GO THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



looked like an azure-fringed frog, or some distorted 

 fleurs-de-lis armorial bearing. 



Porjjita was abundant — those little floating 

 colonies of animals, which I have seen even off the 

 New England coast. At a distance they look like 

 either quarters or silver dollars, according to age, 

 but when I sit down in front of one floating in a 

 glass dish, descriptions and similes pall. On my 

 laboratory table is a beauty with a disk two inches 

 across. I have seen unbelievably minute crystals 

 of some rare mineral, or a thousand beams of sun- 

 light radiating over still water which reminded me 

 of this, but the delicacy of color and pattern are 

 beyond all verbal or written appreciation. The 

 center is yellowish gold, and from here to the per- 

 iphery, about one hundred and fifty lines radiate 

 and undulate. It is crenulated and waved, and 

 the pale blue and dull yellow are inextricably 

 mingled. The broad margin is deep, deep blue, 

 and outside there are three to five ranks of delicate 

 tentacles. Their long stems are beryl blue, while 

 the rounded beads which double-line the tips are 

 of the darkest ultramarine. Such is a hint of the 

 beauty of one mote among the trillions on every 

 side. 



Near the side of the skiff I saw a small white 

 creature dart away, spread four wings with a black 

 spot in the center of the hinder pair, rise and 

 fly for a yard, then drop, and again make a short 

 flight. It was so like a butterfly that for a moment 

 I was too astonished to move. Then I called out, 

 pointed to the tiny flyingfish and my companion 



