CHAPTER V 

 COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SEA FLOOR 



OF the other common objects which the visitor 

 to Nassau may notice when visiting the local 

 bars in the sea, it is hard to decide what to include 

 and what to exclude from a list of this kind, which 

 is necessarily inadequate for any but the most 

 casual observer. One may meet with anything at 

 any moment. It may happen that the first star- 

 fish you see is four-fingered, for example. These 

 are nevertheless extremely rare, the two common- 

 est being the five-pointed the Indian-red one, 

 and the brown with yellow markings. They are 

 easily dried and preserved in approximately nat- 

 ural colours and decorate many a Nassau table 

 neatly painted in surprising colours. Thus they 

 please the local sense of beauty more than au 

 naturel. Utilitarians use them for electric-light 

 shades, as the skin is thin enough to permit a 

 quiet glow, or you can plant seeds in them or wear 

 them as a hat. Nearly every sea creature that 

 can be preserved at all can be used for many sorts 



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