DESPOTS OF THE SEAS 73 



French Revolution, the French, under Kleber, be- 

 sieged Maestricht. But orders were given not to 

 fire on the building that contained the Mosasaur. 

 Kleber was determined to take this celebrated 

 fossil back to France with him, and he was anxious 

 that it should not be injured during the bombard- 

 ment. After he had captured the town, he de- 

 manded the skeleton as one of the prizes of victory. 

 There was nothing for the Maestricht authorities 

 to do but to give up the cherished treasure, and 

 Kleber carried it off in triumph to Paris, where it 

 still remains and is one of the most valued exhibits 

 in the zoological gardens. 



When this Mosasaur was alive he had a long, 

 snakelike body covered with scales, a long tail, 

 and a slender flat head. His jaws opened very 

 wide, and his throat was so baggy that he could 

 swallow his food whole. When, in his greediness, 

 he put too much in his mouth at once, he used his 

 under jaw as though it were an arm and pushed 

 the food down his throat. By extending the arms 

 at full length with the palms of the hands touching 

 and then bending the elbows in and out one can 



