WATERS 01 WESTERN INDIA. 95 



Feather-stars (Comatula) are tolerably abundant, and so are the 

 Brittle starfishes (Opliiwoids) , but the Asteroids, or fleshy starfishes, 

 don't abound here as they do on British coasts ; and the sea 

 urchins don't appear to be equal in size, variety, or number of 

 individuals to those of northern seas. In a tide's work you may 

 get half-a-dozen each of Echini and Asteroids, whereas at home you 

 could fill a basket. I have seen raw sea-urchins eaten in Europe, 

 where they are sometimes called '' sea- eggs." 



I have already said that we have no coral-i'eefs ; and of corals, 

 commonly so-called, such as Madrepores and Millepores we have but 

 few; and the specimeus are seldom large. The largest I have got 

 were dead masses which had drifted some way. Some of these 

 are so cellular that they can actually float; and I have found 

 barnacles on them. Living cup-corals will grow upon floating 

 objects. I have repeatedly found them upon drifted pumice; 

 and once or twice upon driftwood ; and I have one specimen in 

 which three or four have grouped themselves on a dead broken stem 

 of an Antipath, with young oysters and Balani. 



The Antipathes, or Black corals, are found on some of our reefs. 

 They are long rod-like things, with a blackish horny stem (sclerobase), 

 whence they take their name in trade. But when alive this is 

 covered with what looks like a warty bark, really the colony of 

 zoophytes in which the life of the thing is. Some of ours reach 7 

 feet long, and are as thick as a drawing pencil ; but elsewhere, and 

 especially in the Red Sea, the stem attains an inch in diameter. The 

 living "bark" (casnosarc) is often of very brilliant colour, red or 

 yellow; and a handsome little species in Bombay harbour varies from 

 orange to crimson. Besides these we have little gorgonias, or sea- 

 shrubs, seldom (with us ) exceeding a foot in height. One of the 

 handsomest, which is of a deep crimson, rarely gets beyond six inches. 

 Others are sulphur yellow, pink, or white. They keep their colour 

 for some months when dry ; but at last the " bark " dries and chips 

 off, leaving only the horny stem, which is extremely durable. We 

 have one very fine specimen from the African coast in this condition, 

 five times as large as any I ever saw here, and even now a pretty 

 object. 



These things, while retaining their colour, look very well in a 

 bouquet, a hat, or button-hole ; and might be more used in decoration 

 than they are. Sea-anemones {Actiniclce) are common on the 

 reefs and on immersed timbers; and queer-looking mud-anemones 



