THE INDIAN OCEAN. 361 



fins. On the approach of an enemy, they buried 

 themselves in the mud with inconceivable rapidity, 

 so that their sudden disappearance seemed to be the 

 work of magic. One of the Malays was employed 

 in catching them, as they are considered to be a 

 great delicacy. He used for the purpose a thin 

 plank, four feet long, and one foot broad ; on one 

 end of which were fixed several sharp-pointed nails, 

 the points projecting beyond the end of the plank. 

 lie placed the plank flat upon the mud, and with the 

 right knee resting on it, and kicking the mud 

 with the left foot, he shot along the surface with 

 great rapidity, the sharp-pointed nails transfixing 

 the little creatures before they could succeed in 

 burying themselves sufficiently deep to avoid it. 

 This is a dangerous sport, and requires great skill 

 in the fishermen to prevent accidents ; for should 

 he lose his plank, death would be almost inevit- 

 able, the mud not having sufficient consistence to 

 support him without the aid of this simple contriv- 

 ance."* 



Numberless creatures of the inferior classes, some 

 of which are of exquisite delicacy and beauty, float 

 on the surface of the Indian Ocean ; often in such 

 immense hosts as to cover the sea for miles around. 

 The Violet-snail (Janthina fragilis) is one of these, 

 whose shell much resembles that of our garden- snail 

 in form and size, but is of a pearly-white above, 

 and beneath violet. AVhen alive it is covered with 

 a slippery membrane. A singular floating appa- 

 ratus projects horizontally from the aperture of the 



* Eastern Seas, p. 213. 

 2H 



