60 
are not superior to what is found in almost any place, where corals 
thrive well. The colonies stand more or less isolated, hardly form- 
ing what may be termed a reef. This is, of course, due to the faet 
that here in the inner part of the bay, where no other current 
oceurs than the flow of the tide, the water is not pure enough for 
affording the corals quite ideal conditions. 
An extraordinarily rich collecting ground is afforded by the pier 
at the town of Ambon and perhaps still more so by the coaling 
pier a little way outside the town. fiere on the iron pillars mag- 
nificent Gorgonids, Hydroids and Sponges form hiding places for 
innumerable smaller forms, Worms, Crustaceans etc. Beautiful Co- 
matulids are found clinging to the pillars as huge flowers; also 
large Euryalids may be found here, while various forms of gor- 
geously coloured fishes and shoals of plain small Clupeids seek a 
shelter among the pillars. On the stony walls, at or a little below 
low water mark, Diadema’s oceur in such quantities as to make 
the ground black. Both Diadema setosum and D. Savignyi are met 
with; the two species were, however, not found intermingled. 
When after about a week the instalment of the winch and 
motor onboard the “Amboina” was ready (very skilfully made by 
a Chinese firm) the dredging operations could begin. On account 
of the very rapidly inereasing depth in the bay the dredging had 
to be confined to the inner part of the bay, from a little way out¬ 
side the town to the inner end, the more so as great difficulties 
proved to be connected with dredging work here. The bottom is 
very irregular, in many places rocky, and very often the trawl 
caught hold and was got up only after mueh trouble, with the net 
more or less torn. In order not to run the risk of losing too mueh 
of the dredging apparatus and wire (of which I had brought only 
1200 M. length along with me from home) dredging was not extended 
beyond ca. 200 Meters depth. Nevertheless and in spite of all dif¬ 
ficulties, quite a rich harvest was made, especially of Echinoderms 
and Gorgonids. Among the former I would especially mention a 
Coelopleums, which was found in considerable numbers, mainly in 
depths of ca. 150 M..; it must in some places be quite crowded on 
the bottom. Also several species of Cidarids were encountered 
(mainly caught in the tangles attached to the trawl) a. o. a fine 
specimen of an ÅcanthocidariSy which genus had not hitherto been 
