302 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF 



they are a decided enrichment of it. Often there are 

 masses of rock which have the appearance of houses or 

 castles ; and double-peaked hills are found along this coast, 

 as they are in most parts of Australia. 



Inside the reef the shallowness of the water is indicated 

 by the great variety of shades — grey, green, pearly, and red 

 tints — which are reflected from its surface, the deep ultra- 

 marine outside in the offing appearing nearly black in 

 contrast. The reef is indicated in various ways. Some- 

 times we see the long, low, white, sandy beach of a coral 

 island with a line of dark vegetation and a few tall trees 

 standing up from the bush below. Here and there are 

 black, fearful-looking rocks, the rugged outlines of which 

 tell how easily they could saw, cut, and crush the largest 

 and stoutest of ships to minute fragments. Everywhere, 

 or nearly so, the surging froth of breakers warn the navi- 

 gator that death and destruction are waiting for victims. 



Cruising about and over these reefs is desperately 

 dangerous work even for small craft. How Cook escaped 

 a fatal accident on this difficult coast is past finding out. 

 His vessel bore a charmed life ; or there is, indeed, a sweet 

 little cherub sitting up aloft to guard the noble lives of the 

 brave and the heroic. But the wondrously beautiful sights 

 to be seen about the Great Barrier make the risk worth 

 braving. It is only from a small boat that the most 

 superb of these sights can be witnessed. One has to be 

 near the surface of the water to see distinctly the objects 

 that live and flourish in some of the depths below, and to 

 note the marvellous display of colour which tints many of 

 the fish and weeds. 



Weeds I call them, but many of the submarine growths 

 are arboreal in size and appearance — great trees with many 

 coloured and many shaped leaves and fruits. Others are 

 of a trailing growth, and of immense length. They often 

 look weird in their undulatory creeping motion beneath 

 the waves, especially when some uncouth monster is seen 

 darting from amidst the umbrageous mystery beneath the 

 floating leaves, or craftily trying to conceal itself amongst 

 the interlaced tangle, which is impenetrable to the human 



