CH. VI MABINE FAUNA OF TALI88F 8H0BE8 137 



of sand appeared upon the shoreward side of this which 

 gradually increased in breadth until it joined or nearly 

 joined the sands of the coast itself. At the lowest tides 

 there was thus formed in many places a continuous stretch 

 of dry sand leading from the shore to the edge of the reef, 

 but in others this was broken by large pools of water an inch 

 or two in depth. At high tide the waiter of the lagoon was 

 six or seven feet deep, and then it was the resort of swarms 

 of fishes of various kinds and descriptions. The herrings 

 {Clupea atricauda), whose peregrinations I have previously 

 referred to, were there sometimes in countless thousands, 

 and they could easily be caught from the pier by the 

 ordinary circular throw-nets. Pipe-fishes too, easily 

 recognised by their long pike-like snouts and small 

 terminal mouths, were not unfrequently to be seen in small 

 shoals containing a dozen or more, and many other fishes 

 whose names or relations I was unable to determine. 

 The interesting point about the fishes of the lagoon, how- 

 ever, is that, in striking contrast to those who feed upon 

 the reef, they were all, when looked at from above, of a 

 uniform dull colour. None of them possessed brilliant 

 spots, stripes and curves, but they were, as far as I could 

 see, without exception soberly dressed. When the tide 

 went down most of these fishes crossed the reef in time and 

 disappeared in the deeper waters beyond it, but swarms of 

 tiny fry were always left in the pools to fall an easy prey 

 to the whimbrels and egrets. I have sometimes seen these 

 pools crowded with little fishes, and in a little hand-net that 

 Manuel made for me I have been able to catch in a few 

 minutes enough of them to make a handsome dish of 

 whitebait for my dinner. Now the reason that the lagoon 

 fishes are of this uniform colour is of course its resem- 

 blance to the lagoon bottom when that is seen through five 

 or six feet of water. The bottom is a vast expanse of 



