150 Secrets of the Ocean [FOURTH WEEK 



lessly drill through the lime shells, bringing death in a 

 more subtle but no less certain form. Storms may tear 

 away the support of these poor mollusks, and the waves 

 dash them far out of the reach of the tides, while at low 

 water, crows and gulls use all their ingenuity to get at 

 their toothsome flesh. 



There are no ant-hills in the sea, but when we turn 

 over a large stone and see scores upon scores of small 

 black shrimps scurrying around, the resemblance to those 

 insects is striking. These little creatures quickly hitch 

 away on their sides, getting out of sight in a remarkably 

 short time. 



The tide is going down rapidly, and following it step 

 by step novel sights meet the eye at every turn, and we 

 begin to realise that in this narrow strip, claimed alter- 

 nately by sea and land, which would be represented on a 

 map by the finest of hair-lines, there exists a complete 

 world of animated life, comparing in variety and numbers 

 with the life in that thinner medium, air. We climb over 

 enormous boulders, so different in appearance that they 

 would never be thought to consist of the same material as 

 those higher up on the shore. These are masses of wave- 

 worn rock, twenty or thirty feet across, piled in every 

 imaginable position, and completely covered with a thick 

 padding of seaweed. Their drapery of algae hangs in 

 festoons, and if we draw aside these submarine curtains, 

 scenes from a veritable fairy-land are disclosed. Deep pools 

 of water, clear as crystal and icy cold, contain creatures 

 both hideous and beautiful, sombre and iridescent, formless 

 and of exquisite shape. 



