Ch. in.] LAND CEABS, AND LEAPING FISH. 41 



expression half of defiance, half of defence. Prowling thus 

 about, probably lq search of food, they were readily alarmed, 

 and retired to their holes, which generally seemed too smaU 

 for them, so that it took a little time for them to accommo- 

 date themselves to their narrow dimensions. If closely pur- 

 sued, therefore, they were easily captured. I carried one to 

 some distance, and placed it at the mouth of another hole, 

 down which it immediately dived and disappeared, and 

 although I waited a considerable time in the expectation that 

 the tenant of the hole would drive it out and show some dis- 

 pleasure at the intrusion, nothing of the kind occurred. 



Another singular animal which I saw here for the first 

 time, but which I found numerous on many subsequent 

 occasions, was the leaping fish, Boleophthalmus Boddaertii. 

 These curious salamandrine-lookiug creatures, for it was 

 difficult at first to say which they were, contrived to 

 elude pursuit in the most active and provoking manner. 

 Each step in advance caused them to jump, jump, in a 

 rapid and agile manner from almost under my feet — for 

 when at . rest they were scarcely distinguishable from the 

 mud on which they were lying, and to which they admirably 

 assimilated in colour — but on the least alarm they would 

 make a series of leaps, which rapidly brought them down to 

 the margin of the water, and from which it was next to 

 impossible to cut them off. They are wedge-shaped in 

 form, usually about 3 or 4 in. long, with flat poiated tails and 

 broad heads, upon which is situated a pair of prominent 

 eyes. They have been called by sailors "Jumping Johnnies," 

 and are by no means confined to muddy or sandy shores, for 

 I have found them equally among smooth rocky places, up 

 which they climb with great skill, by a series of leaps, 

 wriggling and curving the tail at each leap in a contrary 



