WONDERS OF THE DEEP 75 



the human skull. Then there are stags' horn corals, 

 which remind one of the arrangement of the antlers 

 on a stag's head. Another kind is the star coral, whose 

 name is self-explanatory. The organ pipe coral takes 

 its name from the regular arrangement of its cylin- 

 drical dark crimson tubes side by side. 



Coral may be red, white, pink, black, pale yellow, 

 purple, green, or brown. Red coral is found exten- 

 sively in the Mediterranean Sea, and is exported to 

 India and China, where it is largely used for orna- 

 mental purposes. From the commercial point of view 

 the most valuable coral is the rose-pink. This quality 

 of coral will be sold for as much as £100 or £120 a 

 pound, whereas the same quantity of ordinary red 

 coral will fetch only about £2. Black coral is found 

 principally in the great Barrier Reef of Australia. At 

 Jedda, in Arabia, there is a black coral fishery which 

 extends fifty miles north and south. 



The word "coral " carries our thoughts "far from 

 home to fair isles in tropical seas — isles connected 

 in our memories with tales of shipwrecked mariners 

 and hair-breadth escapes, of dashing waves and 

 peaceful lagoons, of bread-fruit trees and waving 

 palms, of perpetual sunshine and endless holidays, 

 of Robinson Crusoe adventures and interesting 

 islanders, of poisoned arrows and ferocious 

 sharks." 



Coral is found all over the world : in the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea, in the West Indies, in the Fiji and 

 other Pacific Islands, out in the Atlantic, and off 

 the north-eastern shores of Australia. 



