16*2 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 



thunder upon their enemies from a distance; tliey 

 harden themselves into stone. 



We read that Daplme was transformed into a 

 laurel. The narrators of this fable have not depicted 

 for us the sufferings of that unfortunate maiden, her 

 languor, the growing numbness of her limbs, her feet 

 dried up and spreading into long roots, her arms 

 shaping into branches covered with a polished 

 bark. But this dream is realised in the Ocean every 

 moment. There is no region with a favourable 

 climate and an agreeable site, where animals are not 

 found living in colonies, and working, by their petri- 

 faction, at the construction of rocks and reefs of an 

 immense extent. 



Heat favours their development. No part of the 

 world presents them in the same marvellous variety 

 as the Great Ocean and the Indian seas : " If we direct 

 our gaze into the liquid crystal of the Indian Ocean, 

 we shall there see realised the most wonderful dreams 

 and fairy-tales of our childhood. Fantastic bushes 

 bearing living flowers, the massive structure of the 

 meandrina and astrea contrasting with the branchy 

 tufts of the explanaria, which blossom in the form of 

 cups, with the madriporidae, of elegant structure and 

 ever- varvi nil: ramifications. Evervwhere throuo^hout 

 this region the eye is charmed with tlie brilliancy of 

 colour : delicate shades of sea-green alternating with 



