MERSA NASI 93 



bones I broke. You see, Miss, I think a man dies when he 

 wants to, or when somebody else wants him to!' 



At first, I must confess, I hardly believed this list of 

 miracles. But I was assured from other quarters that they 

 were perfectly true and that there were still other adventures 

 even more picturesque. 



Our exploration of the channels between Nocra and Dahlak, 

 as well as the neighbouring islands, revealed a wealth 

 of important material. While the underwater fauna of 

 the channels was not so extensive or varied as that of the 

 islands, it was more interesting as regards formation and 

 habitat. 



The channels are like rivers of salt water, alternatingly 

 cold and hot. The temperature of the water is about 72° F at 

 lowest ebb-tide and up to 97° F at high tide on the beaches. 

 The sea animals join in continuously in this see-saw of the 

 waters. In general the coral fish {Chaetodontidae^ butterfly fish, 

 Scaridae, parrot fish, Labridae, rainbow fish, Serranidae, 

 groupers, Diodontidae, porcupine fish, etc.) lead a sedentary 

 life, without exploratory adventures in the tidal zones. But if 

 these do not leave their own littoral territory, there are other 

 fish that participate fully in the movement of the waters. 

 Great swarms of little uasif sardines drift into these channels, 

 especially at night, and are followed by platoons of bream, 

 tunny, barracuda and sharks. The sardines in their turn 

 follow conspicuous banks of very thick plankton, and are 

 accompanied in this hunt, or rather in this grazing, by the 

 famous gigantic mantas and another fish — the mysterious 

 individual with the clear fins. 



The sharks seem to be the most daring in their scouting 



G 



