140 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



Subdued before such a vast phenomenon, the common- 

 place man calms his aspirations for knowledge by the re- 

 flection that industrious and skilled observers have years 

 of study before them ere they come to know all the secrets 

 of the Great Barrier. 



Queer Fish 



" A strange fish ! Were I in England now (as once I was), 

 and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool but would give a 

 piece of silver." 



Of curious and pretty shells there are so many varieties 

 in these warm waters, that one must be well versed in conch- 

 ology before daring to attempt an enumeration even of 

 the commonest. I frankly admit "a little learning is a 

 dangerous thing " in this interesting branch of natural science, 

 and therefore cannot pledge myself to give details, while eager 

 to set forth a few of the objects of interest, which present 

 themselves to the open-minded though uninformed observer 

 of sea-beaten rocks, mud flats, coral reefs, and the open sea. 



Well may the dabbler despair when nine titles are 

 necessary to catalogue the oysters alone — oysters which vary 

 from the size and independence — and the toughness (be it 

 said) of the clam, to delicate morsels, so crowded and 

 cemented in communities together, that they form bridges 

 between severed rocks and shelves and cornices broad and 

 massive ; oysters flatter than plates, oysters tubular as 

 service gas-pipes; the gold-lipped mother of pearl, the black- 

 lipped mother of pearl, the cockscomb, the coral rock oyster, 

 the small but sweet rock oyster, two varieties of the common 

 rock oyster, besides the trap-door, the hammer, and another 

 of somewhat similar shape whose official and courtesy title 

 are both alike unknown, but which furnished knives and 

 sharp-edged tools of various shapes to the original 

 inhabitants of the island. The gold-lipped mother of 

 pearl is rarely found, favourable conditions for it — deep, 

 water and strong currents — not being general. An occasional 



