WHERE CURRENTS RIP 67 



beaded with big vacuum cups, and above all, the 

 huge disks of eyes which glowed like silver plates 

 in the tan flesh. 



The afternoon of our last day, the life of the 

 rip seemed, if anything, to have increased. Full 

 grown Coryplicena played about, and now and 

 then we hooked one, but they were usually too 

 strong and heavy to be played successfully from 

 the boom or the deck. Seen just beneath the 

 water, they were a blaze of color — the body emer- 

 ald, the pectorals turquoise and the tail clear 

 yellow gold. Sea snakes undulated past, their 

 golden spotted tails flashing out as they turned and 

 looked up at us. Great turtles drifted along, as mo- 

 tionless and as barnacled as the logs about them. 

 A dolphin-fish leaped over one and darted about 

 it, but the turtle looked only at us. Another 

 Coryphcena dashed by with a great piece bitten out 

 of its shoulder. I cannot imagine what enemies 

 these high-powered engines of the sea can have, 

 except real dolphins, unless they wage battle with 

 one another. 



From the deck, looking directly down, we could 

 watch clearly the fish which crowded beneath every 

 log, or stick or nut. Big triggerfish, over a foot 

 in length, often he flat on the logs, half out of the 

 water, or jam themselves into crevices in attitudes 

 most astounding for a fish. Once a twelve-foot 

 hammerheaded shark swam slowly around the 

 whole ship. 



We dared not go below for a moment, and be- 

 grudged every minute at meals, for fear we should 



