So we fared on, our diminution more than made 

 up in a few hours by the recruits constantly closing 

 in upon us from every side, and passed through those 

 quiet waters between the Trades in very leisurely 

 fashion. For they are very rich in the food we love, 

 and we were all singularly voracious even for us. 

 Instinct warned us that, where we were going, food 

 would be far from plentiful, while duties of reproduction 

 would require us to be in the very best of condition. 

 So, in spite of the magnetism drawing us ever onward, 

 we neglected no opportunities for feeding, and must 

 surely, for a short time at least, have rendered the path 

 taken by us through the Atlantic almost bare of food 

 for the lower members of our family. But that I 

 cannot positively say ; I never missed food. Although 

 I was always hungry, there always happened to be 

 food near my mouth, and the way I continued to put 

 on girth and strength was truly wonderful. 



At last we drew near the Straits of Gibraltar, 

 millions of us in a compact body, swimming steadily 

 forward now, without thought of eating, in a triangle 

 some miles in area. No human being knew of our 

 coming, because we swam at a depth of ten fathoms 

 or thereabouts, nor ever rose to the surface. Our 



