THE FISH OF BOUILLABAISSE 



bottom like a forest of shrubs. Between them, on 

 rock and gravel, I perceive some of the largest of the 

 creatures which live there. Occasionally, a flash of 

 silver betrays the swift passing of a fish. A strange 

 countryside, which transposes into the water, with 

 other shapes and other attitudes, the general effect 

 of our own landscape. Plants with upright leaves 

 take the place of the shrubs; seaweeds represent the 

 mosses and lichens; fishes replace the birds, and 

 Crustacea the insects; animals unknown on the earth, 

 sea-cucumbers, sea-urchins, starfish, corals, shell-fish, 

 sea-squirts, complete the picture. But, if the structures 

 are different, the arrangement is not, and the leaves of 

 the grass-wrack cover everything as those of the trees 

 overshadow the life of the forest undergrowth. 



The submarine prairie has a definite condition of 

 its own which this resemblance brings out the more. 

 It has an appearance of its own, or, if we use scientific 

 language, its own " facies ". It contains within itself 

 an association of animal life which exists in it and 

 nowhere else. The fishes and their companions have 

 no counterpart elsewhere. Its fauna has a special 

 character which becomes clear more easily than in 

 most other regions or other facies of the marine world. 

 In it we see clearly that aquatic creatures, like those 

 which live on land, far from disseminating themselves 

 without regard for order or regularity, form them- 

 selves into groups in accordance with their affinities 

 and needs. They form localised populations, and 

 each one has its place in that population and lives its 

 own life in it. 



Meanwhile, our boat is coming into the creek, and 

 it is time for our last occupation before returning to 

 port for our meal. Our appetites, stimulated by the 

 tasks of fishing and sailing, excited by the salt sea 

 tang, demand immediate satisfaction. Bouillabaisse, 

 made of the fish caught in our " gangui " and still 

 jumping about in the tub into which we put them, is 



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