JUMPING FISHES 147 



are covered at every tide with salt water. Their trunks 

 are supported some distance above the mud by their 

 tangled roots, which are frequently so thick and strong 

 that one can walk on them dryshod for great distances. 

 What I at first took to be frogs, leaping about on the 

 wet mud and crossing the road from one pool to 

 another, turned out to my surprise, on catching one, to 





JUMPING FISH. 



be fish (Periophthalmus), with gills and fins like other 

 fishes. Their eyes are placed high upon the head, and 

 give them a frog-like look. They frequently leaped 

 upon stones, and even mangrove roots, where they 

 seemed to hang on by means of their pectoral fins. In 

 jumping, they double the tail up, and then suddenly 

 straighten it out, thus propelling themselves one or two 

 feet each time. 



They are so very quick, that if I had not taken my 

 insect net I probably could not have caught one. 

 When they come to a pool of water they do not swim 



