My Serene Adolescence 37 



in the wake of my family, sedately satisfied, but resolved 

 never to tempt my fortune and that of those dear to 

 me, by venturing on the Solander Ground again. 



And now I think I must conclude my story. I am 

 still in the full-tide of vigorous life, not yet more than 

 half a century old, and probably destined to lead the 

 school for another quarter of a century. Then it may 

 be my fate to be ousted by one of my family and roam 

 solitary for many seasons more. But I hope not. I 

 would fain end my splendid career in battle at the jaws 

 and flukes of one of my sons, who should be a worthy 

 successor. Very pleasant my life has been to me, the 

 few really dangerous meetings I have had with enemies 

 having only served to heighten the delight of Uving. 

 I have been, and am, fondly loved ; I have always been 

 hungry, and always found food in abundance. I have 

 traversed every sea, and been respectfully greeted by 

 every form of sea-folk — they have even saluted me 

 when about to enter the vast cavern of my stomach. 

 My thick coating of creamy fat, the huge reservoir 

 of oil I carry in my head, has grown richer and richer, 

 until now I am wealthiest of my people : never have 

 I seen one of them that would dare measTire his might 

 against mine. 



I inherit the pride of my splendid race. I know that 

 we are the oldest of living created things, as well cis the 

 mightiest, and I rejoice to know that the persecution 

 we once endured at the hands of the big-brained insects 

 of the land is over now, or practically so. Every hour 

 of my life is a delight. The swift, irresistible rush along 

 the raging sea, or the soft gliding through balmy waters 

 lit up by mellow sunshine, the sudden change as we 

 sink into the cool, translucent depths, and the thrill 

 as we seize the musky moUusc in his lair and, dragging 

 him upwards, tear and devour his juicy, succulent flesh. 



