THE OCEAN SHORE 



moreover, the angry Hedgehog-fish lashes out with its tail, trying, 

 not without success, to wound its enemy. When the danger is past 

 it expels the air with an audible hiss, sinks into the depths, and 

 swims contentedly away. 



It was fascinating to watch the fishes that suddenly shot forward 

 from the dark recesses of the basin if I threw in a small fish or a 

 rock-louse (which the Brazilians call the Barata do mar, the sea- 

 cockroach ; they may be found anywhere along the shore, scrambling 

 about over submerged stones). As the Barata splashed into the 

 water, flat, vertically-swimming fish striped with black and yellow 

 darted forward; and then the Parrot-fish or Slinger made its 

 appearance. This fish, as large as a plaice, is so luminously coloured 

 that you might think it had swallowed a Bengal fire. The body is 

 brown, but the belly gleams with the deepest violet, while the back 

 is striped with blue, and blue stripes run backwards from the mouth. 

 Near the eye itself are zigzag lines of blue, like flashes of blue 

 lightning. The pennon-like dorsal and abdominal fins and the 

 beautifully shaped tail are also streaked with blue and violet. 



This fish soon seemed to realize that I used to bring it food. 

 Hardly had I reached the basin, when the two Parrot-fish which 

 inhabited it came to the surface and lay on their sides, their resplen- 

 dent colours blazing in the sun, making the water swirl with their 

 pennon-like fins, and spouting long curving jets of water from their 

 beak-hke mouths: all to attract attention to themselves. And as 

 they swam about the surface thus their protruding eyes were con- 

 tinually turned upon me, which gave them a droll appearance, as 

 though they were roguishly winking at me. 



In the "Passeio publico," the public park of Rio, is a little 

 aquarium, admission to which is free, and here one may observe 

 a number of tropical fish, including the singular Bat-fish, whose 

 shoulders protrude right and left like a couple of pointed stakes, 

 bearing on their tips two fins like little banners. Here too are crayfish 

 and garfish, the savoury "Gamaroes," and some fine turtles. And 

 one may with luck see at least the head of a turtle in the calm, 

 rock-bound Turtle Bay of Guaraja, near Santos. 



Off the coast of Pernambuco and other north-eastern States, and 

 even in the harbours of Recife, Maceio and Bahia, one may often 

 see sharks, for these creatures prefer to swim near the surface, so 

 that the triangular dorsal fin emerges from the water. While I was 

 in Pernambuco I was told, by several persons, the following story: 

 As a steamer was about to leave Bahia, and the passengers were 



47 



