PLATE VIII. 
The second submarine sketch was taken in опе of the shallow channels of the coral-reef 
near the fort of Galle. U 
Tere there is a nearly horizontal bottom of fine sand, having а vivid green appearance. 
The sun is shining directly into the cristalline water, and the bright entangled lines, produced by 
the fraction of the sun-rays falling on the little waves, glide over the smooth sand and the 
various coral-groups, one of which forms the foreground of the picture. 
It may seem strange to speak of the graceful form of a coral, which is even more brittle 
than glass, but I believe the shape of the brown coral itself (Montipora foliosa) in the centre 
of the sketch, is full warrant for this expression. · 
Below the broad leaves of this lovely product of the sea, are to be seen the round mass 
of a Favia and a large block of the white tipped Millepora. 
The slime, which covers this last mentioned coral has the peculiarity of producing a "бі 
burning sensation on the skin.*) 
The coral most universally found in this part of the reef, is a kind of Heteropora, which 
sometimes covers extensive spaces like brushwood. It grows up to the hight of one to three feet 
and its brown branches are particularly attractive by their bright purple ends, which glitter like 
gems under the waves. 
The plate gives also the portraits of fish, which frequent these places. The most curious of 
them is the black and yellow Zanclus cornutus, with its singularly projecting mouth and long 
dorsal fin, which terminates in a white thread-like pendant, and is vertically erected by the 
animal when excited. High up in the waters a small fish of a very different shape (Gomphosus 
fuscus) is swimming swiftly over the corals, while an other of a dark brown colour is just descending 
in search of food, and the Acanthurus lineatus, a fish of singular beauty, is lingering close to 
the bottom, allowing us to admire the elegant blue and yellow stripes on its back. 
жу A similar kind, which I have found in the Red Sea (Millep. complanata) has the same quality and is therefore called by the 
Arabs, „Shab en nar,“ that is „fire coral“. 
