CORAL ISLES 



201 



reef at the turn of the tide, for the sea raced over the 

 coral at a rate of two knots an hour. The range of 

 the tides is fourteen to fifteen feet. The Tropic of 

 Capricorn bisects the Archipelago. 



We left Gladstone Jetty early on the morning of 

 October 8th, 1910, and enjoyed a calm passage to the 

 Capricorns. ' The Pacific, dimpling in the tropic sun- 

 light, seemed to welcome us, and the sky was serene 



AN ISLAND BEACH. 



as the sea. From the steamer's deck we observed 

 birds and marine animals, becoming so engrossed that 

 the hours passed unheeded. There was some ex- 

 citement when a Flying-Fish [Exocetus volitans] 

 leaped from the sea near the Endeavour, and skimmed 

 above the surface for a hundred yards. The ques- 

 tion whether the Flying-Fish actually beats the air 

 with its wing-like pectoral fins, which are lengthened 

 and of great size, or uses them merely as parachutes, 

 has been much debated. During the voyage to the 

 Capricorns hundreds of these queer fishes were seen 



