h:J>.

E+

REE

LDER 4-

0HOU Hast most traitorous!;? cor-
rupted me jtaum of fKe realm,
in erecting a grammar scKool :
and vJKereas, before, our forefathers
Kad no ofner books but me score and
talty, fnou hast caused printing to be
used ; and, contrar? to me King, nis
crov?n and digni^>, 4iou Kast built a

paper-mill. — A7;/^ Henry VI.

Malm

Haaljtugton, i. <2L

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF

BY
CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER, LL. D.

AUTHOR OF LIFE OF CHARLES DARWIN,
ELEMENTS OF ZOOLOGY, THE IVORY KING, LIVING LIGHTS, ETC.

WITH MANY ILL US TR A TIONS

NEW YORK

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1899

COPYRIGHT, 1892,
BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED
AT THE APPLETON PRESS, U. S. A.

PREFACE.

THE adventures and incidents of the follow-
ing story do not belong to the realm of fiction.
They are the actual happenings in the daily life
of several boys, one of whom, the author, resided
for five or six years upon a small key of the
great coral-reef that stretches away into the Gulf
of Mexico from the Florida Peninsula. A por-
tion of nearly every day was spent in floating
over the coral gardens, for which the locality is
famous, or in hunting or fishing for the strange
animals which there found a home. The excur-
sions were made, as described, under the guid-
ance of a naturalist who, while a surgeon in the
army and stationed at the post, was studying the
corals and other animals of the reef, and who
relied not a little upon the young naturalists

(iii)

M202991

iv ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

and divers to collect the specimens in which he
was interested, and which, at the request of
Professors Agassiz and Baird, ultimately found
their way into the Smithsonian Institution, the
Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge,
and other institutions of science throughout the
country. The recollections of these days — the
swimming-trips along coral banks, exciting chases
after turtle and shark, visits to the haunts of the
sea-gull, dives to the home of the queen conch in
the deep lagoon — are still fresh in the author's
memory, and it is hoped that some of the enthu-
siasm of the boy naturalists of the reef, in out-
door studies, may be imparted to the young read-
ers of this volume.

For a few illustrations taken from Elements
of Zoology, written by the author jointly with
J. B. Holder, the undersigned is indebted to the
American Book Company, publishers of that
work.

C. F. H.

PASADENA, CAL., July, 1892.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE
THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE 3

CHAPTER II.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY 27

CHAPTER III.

ON THE OUTER REEF 49

CHAPTER IV.

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT . . . . . . .73

CHAPTER V.

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS 102

CHAPTER VI.
RIDING A SHARK 120

CHAPTER VII.
THE TALKING-FISH 132

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND 147

(v)

vi ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.
CHAPTER IX.

PAGE
TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR 104

CHAPTER X.

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY . . . . . . 183

CHAPTER XI.
THE ISLE OF BIRDS 194

CHAPTER XII.
CATCHING A MAN-EATER 217

CHAPTER XIII.

A TURTLE TURN 232

CHAPTER XIV.
THE PET-HOUSE 244

CHAPTER XV.
HAULING THE SEINE 255

CHAPTER XVI.
THE HURRICANE .... . 2G7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

"A large fish, like a monster bird, rose partly out of the

water'' Frontispiece

Paublo 5

The Antennarius marmoratus and its floating nest formed of

Gulf-weed 17

Anthea cereus 21

Sea-anemone and its young 22

A jelly-fish 26

Fort Jefferson 29

An uninvited passenger 30

Inside Fort Jefferson 32

Green turtle 36

The "Conch boys" catching turtles 38

Hawksbill or shell turtle .- . . 43

A game of leap-frog 45

Astrcea pallida 53

Multiplication of polyps by spontaneous fission . . . .54
Remoras clinging by their sucking-disk to the under part of a

shark 58

Sea-fan, or gorgonia 64

Spider-crab 65

Edible crab 72

Porpita pacifica 79

Velella Umbosa 80

Preparation • .83

(vii)

I

viii ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

PAGE

Perpetration ^4

Frigate-bird ,85

Cyprcea moneta ,88

Black echinus eating into a rock 88

Sea-cucumbers ,89

Fierasfer and young ,90

Branch coral ,93

Sea-egg 101

Tellina radiata 105

Toad-fish 106

Diagram of the growth of a sea-squirt or ascidian . . .115
Tom went headlong over the bow . . . . .118

Meandrina cerebriformis 123

Marine cray-fish .124

An octopus running > 126

Argonaut with the shell. Argonaut without the shell . .129

Octopus punctatus 130

Pearly nautilus 131

The sea-porcupine 135

The porcupine as a balloon . .136

Scallop > 142

Shells of living foraminifera 143

Brittle star t 144

Jelly-fish .145

The basket-fish '. ! ! ! 157

Sword-fish and saw-fish 159

The bill or gar-fish ICO

The sea-horse p 162

Flamingo and nest .174

Portuguese man-of-war . ..... .177

Parrot-fish e 182

Common salt-water mussel. The dancing scallops . . . 200
Oysters, showing different stages of growth . . . .202

Ocypoda, a marine crab that lives on land 205

Gecarcinus rusticola, a land-crab 207

Marine hermit-crab 210

Frigate-bird 212

The decorator . 215

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ix

PAGE

The blue shark 219

The pet shark 227

Walking-stick 230

Craw-fish 233

The lophius 246

Meandrina convexa 247

Sea birds 249

Dana's astrangia . 254

Decorating in captivity 259

Luminous fish of the deep sea ....... 263

Horseshoe-crab in trouble ... o .... 266

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

CHAPTER I.

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE.

Leaving Key West — The expedition — Catching a kingfish — The
Marquesas — Graining a Tartar — In the wake of a big ray — The
spoonbill — A small Sargasso sea — The nest of a fish — The float-
ing coral — Animal flowers — The dancing cranes — A sea of fire
— The ames of animals.

LL aboard for the Tuguses ! "
shouted a jolly-faced col-
ored man.

" All aboard ! " echoed three
youthful voices.

The hawsers were cast off,
the jib run merrily up by. willing-
hands, and the trim schooner
Tortfagas bore away down Key
West Harbor, headed for Gar-
den Key, the land's end of the
great Florida reef — the key of
the Gulf of Mexico.

The Tortugas was a Government schooner

4 ALONG THE FLORIDA EEEF.

yacht, commanded by Captain David Ellis, and
carried the mail from Key West to the end of
the reef, being the only regular means of com-
munication. On this trip the passengers com-
prised Dr. Bassett, his son Tom, and Dick and
Harry Edmonston, companions of the latter and
sons of the commanding officer of the district.
The doctor was an enthusiastic naturalist. His
object in visiting the great reef was to study
the corals and collect specimens of all the ani-
mals found here ; and the boys were looking
forward to exciting and novel experiences in
aiding in the practical work of collecting in the
months to follow.

The wind was fair, and the Tortugas was
soon bowling along with a mass of foain under
her bow, starting the flying-fishes, and even
attracting the attention of the sleeping pelicans
that floated in the water here and there. By
the docks and wharves of the Spanish- American
town they rushed, passing Fort Taylor, with its
frowning guns, then bearing away by the Sand
Key light and heading, as the captain said, for
" sundown."

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 5

"What you young geinmen like fo' sup-
per ? " asked Paublo, the cook, as the boys
passed the galley. " Grunt,
hogfish, grouper, snapper,
conch, green turtle ? "

"111 take kingfish,"
said Dick.

" So will I," said Tom.

"Dat's always de way," rejoined Paublo;
" de only fish I ain't got. But I kin cotch one ;
dish yer's a great place fo' kingfish," added the
obliging cook, taking out a stout line from a
locker and fastening a bright silvery sardine
to the hook ; " an' if one of you young gem-
men will hold de line I'll git de fryin'-pan
scotched."

"I'll hold it," said Harry, taking the line
from the jolly Paublo, who went off to the gal-
ley, singing softly :

" Ham fat, ham fat,

Frying in de pan,
Ham fat, ham fat,

Cotch him if you can.
Oh ! git you in de kitchen

As quick as ebber can,

6 ALONG THE FLORIDA EEEF.

Hoochie koochie koocliie,
I'm de ham-fat man."

Harry seated himself on the rail, line in
hand, watching the last receding cocoanut trees
of Key West. He had almost forgotten the
kingfish, when a mighty jerk nearly pulled him
overboard.

" I've got him ! " he cried. But that looked
doubtful, as the fish gave a powerful surge, tak-
ing the line through his fingers at a rate that
made them burn. Captain Ellis luffed the
schooner, and they shortly had the kingfish
alongside. It proved to be a fine specimen,
about three feet long, of a steel-blue and silver
color, with a long and rakish jaw.

"Don' lift him by de line," cried Paublo,
who came running from the galley, unship-
ping on the way a pair of grains which hung in
the shrouds, " or you'll tear out his jaw. Now,
hold him up."

Harry and Tom raised the fish slightly,
while Paublo hurled the barbs into its neck;
and by the combined efforts of the three the fish
was lifted to the deck, where it thrashed around

THE LAND OP THE DANCING CRANE. 7

and gave them all a lively few moments, dodg-
ing its tail. Paublo now took it in hand, and
before long a rich odor floated aft that told of a
coming dinner and a good one.

Other kingfish were caught during the after-
noon, the ground proving, as Paublo had said,
one of the best. When the boys had wearied
of hauling in big fish they joined the doctor,
who told them something about Garden Key—
their destination and home for months to come,
and, as it turned out for the doctor and Tom, a
residence of six or seven years.

"In 1818," he began, "Florida belonged to
Spain ; but in the following year it was pur-
chased by our Government for five million dol-
lars. This was considered a large sum at the
time, but at present, with its valuable fisheries
on the reef, the orange-grove industry of the
main-land, the harbors and resorts, it is ssen
to have been very cheap; in fact, Key West
alone could not be purchased for that sum.

"Having obtained the new possession, our
Government found it necessary to fortify it ; so
in 1847 the central island of the Tortugas group

8 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

was selected, and Fort Jefferson begun. There
was an old-fashioned light-house there, as well as
a cottage, which is mentioned in one of Coop-
er's novels. Previous to this time the island
had been the resort of buccaneers and outlaws
from all lands, who were finally driven away by
the ships of our West India squadron.

"The islands are called Tortugas, which
means in Spanish i turtle,' because they have al-
ways been famous as the breeding-grounds of
the green and loggerhead turtles. They are
called keys, which is a corruption of the Spanish
cayo, an inlet. Some call the group the Dry
Tortugas, as there are no springs there, all the
drinking water being caught in cisterns. Tor-
tugas is sixty miles from Key West, and be-
tween the islands is the Marquesas."

"Will it be possible for us to stop over at
the Keys ? " asked the doctor of the captain,
who stood near.

" I think so, sir," was the reply. " The way
things look we shall just about reach there and
be caught in a dead calm."

The captain's prophecy came true. The

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 9

wind gradually died away ; the booms creaked
and slashed to and fro as the schooner rolled
in the ground swell ; the reefing points beat a
merry tattoo on the listless sails, and at sun-
down the Gulf, as far as the boys could see, was
a sea of glass, the sun going down ainid splen-
dors they had never dreamed of.

Paublo took a belay ing-pin and began tapping
on the foremast, advising the boys to whistle for
the wind ; and Captain Ellis assured them that
these two methods never failed in his experience
to raise the wind if kept up long enough — a
truism which was appreciated later on.

But, despite the shrill calls and the tattoo
on the foremast, the surface of the Gulf re-
mained as smooth as a mirror ; and finally even
Paublo became discouraged and brought out his
violin, whiling away the time with song and
dance. Finally, with the stars and the South-
ern Cross gleaming brightly, the party turned
in, to awake the next morning and see over the
rail a group of islands resting like gulls upon
the water.

" We managed to reach here in the night,"

10 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

said Captain Ellis, joining them ; " and as there
is no wind you may as well go ashore."

The boys were only too delighted, and after
a hurried breakfast the little dinghy was low-
ered away, and they were soon pulling up the
blue channel that skirted the Key. The Keys
were picturesque islands, with white, sandy
beaches, covered with a mass of low bay -cedars.

When nearly opposite a little bay, some cu-
rious fins were seen cutting the water.

" Sharks ! " exclaimed Dick, looking over his
shoulder.

" I think so," replied Tom, wisely.

" Don't make any noise, boys ! " whispered
Dick, as he made a long lead or sounding-line
fast to the thwarts, then with grains in hand
stood prepared for action, as the boat neared the
mysterious fins.

