APPENDIX. 95 



" The human beings," said he, " who have organised this exhibition 

 live on dry land, on the uppermost crust of it. Even superficially 

 measured, the extent of their habitation is far smaller than our own, 

 while in depth there is not any possible comparison. And yet they 

 have arranged this Exhibition solely according to their own divisions 

 of the surface of the dry land, instead of according to the divisions of 

 the sea. There appears to me in this arrangement an assumption of 

 superiority that is hardly warranted under the circumstances. Sup- 

 posing madrepores were to hold an exhibition, and to apportion off 

 the world according to the different varieties of corals ! Should we 

 not laugh at them ? Now, it happens that human beings cannot live 

 under water. Indeed, it has come under my own experience that, if 

 they remain beneath the surface even for a very inconsiderable time, 

 they die from choking." (Some whitebait began snickering at this, 

 and were suppressed.) "And the result is," continued the speaker, 

 " that because they cannot live under water themselves, they look at 

 everything from a dry-land point of view. Our marine industries, 

 such as sinking vessels or ramming them, the destruction of nets 

 which gives occupation to such vast numbers amongst us, the con- 

 sumption of fish-hooks and angling-gear generally, and so forth, are 

 surveyed from a purely arbitrary terrestrial standpoint. Our marine 

 mysteries again what can these land-folk know of them ? They are 

 actually discussing among themselves whether our life is, or is not, 

 ' silent, monotonous, and joyless ! ' They are disputing, believe me, 

 as to whether there is such a thing as the sea-serpent or a cuttle-fish 

 big enough to seize and founder a yacht under full sail ! Now, if 

 these human beings are sincere in their desire for information, why 

 do they not let us organise a Grand Inter-elementary Fisheries 

 Exhibition, and, in a proper spirit of justice, consent to see things for 

 once from the sea-things' point of view? Think of the exhibits we 

 could produce relating to lives and ships lost at sea in what they call 

 an ' inexplicable ' way. Why, our Polar Expedition relics alone would 

 suffice to draw the whole world together to see. Who but ourselves 

 knows the true story of Arctic explorers that have disappeared ? Let 

 human beings, then, meet us fairly. Let them give over using the 

 word 'fishy' in the opprobrious sense they now use it. Let them 

 remember that the sea contains within it duplicates of nearly every- 

 thing the earth contains, and a great deal besides that the earth 

 cannot match ; that though they speak of sea as an interruption to 

 continents, we look upon continents as interruptions to sea good sea 

 run to land ; and, remembering all this, let them recognise the true 



