WATER'S-EDGE IN HAITI 



impression as if there had rested upon the sand a 

 glass tumbler with base cut into an intricately 

 scalloped pattern. As I stepped closer, the whole 

 circular area sank a little and a touch identified 

 it. 



All around was the evidence of considerable wave 

 action, sand ripples an inch in depth, and it was 

 hard to understand how this bit of flaccid animal 

 jelly could maintain its hold upon the shifting 

 grains. With my penknife I began excavating on 

 one side, going down and down until at last I 

 located its foot on a horizontal mangrove root eight 

 inches below the surface. When I dislodged it, a 

 thick sheet of the red bark came along with it. I 

 was reminded of the mixed character of this zone 

 of life by a cohort of stinging ants which raced over 

 the sand and occasionally nipped me as I dug. 

 The type of mind which is thrilled by having 

 picked oysters from trees could make an excellent 

 Haitian yarn from the juxtaposition of anemones 

 and ants. As I labored, a green and brown lizard 

 dashed past in pursuit of the tiniest of fiddler 

 infants. This astonishing race resulted in success 

 for the aquatic kingdom when the crablet dived 

 safely into its hole. 



By the time 1 had freed my anemone it had con- 

 tracted to two inches and looked like a sandy mush- 

 room. At first glance there was little to choose in 

 point of beauty between it and the nearby, 

 stranded sea-cucumber, but washing worked won- 

 ders, and the cucumber changed to the semblance 



55 