" Here's one coming this way," he added,
raising the pole as he spoke. Hardly had he
uttered the words when a great black body ap-
peared near the bow and he let drive, with a
result that almost appalled them. A large fish,
in appearance like a monster bird, rose partly

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 11

out of the water, coming down with a crash that
sounded like the blast of a small cannon. The
waves rocked the boat violently, and the occu-
pants were thrown down in a body by the sud-
den shock. Tom had been holding the coil of
rope, but had fortunately remembered to throw
it overboard, leaving the end fast to the bow.

" That's not a shark ! " said Dick, as he
picked himself up from the bottom of the boat.

"I should say not," retorted Harry; "but
what do you suppose it is ? Just see it go ! "

The fish was rushing away, making the
water foam and boil.

"Stand by the line," shouted Tom, "it will
be taut in a second ! "

" Away we go ! " cried Dick.

And go they did. For now the fish, had
taken the whole length of line and, with a sud-
den jerk, on rushed the dinghy, bow under, at
race-horse speed.

" Cut the rope ! " shouted Dick, excitedly,
picking himself up for the third time. " He'll
capsize us."

" Hold on a minute," said Tom, who had

12 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

caught the line at the notch ; " I've got the
hatchet, and when I'm sure he's too much for us
I'll cut the rope."

But just then they heard Paublo calling to
them from the schooner, between his rounded
hands and at the top of his voice :

"Cut de line! cut de line! don't let him
foul de line. It's a devil-fish ! "

The boat tore along the channel at a rapid
rate, but as it turned a curve the excited boys
saw that their strange steed was rushing to its
own destruction, for the channel ended in a mud
flat.

They were right. In its terror the great fish
ran up on the dead coral in about one foot of
water. The line slackened all at once, and the
boys now put out their oars and, after stopping
the boat's headway, pulled off to watch the
dying fish that was beating the water furiously.
Its head was fully exposed, and, as they pulled
in range, Dick put a load of buckshot into it
and ended its struggles.

When, shortly after, the doctor and Paublo
were brought ashore, and they all walked round

THE LAND OP THE DANCING CRANE. 13

to view their capture, Paublo said : " I thought
it was a devil-fish ; but it's pretty near it — one
of de biggest rays I ever see. Sometimes dey
cotch 'em here fifteen foot across, an' dey git
foul with anchors an' tow smacks about in a
mighty mystrus fashion."

" Are you joking ? " asked Harry doubt-
ingly.

"No," said the doctor, answering for Pau-
blo. " I know of a case myself where a manta
fouled the anchor of a good-sized schooner and
towed it for a mile before it cleared. The fish
has two curious projections," he continued,
" which are sometimes called claspers ; these oc-
casionally are fouled with cables, and the fish
rushes away in blind terror, towing the vessel,
much to the astonishment of the sailors. -Sev-
eral cases have been known on the reef."

The boys carried away the tail as a souvenir,
and then pulled around to the sandy beach off
which the schooner was anchored.

" Give way hard ! " said Paublo, who had
the stroke oar, and with a rush the boat was
sent on the beach, whereupon the boys all

14 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

tumbled out and hauled her above the water-
line.

They started at once to explore the beach,
and soon came upon an old wreck, which the
tides had evidently driven higher and higher,
year after year, until it was now high and dry,
the haunt of crabs and gulls, which had evi-
dently taken complete possession. Tom noted
one bird of so brilliant a red that he determined
to secure it. A shot from his gun brought it
down with a broken wing. It started for the
water at once, but Tom dashed into the surf and
caught it just in time.

" Isn't it a splendid fellow to set up in our
collection ? " asked Tom enthusiastically. " It's
a spoonbill, isn't it ? "

" Yes," the doctor replied, " and a fine speci-
men, too. Its feathers, you see, are blood-red,
and its bill is spread out at the end, not unlike
the bowl of a spoon. Hence its name, the ro-
seate spoonbill."

After a stroll, followed by a rest on the
beach, the party took to the boat again, intend-
ing to make a circuit of the little island. As

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 15

they pushed out, Harry said, looking down
through the clear water :

" The bottom of the sea is as beautiful as a
garden."

" Yes," rejoined the doctor ; " the corals, fans,
plumes, and sea- weeds are the plants ; the Gulf
Stream moves through their branches as wind
plays through the trees on land; and as land
plants absorb the excess of carbonic gas, these
marine forms secrete the lime salts, rejecting the
soluble salts of sodium and other substances
that are not necessary for them. The land
plants purify the air so that we can breathe it,
and the animal-gardens do a similar work in the
ocean, purifying the sea-water, keeping down
the excess of salts that would be unwholesome
for the fishes and other animals."

" And how about the animal life, doctor ? "
inquired Dick.

" The likeness holds good," replied the doc-
tor, " for there are many curious similarities.
The seals, manatees, and whales are the cows of
the sea ; the sharks are the eagles ; the crabs are
the insects ; the bird-of -paradise finds a worthy

1G ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

imitator in the fantastic angel-fish which we
shall see among these very coral reefs. For
every animal on land there is in the sea some
creature which seems to fulfill the same office,
though, of course, under changed conditions."

The conversation was here interrupted by
the dinghy coming to a sudden standstill. It
had run into a great bunch of sea-weed.

" It's a regular Sargasso sea," said Tom,
laughing. "We could almost use this as an
anchor."

"That has been done with some species,"
answered his father. "There is found near
Tierra del Fuego a gigantic sea-weed called
Macrocystis pyrifera, which grows in water two
hundred and forty feet deep, and is so firmly
rooted that vessels during smooth water are fre-
quently made fast to it."

Here Dick, who had been towing after him
a mass of the weed, suddenly noticed that some
spherical pieces of the weed had been separated
from the rest. Seizing one of them, he tossed it
into the boat,

" Here's a marine base-ball," said he.

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 17

"This is a very interesting find, Richard,"
said the doctor, picking it up. "Your marine

The Antennarius marmoratus and its floating nest, formed of Gulf- weed.
Fish natural size, the nest reduced.

18 ALONG THE FLORIDA 11EEF.

base-ball is really the nest of a peculiar fish,
about four inches long, which lives on the sur-
face of the water in this gulf -weed. The nest
is made up, as you see, of pieces of sargassum,
wound in and out, and matted together in a cu-
rious fashion, and then held in its spherical shape
by bands of a glutinous secretion from the fish
that look like strings of jelly."

When the nest had been opened, the eggs
of the fish were found fastened to the leaves in
great numbers ; and Dick, who still retained
some of the loose pieces, w?as fortunate enough
to find the odd fish itself.

"It is the Antennarius" said the doctor;
"and a more curious fellow could scarcely be
imagined. You will notice that he mimics the
color of the sea- weed."

" And see," added Dick, " these things that
look like bits of the weed on its head and fins
are really part of its flesh."

The doctor had placed the prize in a pail
of water, and, continuing, said : " They are
slow swimmers, you see," as the fish moved
lazily about, " and prefer to lie undisturbed

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 19

among the protecting branches of the sea-
weed."

" I should like to see the baby fish when
they are hatched," said Harry ; " there must be
a thousand of them."

"More than that," replied the doctor. "If
all the eggs of fishes wrere hatched, or if all the
young grew up, there would not be water enough
on the earth to float them. There is always a
fish of some kind that preys upon each particu.
lar species, and they in turn are devoured by
others. There must, therefore, be many born, if
any are to survive. But, without this check to
the increase, the fish would multiply with mar-
velous rapidity. Suppose, for instance, the egg
of the cod, which lays — by trustworthy calcula*
tions — over nine millions of eggs, should all be
hatched and grow to maturity, the bodies of the
cod alone would, before many years, seriously
impede navigation."

The boys concluded that it was fortunate so
many fish enjoyed a cod-fish diet.

The boat had now nearly completed the
round of the island when, on making a sudden

20 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

turn, they came upon a number of white cranes
and gannets. The cranes rose quickly, but Tom,
the sportsman, who usually had his gun ready,
brought one down, very neatly, on the wing.
The stupid gannets had not moved even yet,
and Tom declared that they well deserved the
name of "boobies." The boys pulled out and
picked up the body of the crane. It was a
beautiful white bird, with a yellow patch on its
breast.

" It is a heron," said the doctor ; " and this
yellow spot on its breast is supposed by some
observers to be capable of giving out a bright
phosphorescence in the dark."

" Don't shoot ! " said Harry, as Tom took aim
at the gannets, who were still regarding their
strange visitors in stupid amazement. " Let me
start them."

Taking a large piece of coral which he had
picked up on the beach, he threw it toward the
birds. The gannets rose slowly, as the coral
splashed up the water, but, to the great astonish-
ment of the boys, the coral, instead of sinking,
floated lightly on the water like a piece of wood.

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 21

"All stones don't sink," said the doctor,
laughing to see Harry's look of surprise. " That
coral doesn't mean to be left out of our collec-
tion ; seriously, I think we had better keep the
specimen," he added ; and the floating coral was
again picked up.

"But what is it — and why is it — doctor?"
asked Harry.

"It is what might be called the skeleton of
the coral called Meandrina spongiosa" explained
the doctor; "and when the animals die it be-
comes bleached. It is very porous, and the

pores being full of air,
the coral floats easily on
the water."

" Hold on a minute,"
said Dick, as the boat
grated over some branch-
coral, knocking off thou-

Anthea cereus (Opelet). gandg Qf tipg> The ^

gliy was stopped, and Dick, leaning over the
side, tore off a branch of dead coral. Hanging
to it was a beautiful anemone. Dick handed it
to the doctor, who placed it in a glass of water.

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Very soon the anemone threw out its beautiful
tentacles, which were like the petals of a flower.

" It is more like a flower than an animal,"
remarked Harry.

" Yes," said the doctor, " and related to the
corals. You can form a very good idea of the
coral animals from this
anemone, which differs
from the coral polyp
mainly in the fact that it
does not secrete lime.
They all belong to the
class Actinozoa. The
body, as you see, is a
cylinder, its top fringed with tentacles, and di-
rectly below is the stomach, hanging in the body,
and held in place by vertical partitions. Water
in this animal seems to serve the purpose of
blood."

"His blood is no i thicker than water/ then ?"
said Tom, with an air of sober inquiry.

The doctor laughed and resumed : " The
tentacles, under the microscope, are seen to be
covered with minute cells, in each of which is

Sea-anemone and its young.

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 23

coiled a delicate, hair-like javelin that is darted
out on the slightest provocation. Now, if a
small crab or shrimp bumps against these tenta-
cles, myriads of these darts shoot out, striking
and paralyzing the intruder, while the tentacles
draw it down into the stomach of the ane-

mone."

" Have they no eyes ? " asked Tom.

" Yes, they are here at the base of the tenta-
cles, but are too small to be seen in this little
specimen. The anemones are produced in sev-
eral ways, as from eggs, and by what is called
budding. The latter process is extremely sim-
ple, the animal apparently tearing off bits of its
disk as it moves along, each of which in a few
days throws out tentacles and becomes a new

anemone."

The mast of the Tortugas could now be
seen beyond the beach. Paublo, who had been
searching for turtles' eggs, hailed the dinghy,
and soon after they were alongside. An awning
was rigged over the stern, tempering the heat
so that it was not too great for comfort.

While lying around on deck, the attention of

24 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the boys was attracted by the actions of a flock
of cranes. One by one they had collected until
eight or ten stood on the sand. Their move-
ments were decidedly curious. Now some of
them would rush around, hop in the air, rise just
above the surface, and dance along in a dandified
fashion, pecking at imaginary objects, and utter-
ing strange cries that provoked no little merri-
ment among the boys.

" This must be the land of the dancing
crane," said Harry.

" It looks very much like it," replied the doc-
tor, " and is just as truly dancing as the motions
of men and women. Many birds have this
habit, but the cranes are the most remarkable.
The cock of the rock, a South American bird, is
also a dancer. The other birds form in a circle
about it, and when it retires exhausted another
bird takes its place."

As Captain Ellis had predicted, the wind
went down with the sun, and the water be-
came as smooth as glass, reflecting the countless
stars, and gleaming with phosphorescent light.
The schooner appeared to be resting in a sea

THE LAND OF THE DANCING CRANE. 25

of molten metal, and wherever a fish leaped
from the water a blaze of seeming fire ap-
peared.

" Take some of the water up/' said the doc-
tor to Dick, who was dashing an oar into the
water to see the great waves of light that fol-
lowed, handing him a tall glass for examining
delicate specimens.

