Join-nal of Iravcl and Natural History 363 



COLLING WOOD'S RAMBLES IN THE CHINA SEA* 



DR COLLINGWOOD is what is popularly called "a sea- 

 beast man." Although a botanist and a zoologist and 

 possessed of a good knowledge of most branches of Natural His- 

 tory, his peculiar passion is Marine Zoology. In all the wonder- 

 ful and outre creations, which render the aquarium so attractive, 

 he is specially at home. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, 

 that he should have eagerly availed himself of an opportunity to 

 visit the shores and waters of the China Seas, nor that in his ac- 

 count of his voyage the denizens of the waters should occupy 

 a larger portion of its natural history than the inhabitants of 

 their shores. 



We can hardly imagine anything more attractive to a student 

 of Marine Zoology than such an expedition. The China Sea has 

 been less explored scientifically than most other parts of the tropi- 

 cal seas, and there was not only the prospect of new discoveries 

 but the certainty of an ample harvest of rare, beautiful, and little 

 known species. Dr Collingwood thus glowingly describes one 

 out of many of his experiences of this kind : — 



" On the 1st of August we anchored at the edge of an extensive coral reef 

 marked on the charts as Fiery-Cross Reef from the circumstance of the ship 

 ' Fiery-Cross ' having been wrecked thereon. The surface of the sea was 

 perfectly smooth and glass-like, so that at the depth of 60 or 70 feet we could 

 see the anchor lying at the bottom, among blocks of coal, as distinctly as if it 

 had been but 6 feet from the surface. Never to be forgotten is my first ramble 

 over this coral reef on such an afternoon. Taking a boat with a couple of 

 rowers I left the ship and steered in search of the shallowest portions of the 

 coral-strewn sea. A short row brought us upon a two-fathom patch, over 

 which I allowed the boat to drift slowly, and leaning over the side and looking 

 down into the mirror-like sea I could admire at leisure the wonderful sight, un- 

 disturbed as it was by the slightest ripple. Glorious masses of living coral 

 strewed the bottom ; immense globular madrepores ; vast overhanging mush- 

 room-shaped expansions ; complicated ramifications of interweaving branches, 

 mingled with smaller and more delicate species ; round finger-shaped horn-like 

 and umbrella-form lay in wondrous confusion — and these painted with every 

 shade of delicate and brilliant colouring — grass green, deep blue, bright yellow, 

 pure white, rich buff, and more sober brown, altogether forming a kaleidoscopic 



* Rambles of a Naturalist on the Shores and Waters of the China Sea. By 

 Cuthbert Collingwood, M.A. London i858. 



