BENEATH TROPIC SEAS 



The fretwork gorgonia fans were frequently 

 abraded, or showed great holes torn or worn in 

 their substance. To my delight I found that these 

 were used as scratching places by passing fish; 

 the parrots especially enjoyed oozing slowly 

 through these tears and rubbing back and forth 

 against the broken ivory strands. I shall never 

 forget looking up at a great sheet of purple grill 

 stretching across my path, and seeing the head 

 and pectoral fins of a blazing parrotfish projecting 

 from a jagged hole. It watched me calmly from 

 its perch, and backed out reluctantly only when 

 I approached it too closely. 



After the fish had left I continued to watch the 

 gorgonia, pondering on its resemblance to vege- 

 table growth. I was astonished to see the tips 

 of some rather thick branches suddenly blossom 

 into a field of white star-flowers. I now saw that 

 these branches did not originate from the main 

 stem, but began abruptly in mid-network, gaining 

 strength and rotundity, and shooting out beyond 

 the limits of the fan. As a jungle tree throws 

 branches about some fatal parasite which is irre- 

 vocably covering it, so the gorgonia polyps had 

 bravely grown their purple bark about the en- 

 circling tubes, but these pink and white worms 

 thrived apace, shooting ahead in their tubes like 

 slow motion sky-rockets, finally, high above their 

 host, to burst into a blaze of snowy tentacles. 



One of my favorite diving places on Sea-cow was 

 along the outer edge, where the reef dipped into 



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