Dick reached down and filled it with the
gleaming liquid. Upon examination, they saw
the cause of the phosphorescence. Innumerable
minute animals threw out the light, like so many
electric lamps. The doctor pronounced them
NoctiluccB, while little crustaceans in the water
undoubtedly added to the illumination. Intro-
ducing a stick and whirling it about, Dick took
out his watch and could almost make out the
time by the living light — an experiment which
was successfully carried out upon another occa-
sion.

"It's freshening up," said Captain Ellis,
coming forward and pointing to a slight ruffle
on the water, "and I propose wre get under
way."

26

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

The boys jumped to the halyards with the
sailors, and very soon the Tortugas was moving
quietly away, leaving the islands of the dancing
crane far in the distance.

A iellv-fish.

CHAPTEK II.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY.

Garden Key and the Dry Tortugas— Bob Rand and Long John — A
pet pelican — A large fort — Getting settled — Home on a coral
key — Riding the green turtle — The aquarium — Angel-fish —
Surgeon-fish — Leap-frog with a fish — Long John's pets — The
fishing and collecting tools, coral hooks, and grains.

HEN the boys awoke next
morning and staggered on
deck, they found the Tortugas
bowling along with a fair wind,
a big square sail out to help her
along, and a strange dinghy tow-
ing astern, while sitting on the
weather rail were two men, evi-
dently the owners, who had just
come aboard. They were intro-
duced as Long John and Bob
Rand to the boys, who unani-
mously agreed that they were very singular char-
acters.

28 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Tlie new-comers were pilots, wreckers, and
fishermen. Long John, as his name indicated,
was remarkably tall, over six feet, and very
thin, with the reddest face imaginable, set oil
by a head of very spare gray or yellow hair.
Bob Hand was short and stout, with a face, if it
were possible, even redder than John's.

The men greeted the boys cordially. Long
John was very talkative, while Bob Eand would
take off his glazed hat, scratch his head, and
prepare to speak, when Long John would an-
swer for him. As this happened on almost
every occasion when Long John was present,
Bob rarely entered into the conversation. But
the boys found him a good friend and agreeable
companion in the long months that followed,
both men being with them almost constantly.

The morning was perfect. To the starboard
and north a large key was seen, apparently
hanging in the water. This was East Key,
while beyond it Middle and Sand Keys appeared
like bits of silver against the blue of the Gulf.
Dead ahead was Bush Key; beyond rose the
grim walls of a great fortress, while still farther

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 29

away, seemingly from out a long line of mist,
rose the tall tower of Loggerhead Light-house.

All around the group, and far to the south,
stretched a line of foam that seemed to indicate
impassable reefs.

Gradually the walls of the fortress came
more plainly into view ; the boys could distin-
guish the waves as they beat upon the coral
shores, and, running past Sand Key, the Tortu-
gas suddenly wore around and headed up the
narrow channel that led to the east of the fort.

At a word from the captain the crew manned
the halyards and jib downhaul, the schooner was
luffed, and as she came up, away went the an-
chor, the mainsail came rattling down, and the
Tortugas lay snugly moored under the frowning

30

ALOXG THE FLORIDA REEF.

walls of Fort Jefferson, on Garden Key, or the
Tuguses, as Paublo preferred to call it.

Long John and Bob Eand shoved off to
bring the luggage-boat, and as they rowed away

in the dinghy
the boys wTere
surprised to
see a pelican,
that had been
quietly flying
overhead, sud-
denly circle
down and
try

An uninvited passenger.

to alight on Long John's head, flapping its great
wings and uttering a queer asthmatic sound.
John pushed the bird away, and then it tried

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 31

to alight on Bob Rand, but failing in this,
it settled down in the dinghy, as if deter-
mined to have a ride, whether welcomed or
not.

" Well, that's the queerest thing I ever saw,"
said Tom, laughing. "Are all the birds around
here as tame as that, Paublo ? "

" Not all, sir," replied Paublo. " Dat's one o'
John's pets. It follows him all over, jest like a
dog ; an' w'en he's too lazy to fish f o' bait de old
pelican does it fo' him. Dey's a queer pair.
Long John kin tame anything."

Bob Rand was soon seen sculling back a
large flat-bottomed boat, into which the luggage
was thrown ; and after its return the boys eager-
ly scrambled in, quickly reaching the shore,
finding themselves under the shadow of one of
the largest forts in the world. There was no
time to examine their surroundings, as their lug-
gage, the boxes, and cans had to be taken into
the fort. Paublo, with the aid of some colored
boys, soon had everything loaded upon wheel-
barrows, and with the young naturalists on
either side to superintend the work, the march

32

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

was taken up the long broad walk, over the
drawbridge, and into the big fort.

The doctor was assigned quarters in a small
brick cottage on the west side, and here the
party speedily made themselves at home. Knap-
sacks were emptied, boxes unpacked, the alcohol
was poured into numerous small cans ; books and
drawing implements, microscopes, and other ap-
paratus were placed in order on a large table in
an adjoining room, after which the expedition
was, as Dick said, "ready for business." The
weather was delightful ; the mellow moonlight
streamed through the open window, and from
the distant reef came the sullen roar of the surf,

above which was heard
occasionally the cry of
a laughing gull.

Next day the great
fort was thoroughly
explored. The boys
wandered through the
groves of cocoa palms
and bay cedar that gave Garden Key its name,
paced the cedar avenue that led up to head-

Inside Fort Jefferson.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 33

quarters, and even played a game of base-ball
on the pleasant parade-ground, turfed with Ber-
muda and a thick wiry grass.

Their island home comprised thirteen acres,
most of which wras covered by the fort, then
being erected by the Engineer Department of the
United States. The fort, one of the largest of
its kind in America, was built of brick, was half
a mile around, with three tiers of guns, and sur-
rounded by a moat eight or ten feet deep, the
only entrance being the sally-port, through which
the boys had passed ; even this could be closed
by a heavy drawbridge, making the grim fortress
completely inaccessible.

The island was made up of ground coral,
shell, and the hard portions of a lime-secreting
sea-weed, and was so low that it would have
been washed away time and time again by the
hurricanes had not, as Tom said, the fort and its
sea-wall held it down.

Their home was a portion of a growing atoll
on the very wrestern end of the reef and the cen-
ter of the Tortugas group. The little harbor
was perfectly protected, affording safe facilities

34 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

for boating and sailing inside the reef, and was
famed as a zoological collecting ground. Acres
and acres of coral reef stretched away in every
direction, bathed by the warm waters of the
Gulf Stream, that swept by and through the
olive-hued coral branches, burdened with food
from the warm belt and the Caribbean Sea.

That night the doctor told the boys about
the reef, and outlined their plans. " We must,"
he said, " combine business with pleasure. We
are going to make a complete examination of the
reef, and collect every animal upon it — the vari-
ous kinds of shells and corals, the birds, fishes,
and sea-weed. And, further, we must learn all
about the ways and habits of the inhabitants of
this wonderful garden of the sea, observe how
the coral grows and how fast ; in fact, store up
all the facts we can. A portion of every day
we will spend on the reef ; then at night we can
assort our finds and discuss them."

It is needless to say that the boys looked
forward to this programme with delight and
pleasant anticipation.

The doctor had made some arrangement by

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 35

which Long John and Bob Rand were to aid
them with their sloop from time to time, while
an old sailor, named Busby, and a Seminole In-
dian, called Chief, became in time companions
on many of their trips.

Paublo had been induced to undertake the
culinary department ; the commodore, as Busby
was termed, fell into the dignity of boat-keeper,
and in a very short time the little party was set-
tled and ready for work.

The first experience of the boys on the key
was an exciting one. They were busily at work
unpacking when a lusty shout from Paublo
called them out.

" If any of yo' young gemmen wants to go
turtle-ridin'," he said, " I'm goin'."

No further invitation was necessary, and the
boys followed him down through the sally-port,
to the quarters, and finally out around the sea-
wall. The moat here was about one hundred feet
wide, half a mile around, and eight or ten feet
deep, the bottom being a clear white sand, so that
every object was visible, and the boys soon made
out a number of dark forms lying on the bottom.

36

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Dey's green turtle," whispered Paublo, in
reply to Dick's question, " and don't make any
noise or dey'll start off."

Green turtle ( Chelonia viridis).

" But now are we to catcli them ? " asked
Tom.

"Why, dive fo' 'em," replied Paublo ; "yo'.
want to swim along right up behind, an' wr'en
yo' git on top dive down, sudden-like, an' grab
de turtle right back of de neck, an' jest hang
on ; don' let go. Bat's de secret — don' let go."

The boys threw off their clothes and, lower-
ing themselves into the water, slowly swam to-
ward the turtles, Paublo standing on the sea-
wall instructing them by various mysterious mo-
tions.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 37

Tom readied a turtle before the others, and
dived, according to instructions, and opening his
eyes under water had no difficulty in approach-
ing the sleeping animal. How big it looked,
with its broad back and extended flippers !
Tom almost hesitated, wondering what he should
do if it turned on him. But there was not much
time to think, so he reached out and grasped
the turtle firmly by the shell just over the head.
The turtle opened its bleary eyes, and, with a
convulsive rush of terror, reached the surface for
breath, then dashed away, dragging Tom as if
he was being towed behind a steam launch.

" Hold on ! " shouted Paublo, running along
the wall. " Hold on tight ! "

By this time Harry had appeared, Dick's
steed having become alarmed and given him the
slip.

" Hold on " was good advice, Tom thought,
but difficult to carry out. The turtle, crazed
with fear, was beating the water with its power-
ful flippers, endeavoring to dislodge its rider
under water. Now Tom's head would disap-
pear, then it would come up with a rush, and

The " Conch boys " catching turtles.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 39

the vigorous puffing of boy and turtle would
strike the air together.

" Lay out sideways ! " again shouted Paublo,
which Tom did and found much easier.

Up the moat he went, passing Harry, who
was having a hard struggle, shouting, laughing,
choking, all in one breath, and converting the
hitherto smooth waters of the moat into a whirl
of foam. The end of the inclosure reached, the
turtles whirled about and dashed back again.

Such an exciting sport the boys had never
experienced — a race on turtle-back — and the
walls of the fort echoed back shouts of laughter
and cries that brought out the doctor, who
heartily enjoyed the sight from one of the port-
holes of the fort.

Even turtles will become tired, &nd these
were no exception ; after making the run several
times they gradually relaxed their exertions,
and the boys, by putting their knees upon the
shell and raising themselves up, presented a
greater surface, and finally stopped the huge
animals against the wall.

Paublo, who had been the general and sug-

40 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

gester of the various movements in. the capture,
now entered the water and fastened a rope about
Tom's turtle, and with the aid of the rest soon
had the big reptile upon the wall and in the
barrow, when it was wheeled away to be con-
verted into savory steaks later on.

" I suppose that's our fresh beef," said Harry
as he put on his clothes.

"All you'll git here, sah," replied Paublo as
he rolled the barrow along.

" Talk about lassoing wild horses," said Tom
to his father, who had joined them, " it's nothing
to riding turtles."

" It looked as though it might be fun," said
Dick dolefully.

" It will be your turn next time, Dick," said
the doctor ; " you will have plenty of riding."

"Yes," added Paublo, who was glad to get
rid of this part of the work, " we'll kill turtle
two times a week all summer, an' den dere's de
cotchin' an' turnin' moonlight nights on Logger-
head an' East Key. Dere's heaps o' fun in dat."

On their way back the boys found the doc-
tor, who had gone ahead, in possession of a little

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 41

Louse on the edge of tlie channel by the wharf.
It was built on dead coral rock, and out from
it into the water extended- an inclosure of the
same, with a smooth concrete walk on top. The
basin so formed was a natural aquarium, and
having been stocked from time to time by Long
John and Chief, had now been handed over to
the naturalist as an experimental station.

As they came up, the party found Long John
sitting on an upturned barrel, with a knife in
one hand and a piece of conch in the other,
from which he was shaving pieces and tossing
them to a motley crowd of fishes that scurried
to the surface. The fish were so tame that they
almost jumped out of the water in their efforts
to reach the bait.

The fish were new to the boys, and most in-
teresting, owing to the great variety of shapes
and colors.

" Isn't that an angel-fish ? " asked Tom, as iri
and out among John's queer pets darted a fish
of gorgeous hues. Slashes of blue, gold, brown,
and white covered its body, while the long dor-
sal and ventral fins gave the marine dandy a

4-2 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

most fantastic appearance, not unlike that of a
gayly dressed harlequin.

" Yes, that is an angel-fish," replied his father,
"and the species are well named, I think, for
they are the most beautiful of all fishes."

