trembling with a million minute points of tur- 

 quoise light. 



On the night in question, however, my specific 

 quest precluded more than a casual notice of the 

 moonlit scene and its details of vapory blue. I had 

 purposed chiefly to make some observations of the 

 spider-crab in its natural habitat; but, as in every 

 expedition of this kind, I was prepared as well 

 to pick up anything new or strange which came my 

 way, whether this were a specimen or a fact. To 

 this end it had been desirable that I revisit the 

 bight, and that I do so after dark. 



Indeed, it should be added that for the primary 

 object of my quest, a night-time visit was abso- 

 lutely necessary. The spider-crab, in common with 

 a great number of marine animals, is nocturnal in 

 its habits, passing the daylight hours in compara- 

 tive inactivity in the deeper water and moving 

 toward the shore at night to feed. 



By the time the great shoreward migration, not 

 only of the spider-crabs, but other crustaceans and 

 fishes as well, had fairly begun, we had anchored 

 the Hippocampus just outside the danger zone of 

 a rocky reef within the bight and were loading the 

 dinghy with our nets and pails. A short pull took 



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