CH. VI MABINE FAUNA OF TALISSE SHORES 117 



and the various attempts I made to catch them with a hook 

 and line were unsuccessful, so that I procured no specimens 

 to bring home for identification. Several species of dog- 

 fishes (Seyllium, ChUoscyUium) and sharks (Carcharias) 

 have been described by Bleeker (9) that occur in the seas 

 around Celebes, and it is quite probable that they are the 

 chief disturbers of the peace on the coral reefs of Tahsse. 



People have often asked me if there are sharks in 

 Celebes, meaning thereby sharks that are large and hungry 

 enough to attack human beings who by accident or design 

 find themselves in the water. There can be no doubt that 

 there are, and it would be an extremely imprudent thing for 

 anyone to attempt to swim from one island to another if he 

 could possibly avoid it. EeaUy large dangerous sharks are, 

 however, but rarely seen, and the natives will bathe freely 

 and fearlessly even ia tolerably deep water. I have never 

 seen large sharks swimming round a vessel in N. Celebes as 

 I have at Banda and Timor and within the breakwater at 

 Colombo, nor have I seen them in the hands of fishermen nor 

 in the market-place. 



Of the corals themselves which flourish on and form 

 the reef I must now speak, and I am aware that the task 

 before me is one of no ordinary difficulty. 



Many of the genera and even orders of the corals are 

 so unfamiliar to EngUsh readers that we have no EngHsh 

 words for them in common use. My description must 

 consequently be hampered with many long and cumbrous 

 Greek and Latin words, which, even when translated into 

 EngUsh, convey a very slight and imperfect description of 

 the objects they stand for. 



First, let me explain for the benefit of those of my 

 readers who have not dipped into this branch of natural 

 science some of the essential features of the coral structure, 

 that they may be able to follow me more clearly when I 



