THE LAND OP THE DANCING CRANE. 13 



to view their capture, Paublo said : " I thought 

 it was a devil-fish ; but it's pretty near it one 

 of de biggest rays I ever see. Sometimes dey 

 cotch 'em here fifteen foot across, an' dey git 

 foul with anchors an' tow smacks about in a 

 mighty mystrus fashion." 



" Are you joking ? " asked Harry doubt- 

 ingly. 



"No," said the doctor, answering for Pau- 

 blo. " I know of a case myself where a manta 

 fouled the anchor of a good-sized schooner and 

 towed it for a mile before it cleared. The fish 

 has two curious projections," he continued, 

 " which are sometimes called claspers ; these oc- 

 casionally are fouled with cables, and the fish 

 rushes away in blind terror, towing the vessel, 

 much to the astonishment of the sailors. -Sev- 

 eral cases have been known on the reef." 



The boys carried away the tail as a souvenir, 

 and then pulled around to the sandy beach off 

 which the schooner was anchored. 



" Give way hard ! " said Paublo, who had 

 the stroke oar, and with a rush the boat was 

 sent on the beach, whereupon the boys all 



