THE MYSTERY OP EAST KEY. 191 



beautiful kinds. They wandered over the sand- 

 flat that extended all around the island, and 

 dived overboard from the boat, bringing up va- 

 rious treasures. Dick discovered a large horse 

 conch, probably the largest shell on the reef, 

 while in one place they found a colony of a 

 small species of Strombus, about the size of one's 

 closed palm ; the back of this was rough, while 

 the interior was beautifully tinted. The big 

 Strombus gigas was seen everywhere, the shells 

 ranging from the big broad-lipped fellows to 

 younger ones in which the lip had not begun to 

 turn. This was the shell that jewelry is made 

 from, and that is supposed to furnish pink pearls, 

 though our young naturalists failed to find them. 



Among the discoveries were another attract- 

 ive conch — a Fusus — and a rough Triton. In 

 some places varieties of Pecten and a Trochus 

 were very common, while a minute pink shell 

 was especially abundant. 



While looking over some weed Harry found 

 the first sea-horse — Hippocampus — a singular lit- 

 tle fish with a horse-like head and a prehensile 

 tail that clung to the weeds. The little creature 



