DESPOTS OF THE SEAS 



During the same time that the Dinosaurs were the 

 tyrants of the land the seas also had their despots 

 and among the mightiest of these was the Ichthyo- 

 saur or Fish-Lizard, to call him by his English 

 name. 



Like the seas of to-day, those in which the Ich- 

 thyosaurs swam were a world in themselves. Their 

 population was made up of many kinds of creatures, 

 big and little, weak and strong, all of which had to 

 find their own food. So they ate one another, and 

 sad was the fate of the weak and timid among them. 

 Immense quantities of fishes were, we may be sure, 

 devoured by the greedy Ichthyosaur, and he must 

 have caught his prey rather easily, for he was the 

 swiftest swimmer of his time. Although he had two 

 pairs of paddles, his broad and strong tail was the 

 chief means by which he propelled himself through 

 the water at express-train speed. And terrible was 



MIGHTY ANIMALS — 5 65 



