Big Game at Sea 



low flats at night to feed, and that rays came there to 

 hunt them; so one night, instead of coiling up in a 

 coral head, the man-eater, following a little channel 

 through the reef at high tide, swam across a lagoon 

 of sand overgrown by short sea-weed. Conchs were 

 lumbering along on this grassy floor, and in the sub- 

 marine herbage were big yellow crawfish, tough and 

 dangerous. 



Suddenly there came floating along a ray with its 

 birdlike motion. As it drew near, the shark rushed 

 blindly upon it and by sheer bulldog ferocity seized 

 and held it. The ray lashed the enemy with its whip- 

 like tail, then doubled and flung its sharp serrated 

 spines against the shark, inflicting a wound that was 

 followed by a pink cloud that slowly permeated the 

 water. The beadlike expressionless eyes of the man- 

 eater turned inward almost out of sight, but in no 

 way did he exhibit pain; he held on, gripping harder, 

 scenting the blood fiercely, tasting the flesh of his 

 victim. When the ray became passive he swung it, 

 gripped it again, and bearing down upon it, tore and 

 lacerated it, striking down the weed with powerful 

 blows of his tail, sending the crawfishes dashing across 

 the submarine mesa. 



Engaged in this fierce attack, the man-eater was 

 suddenly struck, knocked aside by a sand-shark twice 

 his size; but he circled about with savage menace, 

 retreating only when fairly put to flight by his oppo- 

 nent. Every night now he foraged, learning that 



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