A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



of a savoury dish, many strange and monstrous creatures catch 

 the eye. 



For example, there is the Coffer-fish, whose body is built on 

 rectangular lines, like a box; the belly is flat as a board, and the 

 sides too are flat ; and the belly ends in a mouth from which a flat 

 vertical forehead rises. Thus the fish is like a little box, and its body 

 is encased with hexagonal plates of bone, which increase its rigidity. 

 The little tail, lashing quickly to and fro, and the protruding eyes, 

 above which are two forward-pointing spines, form a comical 

 contrast to this rigid body (Fig. 2) . 



Facing Rio across the bay is Nictheroy. Here one may wander 

 along the fine highway that skirts the waterside, ending in the wide 

 sandy beach of the Praia Icarahy, unable to turn one's eyes from 

 the spectacle of the hills of the opposite shore, with their rugged 

 forms, tilted peaks and boldly projecting promontories, looking as 

 though the hand of an artist had painted them on the background 

 of the blue sky. — Rounding a promontory as green as a garden, 

 one overlooks a quiet, hill-girt bay. At the foot of some projecting 

 rocks lies a white house with a large roof and arcaded verandahs. 

 This is the Brazilian Yacht Club, of which the members are mostly 

 German, Round about it the sailing-boats lie at rest on the blue 

 tide. Here I once spent a few days; diving from the long wooden 

 jetty into the clear, deep, refreshing water, or sitting on the wall 

 and gazing toward the mouth of the bay, where the mountains rose 

 in a bluish vapour against the sky. 



But if I went through the terraced garden, and descended some 

 narrow steps that were flanked by flowering bushes, I came to a 

 basin filled with sea-water, lying against the sea-wall, on the other 

 side of which the waves broke with a gentle splashing. I delighted 

 in watching the fish that swam to and fro in this basin. The Coffer- 

 fish, a slow swimmer, was easy to catch, but if one took it out of 

 the water it inflated itself A relative of the Coffer-fish, the Hedgehog- 

 fish, is even more expert in this art. Its whole body is covered with 

 spines ; hence its name. If as it swims through the water in search 

 of its food the Hedgehog-fish is attacked by a predatory fish it 

 quickly pumps its stomach full of air ; the elastic abdominal wall 

 dilates ; the fish, now spherical in form, shoots up to the surface, and 

 there capsizes, as its back is heavier than its belly, so that the pursuer 

 is confronted by a forest of rigid spines, and is quite unable to deal 

 with its suddenly transformed prey ; it cannot get a hold of this 

 prickly ball, nor can it take such a monstrous titbit into its mouth ; 

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