Long John here stooped down and put his
hands into the water, with fingers spread apart.
Three or four little fishes at once swam between
his fingers, rubbing their gills against them in
the most friendly manner. On the surface
floated several gar-fish, their long, delicate noses
armed with sharp teeth ; parrot-fish, with real
bills ; cow-fish, with horns ; snappers, porgies,
toad-fish, and numerous others, all crowding each
other and fighting for the white bits of conch
meat tossed in to them by Long John.

"There's one fish that don't get anything,"
said Dick, " and see how he acts when the others
come near. He looks just as though he was try-
ing to hit them with his tail."

" That's exactly what he is doing," said Long
John, " and every time. He doesn't belong here,
but he comes in every day. Just hand me that
net, and I'll show you what he does."

IX THE CORAL COUNTRY.

Tom handed him the scoop-net, and Long
John, dexterously inserting it beneath the fish,
landed him on the wall. It looked much like a
common porgie, bat when Long John, telling the
boys to watch, touched the fish with his knife,
to their surprise a sharp, knife-life weapon darted
out of a sheath near the fish's tail, and was as
suddenly sheathed again.

" Gracious ! it's a regular knife, isn't it ? " ex-
claimed Dick, with wide-open eyes.

" You'd think so, if you should feel it," said
Long John. " Every fish that comes within
range thinks so, too, for this wicked little chap
gives 'em a slash, just as you saw him doing
when he flung
his tail round."

" It is called
the Acantharus
chirurgus, which
may be transla-
ted surgeon-
fish," said the
doctor, as he touched the fish again, and the
ugly -looking knife was thrust forth.

lluwksbill or shell turtle (Caretta imbricata).

44 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" I reckon if he knew he had such a handle
as that to his name he'd be so mad he'd kill
every fish in the place," said Long John, with a
chuckle, as he threw the vicious fellow back.

Other fish swam in mid-water — delicate jelly-
fishes coming to the surface now and then with
a graceful sweep of their waving tentacles, sev-
eral small green turtles, and here and there a
good-sized hawk's-bill or tortoise-shell turtle, the
kind furnishing the shell from which combs and
other articles are made.

" Keep still ! " whispered Long John, with
warning finger. " Keep still, and you'll see a
game of leap-frog."

And, surely enough, they did, but the " frogs "
were a turtle and the fish. The hawk's-bill was
floating with its back several inches out of
water, when suddenly a gar-fish leaped com-
pletely over it. Another made the attempt,
half turning in the air ; two more followed suit
—one turning a somersault — while still another,
not quite so dexterous, failed in his act of lofty
tumbling, and landed plump on the turtle's back,
startling it so that it dived out of sight.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY.

45

46 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

"I didn't know that fishes played games
before," remarked Harry.

" They do, though," replied Long John ; " and,
as for these fellows, they give that poor turtle
no peace. The minute he comes to the surface
they begin their tricks, and if they can't jump
over him they find some floating stick or straw
and practice on that. Oh, fishes are much the
same as you boys, I tell you — full of fun and all
kinds of nonsense."

" All these animals seem to know you," said
Harry.

" I reckon they do," was the reply. " I kind
of look at 'em as belonging to me."

" Doesn't Bob Rand care anything about
them ? " asked Dick.

"No," replied the long fisherman. "Bob's
got a sojer-crab, and that's all he cares for. I
reckon you'll find it in the shanty," motioning
with his knife over his shoulder.

The boys entered the office, and, after look-
ing about for some moments, espied a singular
object — nothing less than a common clay stem-
less pipe on the floor, slowly moving along.

IN THE CORAL COUNTRY. 47

" A haunted pipe ! " cried Dick, laughing.

" Haunted by a hermit crab,v retorted Tom.

And this was Bob Rand's pet, as from the
bowl projected the deep purple and red claws
of a soldier or hermit crab, that had taken pos-
session of the pipe-bowl, and roamed about the
office at will. It did not require much persua-
sion on the part of the boys to obtain this cu-
rious pet from the obliging Bob, and Diogenes,
as he was christened, became then and there a
conspicuous object in the household.

Paublo, after killing the turtle, had spent the
morning fitting out a boat for use on the reef, and
now came up to report that it was in readiness,
whereupon the entire party started for the mid-
dle wharf, where both the Hosetta and the dinghy
awaited them. In the former had been placed
two large cans containing diluted alcohol for the
reception of specimens. A number of long coral-
hooks (iron instruments or tongs not unlike
small oyster-claws) and three or four pairs of
" grains "- —long poles ending in two-tined spear-
heads, with barbed points — some fastened to the
poles, others fitted on with a socket and held by

48 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

a cord, were arranged in the boats; and over
the bows were hung several scarp-nets. A jug
called a " monkey," used for carrying water,
with the oars and a sprit-sail, completed the out-
fit of the Hosetta ; while the dinghy carried the
small seine and cast-net, and also provided room
for the overflow of passengers.

Dinner was quickly over, and then, as the
doctor called out, " All aboard for the reef ! " a
rush was made to the wharf, and in high spirits
the young naturalists were speedily under way,
pulling with rapid strokes across the deep, blue
water toward the outer reef.

CHAPTER III.

ON THE OUTER REEF.

Wonders of the ocean garden — The angel-fish — Living sponges —
Cigars afloat — The growth of a coral key — The shark and sting-
ray— Gigantic coral heads — The remora — The malthea — Living
sleeve-buttons — Drifting over the reef — The box-crab — The
black squall — Making the five-foot — A narrow escape.

HE sun rose upon a glorious
day. There was not a cloud
in the sky; the water was as
smooth as glass, save where the
flapping tail of some big fish
splashed the surface. The sub-
dued roar on the outer reef
sounded like far-off music, the
white keys and the azure of the

*/

bright sky were reflected again
and again in the water, the whole
scene seeming to the boys a dream of enchant-
ment.

Old Busby led the way in the dinghy, with

(49)

50 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Torn, while the doctor and the rest of the expe-
dition, with Long John, followed in the Rosetta.
Before long they left the channel, and came sud-
denly upon the reef, which here rose almost per-
pendicularly from the channel and bristled with
innumerable points of coral. Deep down among
the green moss-fronds an anemone, looking much
like the weird passion-flower, turned its fair face
toward them ; angel-fish dashed by, their gay
bands and wing-like fins resplendent with color ;
gayly striped morays darted in and out of the
shadows of the sea-fans and feathers, and the
gorgonias, brilliant with rainbow-tints, were sur-
rounded by duller-hued conchs and hermit crabs,
sea-eggs, and devil-fish.

" Isn't it wonderful ! " exclaimed Tom. And
indeed it was. In a moment they had passed
from the blue water to a veritable garden of
coral spread over acres of reef ; in shoal water
and deep ; on hill-side and plain ; in forest- like
groups and garden-like beds, in clusters, in cir-
cles, in hedges ; domes like the round-topped
mosque of the Orient ; sponge forms that mocked
the Turkish minaret; Laplandish huts and the

ON THE OUTER REEF. 51

Gothic minster ; cups, vases, and the classic
urns ; antlers of deer, of moose, of elk ; flowers,
vines, brakes, and mosses — all these forms came
Before them as they drifted slowly along and
looked down upon this vast ocean garden.

As Tom hurled his spear at a small parrot-
fish, which darted under the boat, the weapon
landed in a large black mass about three feet in
diameter and concave on top, like a huge vase.

" Hallo, what's this ? " he cried, hauling away
at the mass.

a It is a sponge," his father replied. " The
color represents the living part."

" Why, are sponges animals, doctor ? " asked
Harry from the other boat.

" Naturalists admit them to the ranks of ani-
mal life, though, of course, among the very low-
est forms," the doctor explained. " If you ex-
amine them closely in the water, you may see
a slight current over the pores and openings,
which shows that the necessary nourishment is
thus absorbed while it circulates through these
cavities. The common sponges, as we use them,
are but the skeletons."

52 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

The boats were now gradually nearing Bush
Key, with its scraggy trees, when Dick ex-
claimed :

" Why, there's a cigar in the water ! "

"So it is," said Harry, nearly tumbling over-
board in an attempt to reach it.

" Sold again ! " laughed Tom, who had secured
one ; " it's only a stick."

" You'd find them hard to smoke, boys," said
the doctor. " They are more useful than all the
cigars that could be sent over here from Havana.
They are the seeds of the mangrove tree, that
you see over on Bush Key. The reef of the
State of Florida has been formed mainly by the
corals and the mangroves."

"Tell us Kbw, doctor," said Harry, who was
always ready for information.

" Suppose," said the doctor, " this clear water
on which we are drifting should be visited by a
single egg of the star-shaped coral called the
Astrosa. It settles on a bit of shell. In a few
days some tentacles spring out, and the tiny
polyp seems only a solitary sea-anemone. Then
a little growth of lime, secreted by the anemone,

ON THE OUTER REEF. 53

forms on the shell, and soon overspreads it with
a jagged coating. Then another polyp grows

Astrsea pullida (living).

beside this one, perhaps by division or budding,
and the single egg that first drifted here has
become two. This goes on indefinitely, until
the bottom all around is covered with coral-rock.
Then, when these polyps decay and die, the sea-
sand sifts in ; other corals grow on this ; floating
matter is caught and added to the growing reef ;
forms of branching corals appear, together with
gorgonias, or sea-fans and feathers ; all these are
eaten or crushed down by great worms and
coral-eating animals. Upon this decay still
other forms of coral grow ; shell -fish of various
kinds make it their home ; delicate corals that
need protection from the waves grow up in the

54 ALONG THE FLORIDA BEEP.

lagoon formed within the shallow circle ; as the
reef becomes higher, sea-weeds and corallines are
added ; every particle of refuse adds to the up-
building of this curious island ; and now, just as
the dry layers, or top-dressings, appear above
the waves, along comes Dick's ' cigar.' The larger
end of the mangrove seed strikes the sand or
mud collected on the reef, the waves drive it still
farther on, and, touching the soil, it sends out
little shoots. These soon obtain a foothold, and

Multiplication of polyps by spontaneous fission.

thus a mangrove tree is started. These being self-
propagating by shoots and rootlets, a growth in
time may extend around a whole island. Other
waste matter of the sea is accumulated, the in-
fluence of winds and tides changes the surface,
and Nature furnishes suitable plants to flourish
in the new soil which the decay of vegetable

ON THE OUTER REEF. 55

and animal organizations is continually increas-
ing and enriching. That is the secret of reef-
building, Bush Key being an example in this
group of the aid which the mangrove gives."

While the doctor had been talking, the boats
had slowly drifted toward the key, \vhen right
ahead a large sting-ray leaped from the water,
flapping its wing-like fins in the air a moment,
then coming down with a crash that was heard
all over the lagoon. A large fin showed itself
above the water, rushing after the ray toward a
shoal near the key.

" It's a shark chasing a sting-ray ! " shouted
the old boatswain from the bow of the dinghy.
" Give way, lads, give way ! "

The boat surged ahead in the direction of
the great fishes. The shark was gaming on its
less rapid victim, and the ray repeatedly leaped
into air to escape the rushes the shark made at
it. Suddenly the ray took a desperate chance
as it neared the shoal, and, instead of turning,
dashed upon it ; the flat body passed through
the scant eight inches of water with a rush, and
in an instant it was through the breakers and in

56 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the blue waters of the Gulf. The shark, follow-
ing in blind haste, could not force its big body
over the shoal, and was soon high on the reef.
The boat's crew were quickly upon it, but, on
account of the shark's tremendous efforts to free
itself, they dared not touch it. In its struggles
the fish would bend nearly double, and then,
suddenly straightening out, would hurl the
water over the boys, who had now left the boat
and were wading about in the shoal water, dodg-
ing the shark's tail and trying to get within
striking distance. Finally, Tom hurled his
grains into the shark's head. This only increased
the creature's struggles, but Busby, wading up
to the writhing monster, struck it a terrific blow,
breaking its backbone.

" It's easy enough, when you know how," he
said, laughing.

They were all soon at work, cutting up their
prize.

" Stand still, Tom," said the doctor, presently,
as he lifted the shark's jaw and held it so that it
easily fitted over Tom's head.

" Eight rows of teeth ! " said Dick, counting

ON THE OUTER REEF. 57

them. "What a time the young sharks must
have when cutting their teeth ! "

" Yes," said Harry, feeling of the terrible
weapons, "and each one is saw-like and sharp as
a knife."

" All the teeth except the front row lie flat,"
explained the doctor, "when not in use. As
you see, they move up and down ; but when the
shark was after the ray I feel sure they were all
vertical and ready for action."

For his share of the prize the boatswain took
the liver, intending to try out the oil.

