26 JANUARY. 



So firmly imbedded is he, so deeply ensconced, that no 

 pushing with fingers or sticks will avail ; indeed, I can 

 but just touch his body with my finger-ends poked in 

 to the utmost. No ; we must cut away the rock above 

 and below with the strong steel chisel, by means of 

 well-directed strokes of a heavy hammer. Slow work 

 it is, for the rock is awfully hard : the prize, however, 

 cannot escape, and the chief point of solicitude is not to 

 crush it in the process. At length a fortunate blow 

 splits off a slice of rock, which leaves the unhappy 

 skulker defenceless. Now I get my fingers gradually 

 behind him, and force him out, gently and tenderly; 

 sucker after sucker he is compelled to let go, and now 

 here he is in my hand, shrunken indeed, and squeezed 

 flat from his very shrinking in the close crevice, but 

 all unbroken and none the worse. 



This is a much more sluggish creature than any of 

 the mollusks that we have been capturing : no sooner 

 are they put into water than they are active, and at 

 once display their attractions ; this animal, on the 

 contraiy, will be perhaps several days in your tank 

 before he will feel himself sufficiently at home to unfold 

 his splendid array of tentacles. But then it is indeed 

 a magnificent coronet of plumes wherewith the headless 

 king is adorned. 



The Sea-cucumber soon finds himself a snug berth 



