402 A NATURALIST ON THE "CHALLENGER." 



the water was running in either direction, a most unusual abun- 

 dance and variety of surface-living oceanic animals and larvse of 

 shore forms, was obtained with the towing net ; amongst these 

 were Tornaria, and larvae of Bi'pnncvlids and Chiroclota. The 

 place would be a most convenient and productive one to a 

 working zoologist. 



The Brachiopod Lingula is so abundant in shallow water close 

 to the town, that two boys gathered more than a hundred 

 specimens at a single low tide at the request of Von Willemoes 

 Suhm. Unfortunately the much prized " mariske " did not reach 

 the " Challenger." The boy with his bottle full was met by a rival 

 collector, who completed a bargain forthwith. There are rival 

 collectors even at Zamboanga, and we suspected, I do not know 

 whether rightly or not, that it was a natural-history collector 

 from the United States who was in the neighbourhood at the 

 time, who had thus been lucky enough to become possessed of 

 our expected treasure. 



A King Crab (Limidus rotundicaudatus), is not uncommon 

 near Zamboanga, it is called " cancreio." Yon Suhm thought 

 that he had obtained a series of young larvae of Limidus amongst 

 the surface animals collected by the net, but he subsequently 

 came to the conclusion that he had been mistaken. At low 

 tide, by wading and turning over stones, enormous Planarians of 

 the genus Thysanozoon, are to be found in plenty; they are 

 of a dark purple colour, and measure, some of them, as much as 

 five inches in length, and two inches in breadth. 



I accompanied Von Willemoes Suhm on a visit to the 

 Island of Santa Cruz Major. We sailed over in a Moro canoe 

 managed by two of these natives ; the boat was armed with a 

 large number of bamboo spears, simple light bamboos cut off 

 slanting at one end so as to form a sharp cutting point like 

 that of a quill tooth-pick in shape. A bamboo so cut is 

 extremely sharp, and the spears must be formidable weapons, 

 especially against a thinly clad adversary. Two or three dozens 

 of these spears were placed on rests on either gunwale of the 

 boat, and there were besides two round shields of a kind of 

 basket-work in the boat. 



Our object in visiting Santa Cruz Major Island was to search 