" Sharks are not entirely worthless animals,
you see, after all," said the doctor. "The teeth
are used by many savage islanders for weapons,
the liver is taken out for the oil it contains, and
in the East the tails and fins are valuable arti-
cles of commerce, while the skin, as with us, is
used for various purposes."

" What do you call this shark that we have
caught, doctor ? " asked Harry.

" It is a shovel-nosed shark," he replied.
" There are at least a hundred different species
of sharks now known to naturalists, and this

58

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

gentleman Lad an enormous forefather, away
back in what is called the Tertiary period.
That ancestor must have been a hundred
feet long, with teeth as large as your open
palm."

" What is this ? " interrupted Tom, striking
at a black body hanging to the shark, just under
water, which Long John now exposed to view
by turning the body over.

" Take it by the head and pull it off," said

Remoras clinging by their sucking-disk to the under part of a shark.
(Adapted from Brehm.)

ON THE OUTER REEF. 59

the boatswain ; " it won't hurt you ; it's only a
sucker.1'

But this was by no means easy, for the cu-
rious object clung so fast that only by a violent
wrench could Dick and Tom tear it from the
shark.

" It is a remora, and a very interesting fish,"
said the doctor. " It follows the larger fishes
and attaches itself to them by this disk, refusing
to leave them even when they are dead, as you
see."

" That's why we call 'em ' suckers/ " put in
Busby.

" They are sometimes called ' ship-stayers,' r
continued the doctor, " and one of them is said
to have changed the history of the world and
given the Roman Empire to Augustus Caesar."

Doubly interested by so historic and impor-'
tant a fish, the boys gathered around this curious
specimen and examined it minutely.

The disk, which was the principal object of
curiosity about the remora, was oval in shape,
and on the very top of the head. It resembled
in construction a Venetian blind, for it was com-

00 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

posed of what the doctor called " oblique trans-
verse cartilaginous plates," and Dick said were
"slats of gristle." These were supplied with
delicate teeth or hooks that helped it to cling.

" But how did it help Augustus Caesar ? " in-
quired Harry.

" There is a legendary story that one of these
fellows fastened itself on Antony's galley at the
great naval battle of Actium, and thus allowed
the galley of Augustus to obtain the advantage
in the onset," the doctor explained. " Hence its
name — the ' ship-stayer.' r

" I have heard you can catch turtles with
'em," said Busby, " although I've never seen it
done."

" I have heard the same thing," rejoined the
doctor. " In Mozambique the natives, it is said,
keep this fish in a tub of water, and then, when
a turtle is sighted, the remora, with a cord tied
to its tail, is tossed overboard. Instinctively it
fastens itself to the unconscious turtle, which is
speedily hauled in by the fisherman."

" Well, well, a live fish-hook ; that's an idea ! "
laughed Tom. "Let's keep it and try. Only

ON THE OUTER KEKF. 61

it would be rather rough on us if Mr. Remora
should fasten himself to a shark instead of a
turtle."

" What's that smoke on Bush Key ? " asked
Dick, pointing to the island, a short distance off,
from which a column of smoke was rising.

"Hardly a volcano, Dick," replied the doc-
tor. " I believe it is a signal that our lunch is
ready. Long John thought we would like some
coffee after grubbing, as he called it, in the
water ; so he took the dinghy and the lunch Pau-
blo prepared for us, and I imagine is now wait-
ing for us."

" Well, I'm ready," said Dick ; and Harry
and Tom answered by jumping into the Hosetta.
The others followed suit, and in a short time
they were on Bush Key, where they found Long
John frying mullets, having spread a cloth and
the lunch on the white sand. The boat was
pulled up high and dry, and soon the boys were
doing justice to the mullets which Long John
had caught in his cast-net a few minutes before.

" I've seen the time," said the fisherman, as
he sat down at the invitation of the doctor,

62 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" that we wouldn't care to sit here. The big
hurricane in '50 made a clean sweep of it. I
believe there was one tree left ; but you could
have sculled the dinghy over the key."

" You don't have hurricanes often, do you ? "
asked Harry.

" Not very," replied the fisherman ; " onc't
or twic't in ten year or so. But when they do
come," he added, " they wake snakes ; wipe out
everything. That one cleaned out Long Key ;
you'd never know 'twas there."

The lunch over, the boys investigated a peli-
can's nest — a big bunch of drift-wood — in one
of the low trees, while the two boatmen repacked
the hampers. Soon after they shoved off, and
began again the circuit of the great reef.

Wading along, the party continued their in-
vestigations in tide-water ; and Dick and Harry,
coming upon a large piece of coral, which had
been worn almost through, rolled it over. In
doing this they disclosed a natural pool beneath
the coral, and at the bottom lay a most peculiar
fish.

" "Well, here's a curious fellow, doctor," cried

ON THE OUTER REEF. 63

Dick ; " what under the sun — or rather under
the coral — is it ? "

The doctor stooped down and examined it.
" You are right, Dick ; this is a curious fellow,
indeed ! " he said. " The fish is called the Mai
ihcea. It has, as you see, no fins for swimming,
but is provided with short feet, like paddles,
with which it moves over the muddy bottom in
which it lives."

"He's lazy enough," said Dick, as the fish,
even when touched, showed but small desire to
move.

" It is one of the sluggish fishes," continued
the doctor, " of which there are a number. This
one, you will notice, is formed and colored so
as to appear like an inanimate substance — a
part of the sea-bottom. But here is a singular
thing. Do you see here, right over the mouth, a
sort of depression or pit, from the roof of which
hangs a curiously colored pendant ? "

The boys, after a careful look, saw it dis-
tinctly.

" Well," said the doctor, " that is the means
by which the Malihcea makes up for its slug-

61 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

gishness. The broad mouth rests on the mud;
above it this curious-looking pendant twists and
writhes, and looks so much like a tempting and
luscious worm to the hungry prawn or inquisi-
tive crab that, if the living bait is approached
too closely, the great mouth yawns wide open,
and good-by to Mr. Crab or Mr. Prawn ! "

" Well," said Tom, " we've seen a living fish-
hook and a living bait ; if we keep a sharp look-
out, perhaps we shall find a live reel or fishing-
pole ! "

Sea-fan, or gorgonia.

"Here's a curious shell," cried Harry, who
had waded out into deeper water, lifting up a

OX THE OUTER REEF. 65

gorgonia a foot in diameter, and of a rich yellow
hue. Clinging to it were a number of beautiful
oblong shells of about the same tint — tending
toward pink.

" Those are fan-shells," said their guide, " and
are parasites on the gorgonia, or sea-fan. They
make beautiful sleeve-buttons."

The boys supplied themselves with a stock
of these natural cuff -buttons ; and then Harry,

Spider-Grub.

turning over a rock that was alive with spider-
crabs, pulled a beautiful blue one out of the

66 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

water and tossed it to Long John, to be placed
in the water-pail for security.

"Here's an odd fellow," Tom called out a
moment after, stooping over the rock and bring-
ing up a curious-looking spider-crab.

" That is a deep-water one," said the doctor ;
"some of his big relatives, measuring nearly
three feet across, have been hauled up in the
South Atlantic from a depth of nearly two
miles."

" As deep as that ? " exclaimed Harry ; " why,
I should think the pressure was too great for
animals to live at such great depths."

" Water is practically incompressible," ex-
plained the doctor ; " that is to say, it can not
be forced into a smaller compass, as solids can.
So, as all these creatures are filled with water,
the pressure is equalized. If you lower an empty
bottle two miles under water it will often remain
intact, and yet the pressure in deep water is
simply tremendous. A deep-water crab, for in-
stance, must withstand a pressure, at such depths
as two and a half miles, of a number of tons — as
against the fifteen pounds' pressure which a fish

ON THE OUTER REEF. 67

at the surface experiences. But all animals are
adapted for their particular sphere in life."

Noticing a bubbling in the sand, Dick thrust
his hand under and forced up what the doctor
declared to be a box-crab ; as he demonstrated, it
had the faculty of closing its legs around its
body in such a manner as to seem a solid piece.
When released, it opened out and showed its
curious make-up — a round body, covered with
queer brown spots and ridges, even the claws
being formed in grotesque shapes.

" You'll find lots of them crabs on the reef,"
said Busby, who was passing.

" Hallo, look over yonder ! " came a sudden
shout from Long John. * "We've got to clear
out of this, and be quick about it, too ! "

They all followed the direction of his warn-
ing gesture, and saw on the horizon a small
black cloud, its lines as distinct as if drawn with
a brush. As they sprang into the boats and
pulled for Long Key the cloud seemed to in-
crease, and so rapidly did it gain upon them
that in ten minutes from the time they sighted
it the cloud was almost on them. Landing hur-

68 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

riedly, they hauled the boats on shore, and, turn-
ing the dinghy keel up, they crawled beneath it ;
and just in time. With a darkness that turned
day into night, and a low, far-away moaning,
that grew into a roar, wind, rain, and sand burst
upon them in a hurricane, with a fierceness that
threatened to carry away the boats. The wind
howled and shrieked, the lightning flashes lighted
up the scene in fitful glances, while the sea was
beaten into clouds of foam, lifted into the air,
and hurled far beyond them over the island.

" It won't last but a minute," shouted Long
John from somewhere ; and even as he spoke it
began to grow lighter ; the rain ceased, and they
crawled from beneath the boat. The cloud or
squall disappeared almost as rapidly as it came,
and in twenty minutes from the time the storm
arose the sun was shining again from a clear
sky.

A start was now made for home. The squall
had left a stiff breeze behind it, and with sails
hoisted on the JRosetta, and towing the dinghy
astern, they were soon rushing toward Garden
Key, gunwale under.

ON THE OUTER REEF. 69

" Well, that was a blow ! " said Tom.

" Oh, it's nothing when you get used to it,'7
said Long John. "I've seen seven or eight
squalls movin' around, lookin' jest as if they
were painted on the sky. It's quick come, quick
go, with 'em ; but, if you keep your weather eye
open, you know how to steer clear of 'em.*'

"This is not the way home, is it?" asked
Dick, as Long John headed the flying boat be-
tween Long and Bush Keys.

" It's one way," the latter replied, trimming
the sail still more.

Crossing the reef, the boat dashed into blue
water and bore away to the south, where the
long line of breakers seemed to form an impassa-
ble barrier. Long John kept along the reef
until nearly opposite the sally-port of Fort Jef-
ferson, which could just be seen a mile away,
then suddenly he bore off before the wind, and
headed straight for the breakers.

The boys looked at the raging surf in some
anxiety, and then glanced at Long John. He
was cool and calm, as was also the old boatswain,
Busby.

70 ALONG THE FLORIDA IlEEF.

" I suppose he knows what he's about/' whis-
pered Harry to Dick.

" Slack off the fore-sheet ! " shouted Long
John quickly, standing up now and scanning the
distant fort.

The commodore did as directed, and the boat
bent over and rushed headlong toward the reef,
seemingly to destruction.

" I don't care to swim in that surf," said
Harry, looking uneasily at the mass of foam they
were rapidly approaching.

" You won't have to swim," answered Long
John, who had overheard him, " if you hang on
tight."

It was too late to object, so they all drew a
long breath and "hung on tight," as advised.
With a mighty rush the boat plunged into the
breakers ; now on top of one, again nearly buried
under another, careening over so that the boys
sprang to the windward, then luffing and sliding
close by one almost bare head of coral to avoid
another ; covered with foam and spray, drenched
from head to foot, and almost before they could
catch their breath, they were over the reef, safe

ON THE OUTER REEF. 71

and sound, and tearing along in the smooth water
of the inner reef.

The boys were amazed. "What kind of
navigation do you call that ? " asked Tom, wip-
ing the spray from his eyes; while the doctor
said : " Why, John, you cleared those heads only
by about six inches."

" That's all the room there was, sir," replied
Long John with a grin. " It's a regular chan-
nel," he added ; " we call it the ( five-foot.' I've
been through when it was worse."

" But how did you know how to steer ? "
asked Harry.

" Well," said Long John, " if you'll promise
not to let on, I'll tell you. Keep down the reef
until the Garden Key light is just on a line with
the third chimney of that big brick building of
the fort ; then let her drive, and, if you can keep
her head on, you're all right."

" And if you can't ? " interrupted Harry.

" Well, sir," was the reply, " it's one of the
things it wouldn't pay to miss — it's a bad place
for sharks."

