SPONGES. 255 



stoop down to peep beneath them, and see the under 

 sides of these suspended ledges swarming with strange 

 forms of many-coloured existence. Slimy and wet, 

 indeed, they are, and coated with an impalpable mud, 

 the deposit from thousands of molluscan stomachs, 

 which are continually rejecting the indigestible por- 

 tions of their food in this form ; and hence it is im- 

 possible to explore such situations without horrid 

 defilement of the garments. However, this is no 

 great evil, for we are accoutred for the occasion ; so, 

 kneeling, or semi-reclining on sides and elbows, or 

 fairly stretched at full-length supine to give the 

 hands full play, we worm ourselves into the holes 

 and crannies, and gather till the jars cry " Hold ! 

 enough ! " 



Sponges of various forms and hues delight in these 

 situations. Some, of a yellowish brown colour, form 

 large patches, everywhere throwing up little perforated 

 cones, like the hills in a region actively volcanic ; 

 others of nearly the same form, but of a lovely pellucid 

 rose-colour ; others forming a spreading leprous crust 

 of the richest scarlet, peribrate, but not forming 

 conical eminences. Others again, of rarer forms, 

 branch out in ramose shapes, tubular and trumpet- 

 like, of pale yellow hue ; and some, stiff and cartila- 

 ginous in texture, form regular tumours of dirty white, 

 ribbed and scored, standing up from the surface of 

 the rock. Others again form a congeries of little pipes 

 of snowy whiteness, exceedingly delicate, and ramify- 

 ing and again uniting at all angles ; and others take 



