The Days of a Man X^9o■^ 



on the ''iron-bound coasts" where the sea is too deep 



for coral are all black to match the dark lava. 



An agile Among the last is a little jet-black blenny — Rupis- 



blcnny cartes saliens — which climbs on the lonely rocks 



above the reach of the waves with the agility of a 



lizard; and the mailed sides of the wrecked Adler 



just above high-water mark swarm with Rupiscartes, 



which dart into the open hold as their natural refuge. 



One of the most singular species of tropical shores 



is the mud skippy — Euchoristopus barharus — a 



frisky goby five or six inches long, with strong muscles 



at the basis of its fins, and movable pop-eyes set on 



short stalks to take in whatever is going on. These 



The extremely nimble creatures stay on shore after high 



^'.''^'^' tide, often climbing in bushes to catch insects, some- 



skippy times crawling under stones to wait till the water 



returns. In a little inlet near Pago Pago we found a 



thicket of mangroves infested by skippies; at the 



least disturbance they dropped to the water or the 



ground, tumbling along with considerable speed. At 



Pago a pointer dog belonging to one of the naval 



officers was much excited over these animals creeping 



uncannily about in the branches, and all day long he 



would point and bark at them. 



Flying Flying fish of many species abound among the 



^^ coral islands, and however familiar with their ways, 



one never ceased to wonder at their swift motion, fins 



held finn like an aeroplane and only the force of the 



strong, screw-like tail furnishing the impetus.^ 



As the interested reader will already by now have 

 inferred, we found the Samoan fish-fauna exceedingly 

 rich, bringing home over 600 species, about 100 of 

 them new. In the preparation of my report (one of j 



1 See Vol. I, Chapter ix, page 209. 

 I 116 -} 



