ioS BUSH DAYS 



their beauty soon fades when carried away from their natural 

 surroundings. Across the sandy bottom of one pool a sea hare 

 was travelling. His bright yellow skin gleamed through the 

 shallow water as he dragged himself forward by a series of 

 curves, and a weird little creature he looked with his funny 

 long ears and crouched up body. 



In almost every pool were to be seen the little soft molluscs 

 which have no shells, their varying hues of mauve, pink, lilac, 

 red, yellow, and brown glowing softly under the water. In 

 one pool, bigger and deeper than the rest, a tiny octopus lurked 

 amongst the weed ; he was no bigger than the palm of my 

 hand, and in colour of the loveliest indigo blue and black 

 With his little tentacles waving softly he certainly didn't look 

 as if he could do any harm, and as he never grows any bigger 

 he probably would not. Through the same pool darted some 

 old friends the toadfish, or " toad-oes " of our childhood ; 

 quaint little chaps they are with their speckled brown and 

 white skins, and stumpy tails. They looked so happy in their 

 quiet home, that we were glad there were no small boys about 

 to disturb their peace ; for boys have a most horrid habit about 

 these little fish. They catch them and roll them with their 

 feet on the rocks, until the poor little creatures sw r ell out like 

 a balloon ; then the young savages for boys are nothing else 

 throw their victims at a rock, where they burst. Fortunately 

 there were no young monsters on our reef, so the toad-oes 

 swam in peace in the sunny water. Little crested rock-fish 



