8 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



by an incessant trade wind have broken. Yet 

 all transpires in perfect silence." One feature 

 that contributes to the strangeness of the sur- 

 roundings is that all vertical distances prove 

 to be much greater than they appear from the 

 surface of the water. An apparently smooth 

 floor turns out to be rough, and a rough one 

 is found to be seamed by ragged crevasses. 



Mr. Longley tells us of some of the sights 

 he saw. A bit of food thrown on to the sandy 

 floor would tempt crabs out of hiding; they 

 would scuttle over the bottom like shadowy 

 ghosts, so like are they to their surroundings ; 

 then they would scrape and scratch a little 

 with their hind legs and go down backwards 

 out of sight. Flounders, coloured and pat- 

 terned just like the bottom, would rise and 

 sink again, burying themselves in the drifting 

 sand, all but their protruding watchful eyes. 

 From a tiny hole in the coral a small fish 

 "with an enormous dorsal fin would protrude 

 half its body, and rapidly and repeatedly ele- 

 vate and depress its great banner, while an- 

 other seems to respond to the signal." " Often 

 one observes incidents which remain incom- 

 prehensible, as when two yellow grunts 

 (Hamulon sciurus) approach one another 



