The Harlequin of the Fishes 329 



der oath) that he had seen a school of dolphins 

 so immense that it tinted the turquoise seas, and 

 changed them to gold, as though some Midas- 

 hand had passed over the waters. But the 

 reality, so far as I was concerned, was very 

 different. I fished singly, and in pairs, and in 

 groups. We trolled the sea, up and down ; now 

 inshore, along the high and precipitous cliffs of 

 the island, following along in undulating kelp 

 beds that form the rialto of the fishes in these 

 seas; then finding them not, went offshore over 

 the sea. of glass, which constitutes one of the 

 wonders and charms of the region. 



Down to the southeast of Santa Catalina, 

 about five miles offshore, is a region called the 

 " doldrums," as here there is almost always a 

 lack of wind, and boats and yachts under sail 

 often drift about for hours until they escape 

 when the vagrant wind reaches them. In the 

 doldrums, as in. a vortex, patches of kelp were 

 often found drifting with the tide; some twenty 

 or more feet across, others but three or four; 

 and all afforded excellent shelter for swarms of 

 little fishes called by the men sea-minnows. 

 Singularly enough, they all had taken on the 

 tint and color of the weed a rich brownish 

 green, and when lying near it, were almost 

 indistinguishable from it. 



The weed was mostly kelp, a long olive-green 

 or amber-hued vine, with broad, fluted leaves 



