SECRETS OF THE OCEAN 159 



curious things ; basket starfish, with arms divided 

 and subdivided into many tendrils, on the tips of 

 which it walks, the remaining part converging up- 

 ward like the trellis of a vine-covered summer 

 house. Sponges of many hues must fairly carpet 

 large areas of the deep water, as the dredge is 

 often loaded with them. The small shore-loving 

 ones which I photographed are in perfect health, 

 but the camera cannot show the many tiny cur- 

 rents of water pouring in food and oxygen at the 

 smaller openings, and returning in larger streams 

 from the tall funnels on the surface of the sponge, 

 which a pinch of carmine dust reveals so beauti- 

 fully. From the deeper aquatic gardens come up 

 great orange and yellow sponges, two and three 

 feet in length, and around the bases of these the 

 weird serpent stars are clinging, while crabs 

 scurry away as the mass reaches the surface of 

 the water. 



Treasures from depths of forty and even fifty 

 fathoms can be obtained when a trip is taken with 

 the trawl-men. One can sit fascinated for hours, 

 watching the hundreds of yards of line reel in, 

 with some interesting creature on each of the 

 thirty-seven hundred odd hooks. At times a 

 glance down into the clear water will show a score 

 of fish in sight at once, hake, haddock, cod, hali- 

 but, dog-fish, and perhaps an immense "barn- 

 door" skate, a yard or more square. This latter 



