578 THE PAPER NAUTILUS. 



No more they wanton drive before the blasts, 

 But strike the sails, and bring down all the masts. 

 The rolling waves their sinking shells o'erflow, 

 And dash them down again to sands bdow. 



In some places, when the sea is not agitated by 

 winds, great numbers of these singular creatures 

 may sometimes be seen diverting themselves by 

 sailing about in this manner ; but as soon as a storm 

 rises, or any thing gives them, disturbance, they 

 retract their arms, take in as much water as renders 

 them somewhat heavier than that in which they 

 swim, and then sink to the bottom. Several of 

 them were observed by M. Le Vaillant on the sea 

 near the Cape of Good Hope ; and, as he was de- 

 sirous of obtaining perfect specimens of the shells, 

 he sent some of his people into the water to catch 

 them : but, when the men had got their hands within 

 a certain distance, they always instantly sank, and, 

 with all the art that could be employed, fhey were 

 not able to lay hold of a single one. The instinct 

 of the animal showed itself superior to all their 

 subtilty; and, when their disappointed master called 

 them away from their attempts, they expressed 

 themselves not a little chagrined at being out- 

 witted by a shell- fish*. 



This species, which is tKe real Nautilus of the 

 ancients, is not to be confounded with the Cham- 

 bered or Pearly Nautilus, which belongs to a diffe- 

 rent tribe, and bears very little resemblance to the 

 present, either in its construction or habits. — The 



* Le Vaillant's New Travels, i. 129. 



