Nos. 620-621] THE HAWAIIAN CORAL REEFS 



417 



for breaking up the coral blocks and for loosening ma- 

 terial; and with sundry haversacks, wide-mouth bottles, 

 formalin, etc. For three entrancing hours we wandered 

 over the ledges, knolls, and sandy pockets of the reef, 

 bewildered by the luxuriant diversity of marine life. 

 Fantastic clumps of living coral, a large number of 

 strange molluscan species ; bright-spotted crabs and other 



crustaceans in an array of shapes and sizes ; colonies of 

 sea-urchins ; spidery-armed brittle-stars ; exquisitely beau- 

 tiful hydroid colonies; bizarre-hued holothurians ; and 

 everywhere marine algae of many tints and shapes, repre- 

 senting a long list of interesting genera. Gorgeously col- 

 ored fishes, small and large, lurked in the shadowy reef 

 pools, and evaded prolonged inspection. It is impossible 

 to describe the profound impression produced by one's 

 first sight of the strange and fascinating reef -world. 



The coral fauna of the Hawaiian reefs, although not as 

 rich nor as diversified as those of more tropical waters, is 

 not to be regarded as scanty. Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan, 

 who thoroughly investigated the Albatross and Bishop 