While talking they had neared the lower

6

72 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

part of Long Key, where they stopped to put
their corals in the barrels that Long John had
previously provided for the purpose, as in this
way, he explained, coral was prepared. The
shells which they had found were also placed in
stagnant water, or buried, this being the only
way to thoroughly clean them, while many other
finds were dropped into alcohol for future study.
Having disposed of their specimens, they
shoved oft' again, and were shortly in their quar-
ters, tired out, but well pleased with their first
day on the reef.

Edible Crab.

CHAPTER IV.

A KACE WITH A WATERSPOUT.

The boatswain's home — After the norther— Long Key — Miles of
spirulas — A shell with a dye — The water-spout — The gull and
pelican — A live cowry — Pierced by the black echini — The dweller
in a sea cucumber — Wonders of the five-foot channel — A worm
with a door and hinge — The old wreck — A young sea serpent —
Pegging a turtle.

$ OMMODORE BUSBY,

as the boys sometimes called
the old boatman, and as, indeed,
he styled himself, was inclined
to be a martinet. He was a
great stickler for etiquette, and
in the seventeen-foot Hosetta
would, if allowed, have divided
all hands into port and star-
board watches, installed the doc-
tor as admiral, with Tom as cap-
tain of the fleet. When the Rosetta went about,
Busby generally sat amidships, tending the fore-

(73)

7i ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEF.

sheet, and his " Ready about, sir ! Hard a lee,
sir ! Haul it is, sir ! " were all delivered with a
precision that w^ould have done credit to a fifty-
gun frigate.

The commodore took great pride in the lio-
setta, which the doctor had decorated. She was
painted a rich vermilion outside, white within,
her seats cushioned, and the guards and bulk-
head ornamented with attractive pictures from
the doctor's brush. Tin cans had been inserted
beneath the decks, so that she was a life-boat as
well as a picture of beauty. Busby did not
fancy her name, Jftosetta, and after a race in
which Tom sailed her to victory in half a gale,
and brought her in half full of water, he re
christened her the Roaring Gimlet, .as being
characteristic of her method of boring through
the waves under a press of canvas.

The commodore had quarters in a large ram-
bling building outside of the fort, where, in one
end, he had a room fixed up, from which led
a little balcony. From here he could see a
weather-vane, set by the compass, on the top of
the building, and here, according to his own ac-

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 75

count, he took "dead loads of comfort." The
doctor gave him a flag and rigged him a flag-
staff, and every night and morning the rheu-
matic old sailor would be seen hoisting and low-
ering the national emblem. From a hook in
his room hung an old spy -glass— a remarkable
instrument made from several others, and from
which the commodore pretended to discern not
only various wrecks and sails, but traces of storms
and foul w eat her.

One morning, a week or two later, the boys
were visiting the old man. They were sitting
on the little balcony, looking off on the smooth
water, and listening to the cries of the laughing-
gulls, when Busby unhooked his wonderful spy-
glass and peered through it for a few seconds ;
then looking steadily over the top a moment, he
announced that it was going to blow, and blo\v
hard, and that things had better be made snug.
The boys wondered how he knew, and each tak-
ing the glass in turn tried to peer through it,
but could see nothing but a blur. They could
learn nothing further from the old boatswain,
who, taking dowTn his flag, hobbled down the

76 ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEP.

stairs of the big building and was soon at the
boat-house, hoisting the Hosetta, or the Roaring
Gimlet, as he preferred to call her, out of the
water.

Busby was a true prophet, as before many
hours it began to blow, and by night a heavy
gale broke upon the key. The cocoa-nut trees
in the fort were lashed and torn, and as far as
the eye could see was a mass of boiling foam,
while the water rose so high that the boys sailed
about on planks in the interior of the fort. This
weather continued for three days before the
" norther," as this wind is called, was succeeded
by a dead calm. Then the boats were put in
readiness for a trip, and it was decided to start
at Long Key and follow along the entire length
of the reef, which was now piled with dead
coral, weeds, and deep-sea shells tossed up by
the waves. Long Key was appropriately named,
being a long, attenuated island, half a mile in
length and from twenty to fifty feet wide, run-
ning north and south, just across the channel
from Garden Key, and so near that the boys
often swam to it.

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 77

The key was entirely destitute of trees, a lit-
tle grass constituting its flora, while its sole in-
habitants were hermit and other crabs. At the
north end it w^as joined to Bush Key by a partly
submerged flat, and here, on an apology for an
island, grew several mangroves that gave shelter
to various pelican nests.*

The party was soon ashore at Long Key, se-
lecting many beautiful specimens from the num-
berless richly colored weeds and shells strewed
along the sand. The univalves, or one-shelled
specimens, were the most numerous, but upon
the pieces of gorgonia many delicate bivalves of
exquisite red and blue tints were found.

The severity of the storm \vas evident in the
numbers of strange objects piled upon the beach.
A narrow white band, extending almost as far
as the eye could see, wras found to be composed
almost wholly of the shells of the little Spirula,
one of the most beautiful and delicate of the
cephalopods. It was a perfect spiral, divided
like the nautilus into chambers, with pearly par-

* Since the time of ray residence here Long and Bush Keys have
been almost entirely obliterated by a hurricane. — AUTHOR.

78 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

titions ; but, strange to say, the shell, like the
cuttle bone of other species, was concealed in
the body and only found after the death of the
little squid, when the air-chambers caused it to
rise to the surface and it was washed ashore.
Though diligent search was made at various
times, the boys were never able to secure one
alive. They are probably extremely delicate
creatures, and were killed by the waves and
torn from the shell before being cast upon the
beach.

The rich shells of the marine snail lanthina
were almost as frequent, the animal in many
cases being intact. On the water their appear-
ance was extremely beautiful, the rich purple
coloring, in various shades and tints, standing-
out in strong contrast against the white fairy-
like raft of bubbles by which they are kept
upon the surface. By pressing the animal, the
boys found that the rich purple ink would stream
out over their fingers.

"This ink would make a good dye," said
Tom ; " I'm going to put some on my handker-
chief and see how long it will stand."

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 79

"It will last several years," answered his
father; "and some think it the ancient dye of
the Tynans."

Among these animal wrecks were found
numbers of the Porpita and Velella, their shin-

Porpita pacifica.

ing skeletons looking like dismantled hulks.
The color of the Porpita, in those spread before
them, was a rich purple, but where the animals
had died and the skeletons lay bleaching in the
sun, it presented a structure that in delicacy
could be compared only to spun glass. The

80

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Velella was even more beautiful, the body part
somewhat resembling the Porpita, except that it
had a curious sail-like membrane that would

Velella limbosa.

readily catch the breeze. On other occasions
the boys often watched fleets of these charming
ships sailing over the blue waters in company
\vith the Portuguese man-of-war.

These objects, which in the North were val-
ued as rare specimens, were banked up in wind-
rows by the storm, with fishes, shells, sea-fans,
and gorgonias, in which the boys literally bur-
rowed, gradually moving up the narrow key.

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 81

The doctor and Harry Lad gained on the
others, and had become so completely absorbed
in the treasures before them that they were ut-
terly oblivious to their surroundings. They had
almost reached an old fishing schooner that had
been hauled up, when they heard a shout, and,
looking back, saw a very unusual spectacle.
Tom and Dick, who had lingered behind, were
now rushing along the beach as if for their lives,
while, not a hundred yards behind them, run-
ning parallel with the key, towered a huge water-
spout, its top lost in the clouds. With gigantic
curve it came surging on, hissing like a steam-
engine, and tearing up the shallow bottom at a
terrible rate. A race with a water-spout is not
a pleasant pastime. It ran so close upon them
that its drippings were like a heavy rain. Thus
far they had kept even with it, but it now
surged ahead, and, changing its direction, headed
for the old schooner on the key. Tom and Dick
were safe, but Harry and the doctor appeared
to be in danger.*

* I ran with this spout for several hundred yards, and had diffi-
culty in keeping apace with it. The noise was like that made by a

82 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

u Run for the spout and get behind it,"
shouted Long John, who had come in and was
hauling his boat off shore.

The doctor and Harry ran past the spout,
which was now very near the shore, and, when
out of harm's way, turned to watch the mon-
ster's progress. On it went, boiling and hissing,
in the direction of the fort, passing down the
face of the north wall, a sublime and magnificent
spectacle.

" That was a close shave ! " said Harry ; and
the others fully agreed with him.

The line of march was again taken up, and
before long they reached the head of the island,
where a narrow strait separated Long Key from
Bush Key. While stopping to overhaul a pile
of sea-weed their attention was attracted by the
comical asthmatic cries for food made by some
young pelicans from their nests of drift-wood in
the mangrove trees near by. The old birds
were hard at work, diving for fish in the lagoon.

steam-engine. Examination later showed that the spout had plowed
a trench in the reef two or three feet deep. Small fishes were killed,
and flocks of gulls followed in the wake. — AUTHOR.

A RACK WITH A WATERSPOUT.

83

The boys watched one, which was near them,
with no little curiosity. It would flutter an in-
stant over its prey, then plunge down, and with

I* reparation.

open, dip-net bill resting on the water, would ad-
just the catch in the capacious pouch beneath.
In one of these expeditions a gull, with trained

84 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

and eager eye, hovering near, settled down upon
the pelican's broad head, and as the fish was
tossed about, preparatory to swallowing it, the

Perpetration.

thievish gull adroitly snapped it up and sailed
away with a derisive " Ha, ha ! " while the peli-
can, as if accustomed to this sort of pocket-pick-

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 85

ing, simply flapped heavily up again to renew
its search for food. But the gull, as was speed-
ily seen, had laughed all too soon ; for down
upon it from the neighboring shore swooped a
strong-winged man-of-war hawk, or frigate-bird.

Frigate-bird.

With a shrill cry of alarm the gull darted now
this way and now that, in zigzag lines, striving
with all its power to escape. Fear and fatigue
prevailing, he let his choice stolen morsel slip
from his grasp ; then the man-of-war bird, with
a lower swoop, clutched the falling fish and bore
it away to the nearest rock.

" So the struggle for existence goes on," said
the doctor ; and, turning from hawks and gulls,
the party continued their search for specimens.

80 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

The doctor made the first find of interest.
Turning over a submerged piece of dead coral,
several brown egg-shaped creatures appeared,
covered with curious short tentacles. They were
evidently mollusks ; but where was the shell ?
"Now watch the transformation," said the

doctor, as the boys
crowded around ;
and, touching one
of the animals, the
curious covering
rapidly drew in

moneta.

posing the exquisitely polished shell of a Cy-
prcea or cowry, the micramock of the reefers.

" I have often wondered," said Harry, " how
they retained their polish ; this explains it."

"Yes," replied the doctor. "They live in
these rough places, and to protect the shell, and
rebuild it when worn away or broken, this sin-
gular covering is thrown out. You are all fa-
miliar with the spotted cowry ; it is a relative
of this ; the family is a very large one. The
Cyprcea moneta, or money cowry, is imported

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 87

from the Maldive Islands in great numbers, and
sent to the African coast, where they are taken
as money. About three thousand of them are
equal to fifty cents ; so when you go there have
your pockets made large. The orange cowry is
another valuable species, and is used to distin-
guish the chiefs of the Friendly Islands."

The party now left Bush Key, and were
wading over the submerged fringing reef that
separated the lagoon from the deep waters be-
yond, Long John poling the Rosetta along, on
the lookout for craw-fish near them, and occa-
sionally coming in to receive some specimen too
large to carry. As Tom attempted to pick up a
big black echinus, or sea-urchin, he uttered an
exclamation of pain, some of the needle-like
spines having pierced his unwary fingers.

"They belong to the star-fish family," the
doctor explained, as Tom nursed the wounded
hand. " There is another of the same branch,"
pointing to a large worm-like animal coiled in a
pool.

"Take it, Dick; one is enough for me. I
won't be selfish ! " said Tom dryly.

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT.

89

Dick, with Tom's discomfiture in mind,
poked it cautiously with his foot, and finally
picked it up. It looked like a large caterpillar,
covered with wrinkles, and armed on the under
side with an array of queer, short tentacles.

Sea-cucumbers (trepang).

" It is the trepaug — a holothurian," said the
doctor, 'in answer to Dick's " What in the world
is it ? "- — " and a regular article of diet with the
Chinese."

" Hallo, see here ! " cried Harry, as the tre-
pang, which he had taken from Dick's unwilling

90

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

grasp, suddenly doubled up, and from its open
mouth shot out a slender stream of water ; "is
it a fish fire-engine, or a living squirt-gun ? And
look at that ! " he exclaimed excitedly, as out of
the trepang a queer fish-like head appeared, fol-
lowed by an eel-like body, white and ghostly.

