CAPE SAN ANTONIO 159 



with hooks attached. We saw none of these in 

 Cuba. 



Again our Patron acquired merit by his wonder- 

 ful aquatic accomplishments. Any interesting 

 looking object on the bottom that we coveted, 

 needed but to be indicated and he would dive, 

 never failing to secure it for us. Once, after a 

 long struggle, he wrenched loose from its moorings 

 and brought to the surface a huge loggerhead 

 sponge, weighing quite fifty pounds, his breast 

 and arms smarting with its spicules. Thus tho 

 Patron obtained for us a fine lot of choice speci- 

 mens of gorgonians, madrepores, alga?, etc. For 

 the less obvious life of the "gardens " we had resort 

 to the dredge, although such a bottom is not well 

 adapted to this mode of collecting. Besides the 

 difficulty of frequent fouling below, another trouble 

 beset us each time the dredge was brought up. 

 This was the usual presence in the net of the dia- 

 dema sea-urchin (Centrochinus setosum) . The long 

 purple-black spines of this creature are sharp as 

 needles and minutely sculptured with recurved 

 hooks. They are brittle as spun glass so the effect 

 of contact with them, however slight, is to break off 

 in one's flesh glassy splinters which defy extraction. 



