GARDEN OF CORAL 139 



the reefs have been explored many times, nor do any of the 

 natives know of its existence. Very few reefs, if all reports are 

 to be credited, are without monstrous clams, but they seem to 

 acquire the habit of suddenly disappearing — quite foreign to 

 theirbulk and stay-at-home character — when the time ofanti- 

 cipated capture approaches. One up a little north was stated 

 to be over 10 feet long, and to weigh at least a ton, and 14 feet 

 was alleged to be the size of another. But all disappear like 

 will-o'-the-wisps when the search-party arrives on the scene, 

 and none but ordinary specimens, that have no reputation 

 to maintain, are there to flout the ardour of the collector. 



Circumscribed as it is, the garden of coral in Brammo 

 Bay, now slowly recovering its lost loveliness, supplies an 

 excellent field for the observation of some of the most 

 wonderful of the processes of Nature. In many respects it 

 is a miniature, as most fringing reefs seem to be, of the 

 Great Barrier. 



It would be an exhibition of hopeless vanity to attempt 

 to describe the many varieties of coral and fish and crabs 

 and strange grotesque creatures low in the scale of life 

 which are unceasingly at work within "coo-ee." The 

 complexity of the subject from a scientific aspect is sufficient 

 justification for reluctance to set down anything beyond 

 casual experiences and personal observation, and the record 

 of ever-recurring pleasure obtained from the delights of the 

 marine garden. Special attainments and varied lore must 

 be at the command of the student who would attempt to 

 classify the marvels of a coral reef of even limited scope. 

 When it is remembered that the Great Barrier Reef of 

 Queensland — " one of the most valuable possessions of the 

 state" — has a length of 1,250 miles; that some of its out- 

 lying reefs extend as far from the coast as 1 50 miles ; that 

 some approach as close as 10 or 12 miles ; that the average 

 distance of the outer edge from the coast-line is 30 miles ; 

 that it embraces an area of 80,000 geographical square 

 miles, and that its corals, continuous and detached and 

 isolated, teem with life, it is impossible to repress feelings 

 of astonishment, wonder, and admiration. 