Harry dropped the fish in some trepidation.
" Good gracious ! " he cried, " what is it ? "

But the doctor quickly picked up this strange
visitor and placed it in a glass of water in the
boat.

" It is a messmate-fish — the Fierasfer" he
explained — " one of the boarders of the trepang."

Fierasfer and young.

The curious animal was a perfectly formed
five-inch fish, so transparent that its internal or-
gans could be seen ; but evidently out of its ele-
ment, for, even as the doctor spoke, it gave a

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 91

few struggles in the water, sank to the bottom,
and soon died.

Many of the large holothurians were found
to contain these ghostly boarders, but in no in-
stance did they live after being taken from their
living home.*

As the boys wandered along the reef they
unexpectedly came to the five-foot channel,
through which Long John had so skillfully
steered them. The water being too deep to
ford, they all boarded the liosetta, intending to
cross to the other side and continue the tramp ;
but the beauty of the coral and gorgonias in the
channel caused them to linger. On its confines
was a perfect forest of coral — tree coral, it is
called, on account of its great size. From the
gunwale of the boat the swaying tops of the
forest were in full view, the millions of deli-
cate flower-like polyps of the coral in full ex-
pansion upon the branches. The least touch or
jar wrould send every one of these flowrer-like

* The naturalists of the Naples Aquarium have observed the
Fierasfer leave its host and return, the latter being made tail first ;
the action of the trepang in taking in water evidently aiding in the
accomplishment of the return.

92 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

animal mouths instantly out of sight, within the
structure which constitutes its cell. The coral
tree reminded them of the bare trunk and
branches of a veritable tree denuded of its
leaves. The brown film or membrane covering

o

the whole was, the doctor said, the connecting
tunic that held and united the community.
" E plwribus unum" he said, " is their motto,
and how many in one we may imagine when we
note the individual blocks that lie upon the reef,
or even one of the single trees of this forest be-
neath us."

As they looked down into the clear water
they noticed that some of the tips of the
branches were white, and denuded of the soft,
brown covering or mantle, and soon discovered
the cause. Lying across the top branches was a
great caterpillar-like worm, longer than one's
hand. As Tom introduced his hook under it,
and slowly lifted it, they saw that it had fully
an inch of the extremity of a branch in its
mouth, which it had sucked bare of animal
matter.

Slowly they drifted along, Long John hold-

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT.

93

ing the boat with the grains while they peered
into the wondrous garden. Here a huge block

Branch coral (madrepore), showing polyps extended and withdrawn.

of AstrcBd, or star-coral, appeared — a perfect
hemisphere, with its polyp flowers all in bloom.
The surface in several places showed curious
conical plumes, of a pattern like the pompons
of a soldier's cap, and colored like them, red and
white, in distinct bands.

94 ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEF.

"These," said the doctor, "are the tentacles
and heads of a worm that builds its lime tube
on the rock when the latter is small ; then, as
the coral grows around it, the tube is completely
enveloped. As fast as the coral encroaches on
the worm it throws out new courses of masonry,
keeping pace with the Astrcea, and vying with
it in the exhibition of beautiful tufts of plumes."

Another variety over which they passed had
a golden-yellow cup-like series of plumes, con-
trasting brightly with the brown tints of the
Astrceas.

" The worms are not the simple creatures
they are supposed to be," said the doctor.
u Look at this evidence of intelligence," reaching
over and grasping what appeared to be a bit of
weed.

It was the tube of a worm which was stand-
ing in the sand. The door was a shell, skill-
fully inclosed in the masonry, while also fastened
to it and falling over was a blade of marine
grass (Zosterd), so that no one would have sus-
pected the true nature of the nest. At the doc-
tor's request the boys went overboard and

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 95

searched for others. A dozen or more were
soon placed on the deck of the Rosetta, and
every worm was found with the blade of grass
inserted as a door — a contrivance employed by
some spiders.

" The worms alone would afford us work for
weeks," said the doctor, as he picked some fine
specimens from the coral and displayed a group
of Serpulce on the deck, the tubes being wound
together in a singular manner.

The beauty of the corals and gorgonias here
caused them to remain for some time, and then
they pulled out to an old wreck that lay in
shoal water, a quarter of a mile away.

It proved to be the remnant of a very large
ship. Part of the lower deck remained, and evi-
dently for years had been a favorite resting-
place for the birds. The whole framework wras
rotten and shaky, and this was found to be due
to the fact that the submerged portion of the
wreck was literally honeycombed with the tubes
of the teredo, or ship- worm. Were it not that
these persistent borers had lined the holes they
made with a deposit that strengthened the

96 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

wooden partitions a little, the whole mass of
woodwork would long since have fallen to
pieces.

After Long John had arranged the contents
of the dinner hamper on the dry portion of the
deck, and the boys had enjoyed a feast of hard-
boiled gull's eggs, craw-fish salad, and turtle
balls, which caused them to unanimously confer
upon Paublo the title " Prince of Cooks," they
continued their search about the old hulk. Sud-
denly Tom, who was stretched out with his
head over the water, where he could observe the
fish, cried out : " My, though ! there's a queer
fish," and the others, crowding around him, saw
a large eel-like head bobbing in and out from
under a partly imbedded plank. " That's a
moray," said Long John, picking up his grains,
" and a big one too. Look out there ! Let me
take a shot at him." Lowering his spear cau-
tiously into the water, he suddenly jammed it
into the fish's head, and then, with a quick back-
ward motion, skillfully drew the rnoray out of
its hole. It was over three feet long, and as
thick as a man's arm. It made a terrible stru<r-

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 97

gle, twining about the grains, tearing off pieces
of the old wreck, and when hauled half-way on
deck it fastened its teeth in the wood and held
on with the grip of a bull-dog.

"Why, it's a regular sea serpent," said
Tom.

" Yes, and there he goes ! " cried Long John,
as with a loud report the pole snapped in two,
and the ugly monster darted away. Toni seized
his grains and vaulted to a long head of coral
toward which the moray had gone. There he
could see the fish writhing about the coral and
making desperate efforts to detach the steel
barbs. Moving as near as he could, he sent the
spear into the moray, and with a vigorous jerk
drew it to the coral head, where it leaped and
twisted, sending the water in all directions.
Long John, in the boat, pushed over to Tom,
and soon quieted the struggling fish with a blow
from the tiller.

" He's the biggest fellow I ever saw," said
he. " Just look at his teeth ! "

Their prize was tossed aboard the wreck, and
when, soon after, they started for home, the doc-

98 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

tor gave the boys some interesting facts concern-
ing it.

" The Murcenidce, or morays," he said, " are,
as you see, only great sea-eels. They are his-
toric. They were deified by the Egyptians.
The Romans kept them in great stews, or stor-
age-ponds, trained them as pets, and held them
to be a special delicacy as food. In the time of
Augustus Caesar condemned slaves were thrown
to the ferocious fish as food ; and when Augustus
was declared dictator, one of his courtiers pre-
sented the populace with six thousand of these
morays taken from his ponds. So you see, Tom,
our big captive is worth fighting for and worth
preserving."

As the boat was drifting slowly along, Long
John suddenly turned to Dick, who was sitting
near him, and asked him to take the helm, at
the same time cautioning the others not to make
any noise, as there was a big turtle near them.
The boys looked in the direction indicated, and
saw what at first was apparently a piece of lum-
ber floating on the surface, but which turned
out to be the back of a turtle. Long John

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT. 99

pulled the dinghy alongside, stepped quietly in,
and, taking the barbed grains from the pole,
fitted on what he called a turtle-peg— a triangu-
lar peg about an inch and a half long and look-
ing, as Dick said, like the tip of a file cut oft*.
Fastening the line to the peg, Long John shoved
off, and slowly sculled toward the turtle.

The latter was evidently asleep, as it allo\ved
the fisherman to pull within a few feet of it,
wrhen Long John dropped the oar, and, taking
up the pole, drove the peg into the shell. Up
popped the turtle's head ; a snort as of escaping
steam, and it dived, carrying the line over the
side with a whistling sound suggestive of speed
and power.

The line was soon exhausted, and away flew
the dinghy, Long John slowly pulling in, finally
coming alongside, and securing the turtle by its
flippers. When the larger boat caught up, the
boys lent a hand, and the prize was soon hauled
aboard. They were all astonished at this primi-
tive method of taking a turtle ; but it was none
the less effective, and was the method in use on
the reef. The peg simply penetrated the shell

100 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

half an inch or so, holding by suction, and not
injuring the turtle in the least, while if it had
been struck with the grains the shell would
have been torn and a bad wound the result, ren-
dering it impossible to consign the turtle to the
crawl or ship it any distance.

" Did you ever see a sea serpent ? " Harry
asked Long John, after the excitement over the
turtle had subsided.

tl Ever see a sea sarpint ? " repeated Long
John, looking at Harry earnestly with one eye,
while the other appeared to wink slyly at the
doctor.

" Yes," said Harry. " Have you ? "

" I can't say I have," replied Long John, put-
ing on a very wise look ; " but Bob Rand has.
Bob " he continued, " ain't much of a talker ; in
fact, I've pardnered with him five years and
never held much conversin' with him, but he's
a great obsarver — takes in everything, and stores
it up like. If he can't tell you about the sea-
sarpintj I'm mistaken."

The boys determined to broach the subject
to Bob Hand at the very first opportunity.

A RACE WITH A WATERSPOUT.

101

The boat had now reached the key, and it
was fully an hour before the specimens were all
cared for. Many were placed in alcohol, others
spread out to dry, while tubs and other recepta-
cles held so many that when the boys enumer-
ated them that night, as they sat on the piazza
of their cottage, they were amazed at their
wealth. In the early part of the evening they
cleaned the echini, or sea-eggs, of a former catch ;

Sea egg.

rubbing and ridding them of their spines with
finger brushes, which the doctor had brought
for the purpose. After a few days in the sun
they presented a white and beautiful appear-
ance, and when placed side by side with speci-
mens having their spines still on, formed a strik-
ing contrast.

CHAPTER Y.

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS.

The mystery of Bob Rand— The wrecker's opinion— The nest of a
fish — Long John expresses an opinion — Bombarded with fish —
An adventure with jacks— The mysterious grave— Tom's ad-
venture— Sea-squirts — A school of nurses.

FOR one, don't believe
Bob Rand knows anything
about the sea serpent," said
Harry the next morning at
breakfast.

"Why?" asked the doctor,
smiling.

"Because I asked him
down at the wharf," replied
Harry, " and he appeared thun-
derstruck, gave a sort of
chuckle, and scratched his head.
I almost thought he was going to tell me some-
thing, as he stood looking off at the water for
at least two minutes, as if trying to remember

(102)

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS. 103

something ; then he appeared to forget all about
it, and sculled away, leaving me standing there."

" Bob is a singular character," said the doc-
tor. " Long John, Chief, and Busby, all seem
to look up to him as a monument of facts ; but
I have never heard him say anything. He is
certainly veiy reticent, but is a good fisherman."

" How long have you known Bob Rand ? "
asked the doctor of the commodore, who just at
that moment came in.

" Two years come Michaelmas, sir," was the
reply.

" He is a very bright man, is he not ? " con-
tinued the doctor.

" That he is," said Busby. " I reckon, sir,
there's few on the reef that's his ekal."

" On what points ? " persisted the doctor.

" Ony pints, sir. I never heard him express
himself particular like ; but Long John, his pard-
ner, has sounded him, and says there's few like
him. It's the general opinion, sir," and the old
man hobbled out to get the boat ready.

" Bob Rand seems to have impressed every
one with his wealth of mind without doing any-

104 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

thing but keep still," said the doctor, laughing ;
" but, if I am not mistaken, we will find him a
faithful comrade as wrell as an interesting char-

o

acter."

This proved true. Neither of the boys,
though living for months with Bob Rand, and
out on the reef with him nearly every day, ever
heard him enter into any conversation beyond
monosyllables, while his usual answer to a ques-
tion was to scratch his head and look off at the
horizon. Yet Bob was an invaluable boatman,
the best pilot on the reef, and knew all the se-
crets of the great shoal.

The tide-gate of the moat, on the southern
side of the fort, was a famous place to observe
fishes and algae going out with the current. The
morning after their visit to the wreck the boys
were seated or stretched along the moat, in
various attitudes suggestive of little to do, inter-
cepting numerous specimens floating out to sea.

"Say, boys," said Tom, u wouldn't it be a
splendid place to keep a shark, here in the
moat ? — plenty of water, and no wray of his get-
ting out."

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS. 105

" A good plan," answered Dick ; " let's
do it."

