232 



THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



The trouble and labour in- 

 volved in detaching the larger coral 

 specimens here figured from their 

 ocean - bed, together with their 

 subsequent packing and dispatch, 

 were, as may be anticipated, some- 

 what considerable. A heavy flat- 

 bottomed lighter, with blocks and 

 tackle, was requisitioned in the 

 first instance to raise the more 

 ponderous masses after they had 

 been loosened from their attach- 

 ment with crowbars and carefully 

 secured in lashings by an experi- 

 enced diver. They were then found to be too heavy to be raised on deck and were 

 towed in and deposited as high up on the beach as the tide would permit. At low 

 ebb they were then uncovered for the space of an hour or two. This circumstance 

 permitted of the operation of their bi-section with a cross-cut saw in order to reduce 

 them to a calibre that would allow of their being brought on shore and packed for 



W. Sacille-Keat, Photo. 

 LIVING COBAL, fiendropli yl/ia nxifiiyn, WITH POLYPS EXPANDED. 



ONE HALF XATVKAL SIZE. p. 231. 



W. Sarillc-Keul, Photo. 



