256 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. 



barrier-reef, or toward the old wreck to the 

 south, in water thirty or forty feet deep, and so 

 clear that every object upon the bottom could 

 be distinctly seen. The reef here was devoid 

 of branch coral, the bottom being covered with 

 a shorl-leaved variety. 



Eager faces peered over the gunwale as the 

 boat drifted along, and the moment a shell or a 

 bunch of rare coral appeared, two or three ardent 

 collectors would plunge over and race to the bot- 

 tom to secure the prize. 



On one occasion Dick was poling the boat 

 along, while Harry sat in the bow astride the 

 cut-water, with a bare leg hanging overboard on 

 either side. The water was shallow, and it 

 seemed the last place to expect an enemy ; but 

 suddenly a big black sting-ray started up, and 

 Harry gave a cry of pain and rolled back into 

 the boat, while the bird-like fonn dashed away. 

 He had been struck across the top of his foot in 

 three parallel lines by the sharp stings of the 

 whip-ray, leaving jagged and painful wounds. 



Following up the animal, they speared it, and 

 the bony serrated spine is still in Tom's posses- 



