A Dredging Excursion. 77 



all the legs and the back are covered with hairs, and frequently 

 pieces of seaweed and small sponges ; it moves very sluggishly, 

 and dies in a very short time if kept out of water. Presently 

 my friend catches hold of a ray protruding from the mud, and 

 dexterously disentangling it, it proves to be Ophiocoma rosula, 

 the common brittle star ; the five comparted disk is covered 

 with spines, and in this case is white, spotted with red, the rays 

 are banded with amber, while one is of a dark blue with roseate 

 spines. Take care how you touch him, for if you handle him 

 much he will, in the most spiteful manner, break off his rays 

 and throw them at you in disgust. These are very common, 

 their arms appearing at almost every one of the meshes of the 

 dredge. Now, however, the motion of the boat begins to tell 

 us that we have got into a chopping sea, and, turning towards 

 my dainty friend of the sandwiches, we see that he has resigned 

 himself to his fate. Considerably sobered by this affecting 

 sight, my remaining companion resumes his search in the basket, 

 but finding that a stooping posture is not agreeable in the sea- 

 way, he most reluctantly joins his companion in tribulation. 



Not being particularly susceptible to these weaknesses, I 

 call the boatman to my aid, and pick away alone in my glory. 

 On yielding to the enemy, my friend has dropped his last prize, 

 a beautiful Pecten opercularis, well worth preserving ; for beside 

 the pleasure of seeing the valves open and display the gem-like 

 eyes which fringe the mantle, the surface of the shell is covered 

 with corallines of exquisite delicacy — Plumularia, Sertularia, 

 and other equally interesting organisms. Another dead valve 

 has a little group of the angular stems of the Laomedea genicu- 

 lata, with their red, jelly-like extremities, which, when placed 

 in water, expand and show themselves to be campanulate alter- 

 nate glassy celled polypes, with many tentacles attached to 

 each. Ha ! there is a crab trying to walk up the side of the 

 basket and get away, take care of him, he is new to this district 

 — that is a Portunus marmoreus, or marbled swimming crab. 

 See his hind legs, how they terminate in broad, swimming plates, 

 finely ciliated, enabling this cleanser to scuttle about in a very 

 active manner; his back is marbled with the most beautiful 

 varied patterns, the arched lines on the carapace are covered 

 with deep blue points, while each region into which it is divided 

 has apparently its own shade of brown, buff, and red. If the 

 foreclaws be examined with a lens, the exquisite sculpture will 

 be seen, the four keels notched and toothed with fine indenta- 

 tions, and the one sharp tooth at the inner angle of the wrist ; 

 his brethren, P. jpuber and P. depurator, are now scarcely so com- 

 mon on this coast, having been partially replaced by a colony of 

 Portumus marmoreus. Here is another crab, with brownish- 

 green legs, dull red abdomen, and dark green back ; a sulky- 



