The Mighty Deep 



over their heads, as on shelving beaches near to 

 land. 



During the Challenger Expedition crabs were 

 fished up from all depths — from one mile, two 

 miles, three miles, even between three and four 

 miles. In those dark and icy regions the cold 

 must be great, the pressure tremendous ; still 

 crabs innumerable are there. 



Some sub-ocean kinds have displayed what 

 may be looked upon as an inquiring disposition. 



A ship passing near the Azores brought up in 

 a trap many large ones, belonging to a then new 

 species. And the curious part of the matter was 

 that not all of them need have come. Some 

 were entrapped, and could not get away ; but 

 others rose to the surface of their own free will, 

 clinging to the outside of the trap, and not 

 attempting to escape, even when drawn out of 

 the water, and on deck. 



Perhaps they were dazzled by the un- 

 accustomed brightness of light, after the few 

 and feeble glimmers below. But the puzzle 

 remains — why, in the beginning, they should 

 have chosen to leave their home, and to journey 

 upward into unknown regions? Were they of 

 an aspiring character ? Had they friends caught 

 in the net, from whom they would not be parted 1 



222 



