Hunters and Hunted 



dark oval mark in the centre of its back, which resembles 

 the end of a broken branch. Of the animals which defend 

 themselves against their enemies by giving off foul- 

 smelling liquids, the most notorious is the conspicuously 

 marked American skunk. 



One might reasonably imagine that such a huge beast 

 as the cachalot whale, commonly seventy feet in length, 

 would be free from the awkward attentions of the creatures 

 which share its watery home. Yet even the whale has 

 its enemies, which are usually wise enough not to attack 

 him singly. A combat between a sword-fish and two 

 killers is recorded in The .Romance of the Animal World 

 by the late Mr Edmund Selous. The sword-fish first 

 attacked the whale, aiming for his heart ; the whale 

 avoided the blow and, with a deftness remarkable in so 

 large a beast, caught his adversary in his mouth and bit 

 him completely in half. The two killers then joined in 

 the attack, but the cachalot, with a mighty blow of its 

 tail, stretched one of them dead on the surface of the sea ; 

 the other killer sought safety in flight, pursued by his 

 mighty adversary. 





200 



