206 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



are the expanded plumes of worms that withdrew 

 into their burrows when your shadow first fell 

 upon the pool. From beneath a rock the tips of 

 antennas of a spiny-lobster, likely a young one, are 

 beginning to project out, for he is a very cautious 

 creature with many enemies. Some particularly 

 bright bits of color at first accepted as alga? are the 

 mantle-edges of Lima and then it appears that 

 there are many of them. They are exquisite. 

 One wonders why he did not see before a curious 

 fish partially concealed behind a sea- weed; he has 

 two round spots at either end, one must be an eye, 

 and it is hard to determine which end goes first. 

 A surge from without causes an inflow of water, 

 and the contents of the pool sways slightly. 

 Something darts in with the inflow, circles the 

 basin with incredible swiftness, and darts out 

 again. 



One by one new discoveries of animal forms 

 emerge into view or dissolve from sight amid the 

 riot of color like the changing pictures on a screen 

 until one begins to question the normal condition 

 of his vision, but it is simply the perfection of 

 color adaptation of the residents of an exposed 

 station. A large proportion of the fishes are 



