The boys laughed at the idea of an angling fish, and wondered how he managed to get along when he had lost his bait by any accident. The captain was unable to tell them, as he had never seen a bellows-fish that had suffered such a misfortune.
A CURIOUS HOME.
"You see thousands of crabs and lobsters and other creeping things at the bottom of the sea," the captain continued; "there is one kind of crab that loves to live in a shell which is not his own, at any rate not the one he was born to. They crawl around with these shells, never daring to leave them for fear some other crab will happen along and take possession. Sometimes two of them will fight for a shell, and they tear away each other's claws and commit other havoc before the battle is over. Generally the one in the shell has the best of it, as he is on the defensive, and the house in which he is lodged is a good protection. One day I found one of these crabs in the bowl of a tobacco-pipe that had the stem broken short off, and it was very funny to see him move around with this awkward covering. It was not as convenient as the sea-shells in which his brethren were quartered, and he seemed to understand it, as he changed to an empty shell as soon as one was placed near him, and he was left undisturbed.
CRABS IN A QUARREL.
"These crabs are amphibious, and seem equally at home above or under the water. They are very quarrelsome, and when put together in a box proceed to eat each other up without the least hesitation. I once put a dozen of them together, and in two days there was only one left; he was large, and had a good appetite, as he left nothing but shells and crushed claws to tell what had become of his comrades.
"But we have been so long beneath the surface that we must go above to breathe. As we come up we must be careful not to touch one of those long filaments hanging down from the Physalia that has spread its sail to the wind. If we do, we shall feel a sharp sting that will last us for some time."