ON THE SELANGORE SEA-COAST. 309 



same instant lifting the front half of the body clear of the ground 

 by means of the armlike pectoi'al fins which act like the front flip- 

 pers of a sea lion. These fins are almost like arms in their struct- 

 ure and use, the bones being of gi-eat length, and thus giving the 

 member great freedom of movement. Owing to the soft and yield- 

 ing nature of the mud the leaps were short, about six inches 

 being the distance gained each time, but they were so rapid, the 

 mud so very deep and our progress so slow, the fish always suc- 

 ceeded in aettine: into their holes before we could reach them. 

 Their burrows were simply mud-holes, going straight down to a 

 depth of three to four feet, large enough in diameter to admit a 

 man's arm easily, and, of course, full of water. Although the mud 

 was soft it was not sticky, and we were able to use our hands for 

 spades very eflfectually. By digging a big hole two feet deep, and 

 standing on one's head in the bottom of it, we were able to reach an 

 arm down two feet farther and seize our fish at the bottom of the 

 burrow. Lucky it was for us that they had no sharp and poisonous 

 spines, Like the mud-laff which stung me in Singapore and para- 

 lyzed my right hand for some hours. 



My first fish was hard to get and hard to hold, but, in the im- 

 mortal words of " The Shaughraun," "begorra, 'twas worth it." 



The species is known scientifically as Periophthalmus schlosserii, 

 (Pallas, Bl. Schn.) a member of the family Gobiidce, whose expanded 

 ventral fins serve as a foot, the lengthened pectorals as organs of 

 locomotion, while the smaU gill opening allows the retention of suf- 

 ficient moisture to sustain the fish for a considerab^ e period on land. 



Adult specimens are nine inches long, of a uniform slaty color. 



As I remarked before, our living specimens were hard to hokh 

 When I was trying to pass a string through the gills of my first 

 fish, he struggled out of my grasp, and the moment he touched the 

 mud started at his best speed for the water twenty yai'ds distant. 



I was horrified at the thought of his getting away, and instantly 

 faDing upon my hands and knees I pursued him frantically " on all 

 fours." It must have been a sight fit for the gods, for even my 

 stolid and ever respectful Malays actually shouted with laughter to 

 see the tuan go over the mud like a " buaya " (crocodile). My 

 change of base was successful, however, for I was able to go over 

 the mud instead of through it, and I overhauled my fish in fine 

 style. A few minutes later I saw Francis execute the same brilliant 

 manoeuvre for the same cause, and it certainly was a most laugh- 

 able spectacle. 



