were engaged. It was literally alive with creatures 

 large and small — fishes and prawns and ghost- 

 shrimps and many other active swimmers which 

 had been left entrapped by the refluent sea. And 

 there were others here besides; sponges and polyps 

 were attached to shell fragments, and various mol- 

 lusks and worms could be seen on the substratum 

 or ambling around. In fact not one of the eight 

 great divisions of animals inhabiting the ocean 

 was without one or several representatives in this 

 natural aquarium set off from the sea. Nor was the 

 plant life less conspicuous. It, too, was as varied 

 and abundant. The blues, the greens, the browns, 

 and the reds among the sundry classes of seaweeds 

 all contributed to make up what was truly a ma- 

 rine paradise. 



In outline, the pool was irregularly longer, 

 somewhat, than it was wide, while its area was ten 

 yards square or less; its deepest part did not exceed 

 three feet. Soft cerulian shadows of seaweeds lay 

 across the floor like blots of blue ink; every detail 

 of the plant and animal inhabitants standing out 

 in the crystal clearness of the water almost as if 

 seen through the thinnest air. The dank dripping 

 stones that lined its verge were slippery with 



[150] 



