VALUABLE FISHERY 303 



eye. Here are large sharks and fish of undistinguishable 

 species, which, probably magnified by the water or the 

 manner in which the light plays upon it, appear to be of 

 enormous size — far larger than anything of the kind we 

 ever see drawn ashore. Shoals of small fish, many thou- 

 sands in number, are remarkable for the brilliancy of their 

 colours, every conceivable tint being reflected strongly 

 from their bright scales. With most of these fish the 

 colours go with their lives, and in all it rapidly fades 

 when they are taken from the water. 



These reefs are a valuable nursery of fish. Hundreds 

 of species here breed in peace; and their harbours of 

 refuge, in which the destructive " steam trawl " will never 

 be able to play havoc, are innumerable. The coral is an 

 insurmountable obstacle to the use of any kind of trawl 

 or drag-net ; and the growth of marine plants also is so 

 thick as to prevent ordinary fishing operations. But a 

 considerable hook and line catch is made by local fisher- 

 men. 



The forms of the coral are various, but nearly all of 

 them exceedingly beautiful. Large trees of coral are 

 numerous, and to the branches of some of these I have 

 seen hundreds of shark's eggs attached. Flaked or 

 mushroom-like corals are among the commonest shapes ; 

 and there are thousands of "brain-stones" lying about the 

 upper parts of the reefs. Generally the coral is as white 

 as snow, but sometimes it is much discoloured with para- 

 sitic growths, and much of it is dead, and reduced to a 

 whitish sand. Fan-like masses of huge size, similar to 

 those noticed at the Abrolhos on the other side of the 

 continent, are very plentiful, and, as at that place, occa- 

 sionally are heaped up into small islands or quays. 



Probably in no part of the world can a finer display of 

 sea-anemones be seen than on some of these reefs. Large 

 patches of various colours form submarine gardens of the 

 most magnificent appearance. Few or none of these 

 Anthozoa seem to be recorded ; and, in spite of great 

 precaution, I did not succeed in keeping any of them alive 

 for an appreciable length of time. They died wholesale 



