BENEFITS OF "PROTECTION" 103 



here, though we saw no sign of it, and there are at 

 least three species of snakes, two of which are vipers 

 {Trimeresurus gramineus and pttrpureo - macidatus). 

 There are birds, of course, and the most characteristic 

 sounds of the island, after one becomes accustomed 

 to the distant thunder of the reef, are the mocking 

 chuckle of the koel, and the soft bellow of the fruit- 

 eating pigeon. With so many crabs, it is not strange 

 that insects, except mosquitoes, are not very numerous ; 

 but as there are plenty of bright yellow - and - black 

 spiders of the genus Gasteracantha^ there must be a 

 store of insects for them to feed upon. 



Dr Prain concerned himself almost entirely with 

 the botany of the island, while I found most employ- 

 ment in the lagoon, where I made a large collection 

 of sea-stuff, among which were a new species of fish 

 and several new species of crabs. After a time one 

 becomes aware that these lagoons have a fauna of 

 their own, an assemblage of animals of retiring or 

 stealthy habits, whose colour-markings are such as 

 attract no notice against a background of coral rock. 

 Under almost every rock, for instance, you may find 

 a sea-perch, Epinephelus hexagonahis, whose livery of 

 dark, close-set hexagonal spots has a decided resem- 

 blance to the surface of an Astraeid coral : you 

 cannot get this fish to leave the protection of the 

 rock ; so much so, that a large specimen which Dr 

 Prain and I wounded (and afterwards landed success- 



