Cl II. Mill's OF TIIK CKIMIALOPODA. 



my hand, mid was not easily to he persuaded to let n'o of cither. 

 At last, howetfcr, he became convinced that he mu>t choose be- 

 tween us. ;nnl so let u'o his hold upon the rocks. :md I found 

 clino-inu' to my riii'lif hand, by his lontr arms, a hnuv octopod 

 cuttlc-lisli, and I bc^vm to siis|)cct that I had caught ;i Tartar. 

 His IOIILJ- anus were wound around uiy liand. and these arms. by 

 the way. were covered with rows of suckers, somewhat like those 

 with which hoys lift stones, and escape from them was almost 

 impossible. I knew that this fellow's ducking propensities were 

 not- his worst ones, for these cut tle-lislies arc furnished with sharp 

 jaws, and they know how to use them too. so I attempted to ^et 

 rid of him. But the rascal. disen<-a<rini- one slimy arm, wound 

 it about my left hand also, and I was a helpless prisoner. In 

 vain I st ru <;'<;lcd to free myself he only clasped me the tighter. 

 In vain I shouted to my companion he had wandered out of 

 hearing. I was momentarily expecting to be bitten, when the 

 " bicho " suddenly changed his mind. J was never able to dis- 

 cover whether he was smitten with remorse, and retired with 

 amiable, intentions, or whether he only yielded to the force of 

 circumstances. At any rate he suddenly relinquished his hold 

 upon my hands and dropped to the sand. Then raising himself 

 on his long', limsy arms, he stalked away towards the water, 

 making such a comical figure, that, in spite of my fright. I 

 indulged in a hearty lau^h. .He looked like a huge and a very 

 tipsy spider, staj^erin^ away on his exceedingly IOULI' lers. 



Cuttle-fishes are 'Sometimes used for food by the Brazilians, 

 and dill'erent species may be seen in the markets, where one fre- 

 quently finds them still alive. Sometimes, as he stoops to ex- 

 amine one. its body is suddenly suffused with a deep pinkish 

 ijdow. Before he has time to recover from his surprise, this color 

 fades, and a beautiful blue takes its place as rapidly as a blush 

 sometimes ^ulfuscs a delicate cheek. The blue, perhaps, is suc- 

 ceeded b\ a LiTeen. and then the whole body becomes pink a^ain. 

 One can hardly conceive anything more beautiful than this rapid 

 play of colors, which is produced by the successive dislciition of 

 sets of little sacks containing tluids of different colors, which 

 are sit uated under t lie skin. 



* Lwir L. Haiti, in American S<i1nr,ili*t, iii, -JoJi, 1870. 



