“It was on the twenty-fourth of August, 1829, (calm and fine weather,
thermometer at noon 79°,) in the evening, when the ship Sophia was
lying at anchor, in Marakini Bay, on the south-west side of the island
of Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides group, Southern Pacific Ocean,
that something was seen floating on the surface of the water, at
some distance from the ship; to many it appeared like a small dead
tortoise-shell cat, which would have been such an unusual object in
this part of the world, that the boat, which was alongside of the ship
at the time, was sent for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the
floating object.”
“On approaching near, it was observed to be the shell-fish, commonly
known by the name of the Pearly Nautilus: it was captured and brought
on board; but the shell was shattered from having been struck with
the boat-hook, in taking it, as the animal was sinking when the boat
approached, and, had it not been so damaged, it would have escaped. I
extracted the fish in a perfect state, which was firmly attached to
each side of the cavity of the shell.” The hood has been stated by Dr.
Shaw, as being “of a pale, reddish-purple colour, with deeper sports
and variegations,” the colour, however, as it appeared in this recent
specimen, was of a dark reddish-brown.
[Illustration: SHELL OF THE NAUTILUS; AND THE SEA-PEN, OR INTERNAL
SHELL OF THE LOLIGO.]
Although this is the only instance of the animal itself having been
brought to this country, there is but little doubt of its having been
frequently taken, but as the shell was the object of the captors, and
not its inhabitant the latter has been thrown away as useless. An
office in his Majesty’s Navy found a Nautilus in a hole in a reef of
rocks, near an island on the Eastern coast of Africa; the mantle of the
fish, like a thin membrane, covered the shell, which was drawn in as
soon as it was touched, and the elegant shell was then displayed. “I
and others,” says the same informant, “when it was first seen did not
notice it, regarding the animal, as the membrane enveloped the shell,
merely as a piece of blubber; but having touched it by accident, the
membranous covering was drawn in, and we soon secured our beautiful
prize.”
Rumphius, a German naturalist, appears to have been acquainted with
its habits; he says, “When he thus floats upon the water, he puts out
his head, and all his barbs, and spreads them on the water, with the
poop of the shell above water: but at the bottom he creeps in a reverse
position, with his boat above him, and with his head and barbs upon the
ground, making a tolerably quick progress. He keeps himself chiefly on
the ground, creeping sometimes also into the nets of the fishermen: but
after a storm, as the weather becomes calm, they are seen in troops
floating on the water, being driven up by the agitation of the waves.
This sailing, however, is not of long continuance, for having taken
in all their tentacles, they upset their boat, and so return to the
bottom.”
_ORDER TRACHELIPODA._
The Trachelipodes contain by far the largest portion of the univalve
shells, and are mostly inhabitants of the waters. They form two
numerous groups, the feeders on animal food, (_Zoophagi_,) and those
that exist on vegetable substances, (_Phytophagi_.) The animal feeders
are well distinguished from the other group, by having a mouth without
jaws, being furnished with a tube which they can retract or advance at
pleasure, for the purpose of sucking their nutriment from the bodies
of other inhabitants of the deep. The animal feeders are also known
from the other section by the possession of a projecting tube called a
_siphon_, which conveys the water to the gills. The shell also points
out to which section its possessor belonged, from the lower part of
its opening being formed either into a sort of canal, or a groove for
the reception of its siphon. They are all marine animals, and breathe
water. The flesh-eating tribes compose five families.
FAMILY CONVOLUTA, (_rolled up like a scroll_.)
FAMILY COLUMELLARIA, (_distinguished by a plaited columella_.)
FAMILY PURPURIFERA, (_yielding a purple colour_.)
FAMILY ALATA, (_winged_.)
FAMILY CANALIFERA (_having a canal at the base of the opening_.)