Fishes of the Coral Seas 63 



heightened by spangles of the richest colors, glowing from 

 a number of large clams, interspersed in every part. 



" Even this delightful scene was greatly improved by the 

 multitude of fishes that gently glided along, seemingly with 

 the most perfect security. Their colors were the most 

 beautiful that can be imagined: blue, yellow, black, red, 

 etc., far excelling anything that can be produced by art. 

 The richness of this submarine grotto was greatly increased 

 by their various forms, and the whole could not possibly 

 be surveyed without a pleasing transport, accompanied at 

 the same time, with regret that a work so astonishingly 

 elegant should be concealed in a place so seldom explored 

 by the human eye." 



Outside these pools in the open, are still brighter fishes, 

 shining like polished metal, the brightest of all shades being 

 blue. Only by means of dynamite can these wonderful 

 fishes be caught, and there are still two of these on the reefs 

 of Fiji, that the present writer has seen, but which he can- 

 not catch, and for which he knows no specific name. One 

 of these is a damsel-fish of the most intense blue, the fins 

 golden, and behind the dorsal fin, on the back of the tail, 

 a round spot of the most intense shimmering metallic green. 

 The other is a blenny, golden olive, and paling behind on its 

 long fan- forked tail, to the brightest golden. 



In the deeper channels the larger fishes come in, reckless 

 to absurdity in their lavish use of fancy colors, and of elabo- 

 rately planned " recognition marks." There is no color not 

 represented among these, and there is no fantastic pattern 

 of an Indian rug, or of a Navajo blanket, that is not de- 

 vised for some one of these fish. 



Outside in the open sea, the fishes are sky-blue, with sil- 

 very sides, mackerel, herring, flying fish all alike. The blue 

 is a matter of luster, not of pigment, the color changing 

 with the light, as with a highly burnished kettle. 



When the birds look down on these fishes from above, 

 they are colored like the sea, being blue. When the fish 



