The California Sheepshead 179 
which many would be unable to live, owing to 
the surf, which would otherwise roll in strong 
and pitiless. On the South American coast the 
kelp attains a length of nearly four hundred feet, 
and without its protection it is easy to see that 
life on shore would be difficult to sustain. The 
kelp in rising upward forms halls, parterres, and 
colonnades through which the sun projects its 
rays, bringing out their many beauties, as each 
leaf is a study in itself, abounding in varied forms 
which constitute the food of certain fishes. 
White lacelike corallines cover them; crabs and 
shells, which mimic them in color, crawl along 
their stems, and delicate hydroids in many forms 
and shapes add to their beauties. The water is 
so deep along this highway of the sheepshead that 
blue water is seen through its interstices bringing 
out the leaves and stems in strong relief. In the 
watery atmosphere float countless living gems — 
the Sapphirina—a minute crustacean, which 
vies with actual gems in its beauty. Some are 
like diamonds; others are yellow, blue, red, or 
crimson ; and so rich and plentiful are they that, 
peering down, one might believe that some lavish 
Midas had sprinkled the water with jewels. Here 
float gorgeous jellyfishes, some with tentacles 
