IX THE SEA 363 



themselves we are assured that language con- 

 veys no adequate idea. " There were corals," 

 says Prof. Ball, "which, in their' living state, 

 are of many shades of fawn, buff, pink, and 

 blue, while some were tipped with a magenta- 

 like bloom. Sponges which looked as hard as 

 stone spread over wide areas, while sprays of 

 coralline added their graceful forms to the 

 picture. Through the vistas so formed, golden- 

 banded and metallic-blue fish meandered, while 

 on the patches of sand here and there Holo- 

 thurias and various mollusca and crustaceans 

 might be seen slowly crawling." 



Abercromby also gives a very graphic 

 description of a Coral reef. "As we ap- 

 proached," he says, " the roaring surf on 

 the outside, fingery lumps of beautiful live 

 coral began to appear of the palest lavender- 

 blue colour ; and when at last we were almost 

 within the spray, the whole floor was one 

 mass of living branches of coral. 



" But it is only when venturing as far as is 

 prudent into the water, over the outward edge 

 of the great sea wall, that the true character 

 of the reef and all the beauties of the ocean 



