Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/73

54 of its habits we became acquainted with a peculiarity which it in common with other Cephalopoda possesses, viz., of changing its color, Chameleon like, to harmonise with the surface on which it rests, blue, brown, and pale pink being displayed according to circumstances, the blue and pink being retained in the animal, now some time in spirits before us as we write.

The mouth of the Cephalopoda is singularly formidable,—it is armed with a pair of powerful horny jaws, having within them a fleshy tongue, the whole apparatus being not unlike the bill and mouth of a parrot, forming, as may readily be imagined, most destructive instruments amongst the young crustaceous and testaceous animals on which they prey at the bottom of the ocean, where by day they establish themselves, but roaming gregariously after nightfall. The Octopus, many will be aware, is the animal fabulised under the name of the "Kraken," and formerly thought to have such size and power as to qualify it for attacking shipping, and most wonderful stories are told by nautical men of its bulk and strength. It is in fact as a friend remarks to us the Sea-serpent of the old, as the Gulf-weed, has been that of the modern maresnesters.

And not only have these creatures such formidable weapons of offence, but they are provided with means equally efficacious for defence; we have heard of impudent cases of theft being committed, snuff having first been thrown into the eyes of the victim, but these animals possess a bag containing a dark inky secretion which can be ejected at will, either to favor their escape from foes, or to enable them to carry out certain