Big Game at Sea 



eral tentacles, dropping back quickly and crouching 

 for another spring, the action so sudden and force- 

 ful, so startling, that the corner octopus sprang into 

 the clear water and for a moment literally danced, 

 floated, or poised, uncertain which way to go, then 

 dropped to its corner again, rendering itself as incon- 

 spicuous as possible. 



Again I retreated; the big devil-fish meantime 

 crouching and spreading itself out, color melting into 

 color, tint, and shade over its broad back, directing its 

 siphon stream at its companion. I again advanced, 

 pointing my finger at the animal and moving to within 

 a foot of it. I could see it darken, take on a deep 

 red hue, and then it flung itself bodily at my hand, 

 and endeavored to cover it by a peculiar encompassing 

 motion designed to smother it. A crab or fish is 

 taken in this way, the web being spread over it, shut- 

 ting the victim in its arms, and the scores of suckers 

 forcing it to the mouth, where the nipping black 

 parrot-like beak is brought into play. But the 

 smothering action is invariable; suggestive and hor- 

 rifying if we imagine it attempted by an animal thirty 

 feet across. To meet this leap, holding the hand 

 steady, and grasping the octopus, is a nerve-test to 

 a novice. I confess that it was distinctly disagree- 

 able to me, though I have caught and handled many 

 of these animals of various sizes; but I held the devil- 

 fish which gradually enveloped my entire hand, and 

 by grasping it firmly I pressed my little finger over 



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