THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



" Their arrangement permits the urchin to progress 

 in any direction. If it were still alive you would be 

 able to see a multitude of contractile tubes terminated 

 by a sucker. At the base of each tube there is a 

 sac acting as a reservoir of water. If our urchin 

 wishes to march, this sac contracts, the ambulacral 

 foot is distended with water, something like the 

 fingers of a glove if you blow into it ; the sucker 

 at the end is fixed on to the ground, the other 

 ambulacral feet repeat the operation, and the urchin 

 is out for a walk. 



" I must not forget to add that this creature, so 

 fragile in appearance, is nevertheless able, on rocky 

 coasts where the surf is very violent, to pierce the 

 hardest stones, and to excavate a lodging for itself 

 even in granite." 



Kene' had, without thinking, put the urchin in his 

 pocket and was no longer listening. 



His attention for the last minute or two was directed 

 to two fishers. One of them, armed with a fork hav- 

 ing slender teeth, was walking backwards tracing a 

 deep furrow in the sand, while the second, attentive, 

 followed him step by step, then suddenly stooped 

 down, and, capturing something, put it in a box. 



" What a singular occupation ! What can they be 

 doing ? " said Bene*. 



Then drawing a little nearer he saw that the box 

 was filled with small fish of elongated form, like eels. 



