Life Beneath the Waves. 41 



particular which lived in my aquarium, grew 

 very quickly, and, if I remember rightly, 

 threw off his coat six times in less than a 

 year. At length he became so large that he 

 continually made his escape from the glass, 

 generally selecting the night for that 

 purpose, and one of my first acts, upon 

 entering the room in the morning, was to 

 search for the truant and put him back in 

 his home. His propensity for persisting in 

 thus roaming by night terminated fatally, 

 for he was unfortunately crushed to death 

 beneath the fender. I was sorry for his 

 untimely decease, for he had long been in 

 my possession, and always appeared to be 

 in an excellent state of health and spirits; 

 we had moreover become quite upon 

 friendly terms, and for many months before 

 his death he had ceased to exhibit any 

 symptoms of alarm when I approached the 



