306 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



game was snared, I pulled it up. Altogether this 

 little act beneath the sea was very interesting. Here 

 the kelp itself forms a beautiful picture, its rich olive 

 hue when it catches the sun looking not unlike a great 

 band of amber against the vivid turquoise of the 

 water, as deep water is so near the shore that often 

 one can dive into blue water from the rocks. 



A common form in the weed is the giant California 

 starfish, its white tubercles against the pink or red 

 surface making it a striking figure against the green, 

 red, or purple weeds. Near it will be seen the large 

 California sea-cucumber lying on the rocks, prone and 

 motionless, and near by the long-spined sea-urchin, 

 very similar to the one of the Florida Reef, though 

 not so long. With it is a small, pure white sea-urchin 

 from deeper water, a charming contrast to the green 

 weed that is in constant motion, undulating in the 

 waves that affect even this quiet bay. 



We now drift over a rocky area where the water 

 appears to be a pale blue. A reddish-yellow crawfish 

 waves its serrated spines back and forth from a crev- 

 ice, and passing before him is a hideous octopus, search- 

 ing for crabs or anything that it can lay its tentacles 

 on. This, without question, is the most fascinating 

 animal to be seen through the glass window. Timid, 

 constantly changing color, hideous to a degree, having 

 a peculiarly devilish expression, it is well named the 

 Mephistopheles of the sea, and with the bill of a 

 parrot, the power to adapt its color to almost any 

 rock, and to throw out a cloud of smoke or ink, it well 

 deserves the terror it arouses. The average specimen 

 is about two feet across, but I have seen individuals 

 fourteen feet in radial spread, and larger ones have 



