136 FISH HARVESTING. 
plants: for in these gardens dwell jellyfish, 
tender little crustaceans, soft-bodied chitons, 
crisp shrimps, and juicy annalides 
all dainty 
viands, on which this gay lounger delights to 
regale himself. 
At low-tide, when strolling over the slippery 
rocks that everywhere gird the eastern side of 
Vancouver Island, in the larger rock-pools I 
was certain to see lots of these fish imprisoned, 
having lingered imprudently at their feasts. 
This indulgence constantly costs the idler his 
life: gulls, herons, shags also prowl over the 
rocks, well knowing what admirable preserves 
these aquariums are. Once spied out, it is 
of no avail to hide amidst the seaweeds, or cower 
under the shelving ledges draped with coralines. 
The large pincer-like beak follows, nips him 
across the back; a skilful jerk gets the head 
first—then down a lane he goes from which no 
chirus ever returns. 
We might as reasonably attempt to describe, 
the flushing changing colours of the Aurora 
Borealis as seen in high latitudes, or the phos- 
phorescence of a tropical sea, or the wing of the 
diamond-beetle, as to hope by word-painting 
to give the faintest conception of the colourings 
that adorn the chirus: red, blue, orange, and 
