A Window of the Sea 3 2 5 



sea, thickly strewn in the deep blue water. Sweeping 

 by, poised in classic shapes, are the smaller jelly-fishes ; 

 crystal vases, so delicate that the rich tone of the ocean 

 can be seen through them, changing to a steely blue. 

 Some are mere spectres, a tracery of lace ; others rich 

 in colours and flaunting long trains. 



Nearly all these pellucid crafts move by slow flap- 

 ping of the umbrella-like disk ; but here is a jelly, the 

 Pkysophora, which has a series of pumps by which it 

 shoots along through the water. No more beautiful 

 object can be conceived than this ; ablaze with colours 

 pink, white, blue, and quicksilver ; darting through the 

 azure waters that form the atmosphere of the floating 

 garden. 



As the boat moves out into deep water the purity of 

 this aqueous sky is seen, as fifty feet below the rocks 

 are plainly visible, and the dim shapes of kelp leaves 

 faintly outlined far beyond. Here large fishes float : 

 the graceful sheep's-head, peculiar to the region, the 

 male having enormous red and black stripes, a blunt 

 forehead, and the lower jaw of pure white. The female 

 is a radiant creature, with beautiful eyes, and often red, 

 brown, or white. These fishes are easily attracted to 

 the boat by a judicious display of bait, where their 

 graceful forms can be plainly observed. 



Now the window is over deep water, to see the pass- 

 ing school of barracuda : tens of thousands of long, 

 slender, pike-shaped fishes, all headed in one direction, 

 swimming slowly, a picture of a thousand staring black 



