154 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



flesh ; they will not bite at a morsel of herring that 

 has been more than twelve hours dead. Look at this 

 specimen of the delicate inoffensive gourmet ! How, 

 with a body so thin and supple, with a mouth devoid 

 of teeth, or any hard substance which might supply 

 tiieir place, could he dream of becoming an assailant ? 

 Nevertheless, that animated leaf swallows the shells 

 along with their inhabitants ! 



At every step in the sea we have to note the de- 

 struction of the feeble by the strong, the little by the 

 great. Let us not forget that life alone is capable of 

 sustaining life ; it is in general the stronger that is 

 charged with the duty of avenging the fate of the 

 feebler. The tunny ruthlessly destroys the herring, 

 but the pleasures of the chase are embittered by his 

 inevitable encounter with the shark ; and often when 

 he is in the very midst of a delicious meal of herring, 

 he is himself victimised by the tyrant of the seas. 



The entire life of marine animals seems to be 

 passed in a study or a struggle how one shall eat the 

 other. The problem has to be settled by continual 

 j'uses, attacks and precipitous flights, battles and 

 deaths, without a spectator to compassionate the 

 sorrows of the vanquished. There is no outcry, no 

 useless talk over these tragedies. One meets another, 

 attacks him, devours him — that is all ! 



This ferocious cruelty, this coldblooded and 



