The morning news., 1899-02-12
OCEAN TRAPS.
A sharks Fate in the Mouth of
Giant Clam.

by G II. Holder
An officer of the famous exploring ship
Challenger was one day being rowed along
a reef in the South Pacific, when a gar
fish, a long, slender, sharp-nosed creature,
sprang from the water, a short distance
away. and struck him exactly in front Of
his cap, knocking it off So powerful was
the blow that 1t was thought that IL the
FISH had hit him in the body the sharp
nose would have penetrated deeply, and
perhaps, caused death Such accidents, It
was learned, were not uncommon among
the natives.
In these waters are found some of The
largest shells knowu. one is a clam-like
shell with huge ribs. called the trldacna
one valve of which has been known TO
weigh 2J0 pounds The meat alone weighed
twenty-five or more pounds, and a single
animal, If served on the half shell, would
afford good meal for fifty men.
1t can be imagined that such a monster
must be extremely powerful. and that the
muscles which holds 1t together Is of re-
markahle size So solid are the shells that
they can almost cut mans hand Off,
crushing the bones, and as the tridacna
has the habit of lying with its valves part
ly open as though TO trap some unwary
tation and is considered an animal TO be
avoided unless means are at hand to rem
der il harmless.
The attention OF white men was first at
tracted to this trap when party of col
lectors were rowing over the reef IN search
of rare corals. The suddenly saw some
large fish beating the surface violently
with its head out OF the water. II was
evidently caught by some other fish, and
rowing in that direction the party became
witnesses to an extraordinary spectacle.
As they drew near they saw that the
fish was large shark which, caught by its
tai was struggling violently to escape. The
tide was low, the water al this point being
not over four feet in DEPTH so the boat was
rowed alongside the fish, about which a
rope was thrown The shark made vi
cious struggle, seizing an oar in his ugly
Jaws and biting a piece out of II, but final
ly the men held It securely and discovered
the cause of lis trouble. The shark had
been caught in a living trap. Its tail, or
the lower lobe was held securely by a
giant sheR, the tridacna, the strong and
powerful moliusk cllnging TO II with a
V!se-like grasp.
There is a case on record of man hav-
ing been entrapped in a similar way. He
was an American collector, unfamiliar
with the reef and lis strange inhabitants.
and seeing what he supposed TO be a great
green sea anemone. he attempted TO grasp
1t. But the anemone disappeared, and like a
wise the edges of the shell clamped the
wrist of the unfortunate collector, who to
his horror, found himself anchored in q
STOPPING position by his hand
The tide was rising, not a person was In
sight, and there was apparently no possi-
bio chance of escape. The collector, for
tunately, had a knife, and almost crazed
by the pain he began an attack upon the
shell. but every thrust he made only caus-
ed the powerful animal TO clasp him clos
er and add 70 his agony. II was impossible
to cut around the she'll the rock being too
hard, and the only thing TO do was TO
walt and hope that the shell would relax
and permit him to jerk his hand out. Sec
onds seemed minutes and minutes hours
The water was rising higher and higher;
a gentle breeze had sprung up and waves
began to form that threw the water
against the captive. He had about deter
mined upon a terrible alternative-to cut
off his hand to save his life. when the shell
vsibly relaxed its hold, and with a quick
jerk he pulled out the manned and help
less member and turned in shore.