" The place is a good one," said the doctor,
"but it means hard work and some risk. How-
ever, we will talk with Long John about it.
Meantime, when this tide runs out, why not
make out to the shoal and find some more sun-
shells (Tellina radiata) like those Harry dis-
covered yesterday ? "

Tellina radiata.

The suggestion was readily accepted, and,
while waiting the falling of the tide, Harry,
who was lying prone on the bridge, with his
face near to the water, said : " These little toad-
fish seem to make a nest for themselves, doctor.
I've been watching one for some time, and it

106 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

seems to pick up pieces of dead coral and bits of
sand with its fins and tail and then scoop out a
hollow and settle down as an old hen does upon
her eggs."

Toad-fish.

" Yes, you are right," said the doctor, " it is
a nest. Many fishes build such nests. It seems
to be a regular hen-like hatching of eggs ; and,
after the young fish-chicks are out, the parent is
as ferocious and untiring a guardian of the chil-
dren as any hen in a farm-yard."

The tide had now fallen sufficiently to en-
able the boys to wade out to the shoal, and they
were soon at work digging up the beautiful
shells. These were marked in a rich imitation
of the sun's rays writh gaudy colorings. Indeed,
Long John firmly maintained that the shells
owed their decoration to the rays that shot
across the sky during the gorgeous sunsets, for
which the locality around the Florida Keys is

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS. 107

noted. The sun-shells are in shape much like
the soft clams of the North, but wonderfully
polished, and ornamented with ray-markings
that spring from near the hinge, growing wider
as they reach the lip of the shell. They were
found at the bottom of a round hole about two
inches in diameter and two feet deep, and were
invariably dead, with a hole bored in each,
showing the death to be the work of some para-
sitic shell.

" This looks as if the natica, or whelk, had
been at work here," said the doctor. " It has a
wonderful arrangement of teeth, or grinders,
with which it bores circular holes in the clams,
and devours them at leisure. By the way, the
natica is a nest-builder, such as we were men-
tioning. Those collar-shaped pieces of sand that
you have found on the Northern beaches are the
nests in which the natica deposits its eggs."

Here a shout from Long John, who with
Bob Rand was out on the sea-wall, caused the
boys to look up quickly.

" Look out yonder," shouted Long John ;
"the jacks are beating !"

108 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Following the direction of his finger, the
boys looked toward Long Key and witnessed a
singular sight. All around the shore the water
was in the greatest commotion, though there
was a dead calm elsewhere. Large bodies were
seen leaping into the air and falling down into
the sea with a noise that could be distinctly
heard.

" Why, they're fish ! " cried Dick.

" Come on, boys ! " shouted Harry ; and
seizing their grains they all scrambled into the
boats and headed for Long Key, which Long
John and Bob Rand had now nearly reached.

" Just look at those fish," cried Tom, wild
with excitement ; " why, there's millions cf
them ! "

He was not far wrong. All along the shore
the "jacks" — a species of Carnax — had driven
in a school of sardines, and so crazed were they
with the excitement of pursuit that they were
leaping into the air, darting through the solid
mass of terrified sardines, and throwing them-
selves on the beach by hundreds. The sardines
literally packed the shore for four or five feet,

THE. BEATING OF THE JACKS.. 109

and out over the water they were leaping in the
air, followed by the larger u jacks," who paid
not the least attention to the new-comer's.

All the party were soon at work in this
strangest kind of fishing.

" Give it to them ! " cried Tom, as he struck
a ten-pounder and flung it on the beach. Dick
struck at one in mid -air, and at that moment a
large " jack " leaped plump against his legs, so
startling him that he stumbled headlong into
the mass of floundering fish.

Long John and Bob Rand were standing
knee-deep among the sardines, grasping the
"jacks " in their hands and flinging them on the
beach ; but when the boys tried this primitive
way of fishing, the sharp dorsal fins pierced their
hands and made them bleed.

"You need seasoned hands for this sport,"
said Long John ; and the boys agreed with
him.

The " beating " did not abate in the least.
Clouds of gulls hovered over the spot and darted
down into the mass of fish, while a number of
pelicans, including Long John's clumsy pet, were

HO . ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEF.

diving among the fish and filling their capacious
pouches.

Finally, when all were tired out with captur-
ing this enormous " catch " of fish, and Lon<^

o > O

John and Bob were at work storing the game in
the flat-boats to carry away for cleaning and
salting down, the boys climbed into the boats
again and pulled leisurely back to the fort.

" This * beating,' " explained the doctor, on
the way home, " is simply the rush of the fish
after its prey, and is common to many of the
mackerel-like fishes, that become crazed, and, as
we have seen, leap entirely out of the water." *

" If you want any shark-fishing, young gen-
tlemen," said Long John, who was seated on a
keg, skinning and cleaning " jacks," " now's
your time ; the heads and backbones I'm chuck-
ing over will bait 'em up as thick as mullets."

" I'll tell you what, boys," said Tom, who
was stretched out on the sand, " let's put a shark

* The " beating " of the Pacific horse-mackerel, or tuna, is a
beautiful sight. I have seen a school sweep up the coast, beating
acres of surface into foam in their charges after the flying-fish, that,
in their fright, flew upon the beaches and even into boats. — AU-
THOR.

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS.

into the moat this afternoon and see if we can
tame him."

" Agreed/' replied Dick and Hariy in chorus.

" Better look out the shark don't put you
inside him ! " cautioned Long John.

" Oh, we'll look out for that," answered Tom.

"Well, all the lines are in the boat, and
we've plenty of bait here," said the obliging
fisherman. " What are your plans for this after-
noon, sir ? " he asked the doctor, who approached
the group.

" I propose we follow up the north end of
Long Key, and strike off to the second buoy,
where we can try the fishing. When tired of
that, we can come in and try the sharks."

Well pleased with this programme, the boys
got out the boat, and the party was soon ashore
on Long Key. Long John poled the boat along
near shore, keeping an eye out for conch or cray-
fish, wrhich could be used for bait, while the
others, preferring to walk, followed along on the
beach.

" Hurry up, Dick ! " said Tom, giving him a
push over into the sand.

112 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" I'll hurry you ! " replied Dick, picking
himself up and darting after his companion.
Although Torn had a good start, Dick was
steadily gaining, when Tom suddenly turned,
and, running up to the middle of the key,
doubled on his pursuer. Harry and the doctor
cheered and encouraged the racers, but all at
once they saw Tom give a lunge and disappear,
and Dick, who was now directly behind, came
to a stop just in time to save himself from fol-
lowing suit. As Harry and the doctor reached
the spot, Tom was picking himself up at the
bottom of a large hollow into which he had
fallen.

" Well, that is the worst scare I've had yet ! "
he said, rubbing his legs. " What is it, any
way?"

" I think I see some bones there," said his
father. " Give me your hand, and I will see
what it is " ; and, steadying himself, he was low-
ered into the hole.

" This must have been a grave once," he said,
a moment later, " for here is a part of a man's
skull."

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS. H3

" He must have bad a big coffin/' remarked
Tom.

" No, it is not a coffin, but evidently a very
large hogshead, into which the body was thrown.
Don't come too near the edge, or you will all
fall in."

;< I've been here over twenty years," said
Long John, who had landed to see what the ex-
citement was, "and never knew any one to be
buried here. It must have been one of the old
Spanish pirates ; they used to lie here years
ago."

The boys had heard it whispered that Long
John had been a pirate himself once upon a
time, and thought he might perhaps explain the
strange grave, if so inclined ; but he said noth-
ing further.

The doctor took the bones out carefully, but
most of them crumbled awray. The skull was
found to be nearly perfect, but with a fracture
at the base, giving the impression that the
owner had come to a violent end. The remains
were placed together again, and covered with
the surrounding sand, probably for the last time.

ALOXG THE FLORIDA REEF.

The sun. was now high, and, according to
Long John, they were in for a " steamer " ; so a
start was made up the beach.

" Where can we get some bait ? " asked
Dick,

"You'll find big-heads and plenty of craw-
fish on the edge of the channel, right off the
west'ard of the key," replied Long John.

Following the directions, they started ; the
doctor, Tom, and Harry in the boat, while Dick
and Long John waded along the shore — the
former chasing spirit-crabs, and picking up shells
or bits of sea- weed.

The water on the reef here was about four
feet deep, with a bottom of clear white sand, so
that any object could be seen upon it some dis-
tance away, presenting a scene irresistible to the
boys in the boat, who leaned over with faces-
almost touching the water, while the doctor,
with the grain-pole in hand, slowly poled along.
Here a big conch (jStrombus) was lumbering
along, racing, perhaps, with the smaller species-
not a foot away. Now it was a big anemone
buried in the sand, and mimicking it in its ab-

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS.

115

sence of color ; or perhaps a ray was approached,
which darted off with a bird-like motion of its
fins. It was a perfect panorama, every step offer-
ing some new and attractive form.

" What are those round things, shells or
stones ? " asked Harry, as the boat passed over

it f

y—

B

Diagram of the growth of a sea-squirt or ascidian. A a, Young free swim-
ming stage, a2, Intermediate stage when first settling down. B 6,
Full-grown sea-squirt, m, mouth ; e, hollow brain with eye ; ^, gill
slits ; A, heart ; r, rod of gristle in free swimming form ; nv, nerve cord
in same ; t, tail in process of absorption in intermediate form.

some curious oval objects protruding from the
sand. " Hold on a minute," he added, and

HG ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

dropped over the side of the boat. Diving
down, he inserted his hand under them and
brought several to the surface.

" This is an interesting find," said the doctor
as Harry clambered into the boat with his prize.
" They are called sea-squirts, from their habit of
ejecting water. They seem to occupy a position
in life between the worm and the lowest back-
boned animals. These specimens are what we
call ascidians, and they have a most accommo-
dating heart, that, when tired of beating one
way, stops, and goes the other, so to speak,
throwing the blood in the other direction. Per-
haps you can remember them by that/'

" Hallo, there are the coral-heads ! " cried
Tom, who was now poling with his grains in
the bow.

" These can't be coral-heads, here," said the
doctor, as he looked toward the black spots in-
dicated by Tom ; and then he added : " I thought
as much. They are black sharks, or nurse, as
they are called. Keep quiet, and we can go di-
rectly among them. If there is a small one, we
might try to catch it."

THE BEATING OF THE JACKS. 117

" Just look here ! " cried Tom, growing ex-
cited. " There is a regular school, and they're
all lying still."

The boat was now directly over the sharks,
which were a dark chocolate-color, and many of
them apparently over seven feet long. As yet
they had not taken the alarm, but, in his eager-
ness to see them, Tom slipped on the gunwale,
and in an instant they all dashed away, stirring
up clouds of sand, and rushing by wildly in every
direction. Tom could resist no longer, and, as
a large one crossed the bow, he let fly the grains.

" Look out ! " he cried, paying out the line.
" Keep clear of the rope ! "

This was more easily said than done, as the
rope was rushing out, whirling and turning at a
great rate ; now taking a turn around an oar
and whisking through Tom's fingers, and, finally,
in the confusion, twisting itself around Harry's
leg and throwing him off his feet. Then the
line became taut, and off darted the boat, towed
by the shark.

" Take the line off before I'm hauled over-
board ! " screamed Harry.

118

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

THE BEATING OP THE JACKS.

119

The others were laughing loudly over his
predicament, but they managed to release him,

and again Tom lost
his hold upon the
line. The rope was
nearly run out now,

and as the piece of wood to which

it was attached dashed over the

side Tom seized it, lost his balance,

and with, the end of the rope in his hand went

headlong, with a great splash, over the bow of

the boat.

CHAPTEE YL

RIDING A SHAKK.

The black nurse — Tom's ride — Graining cray-fish — The coral-heads
— The home of the cray-fish — Submarine aquariums — Spearing
an octopus — The cloud of ink — Head-footed animals.

OB, an instant Tom was lost
to sight, but he soon reap-
peared, rope in hand, now under
water and now above, rushing
at railway speed behind his
strange steed, which was plow-
ing along, making Tom snort
like a grampus.

" Hang on, Tom ; don't
let go ! " shouted the boys.
"We'll pick you up."
Tom, who was an excellent swimmer, soon
placed himself upon the surface and enjoyed the
sport, an occasional cheer testifying that he was
all right. The others at once put out the oars,

(120)

HIDING A SHARK. 121

but, though they gave way with a will, they
were quickly left far behind. The big fish was
headed toward the shoal, and the doctor, seeing
that it would probably turn, tried to head it off.
Tom occasionally attempted to check his mad
charger by striking the bottom with his feet and
holding back, but his efforts were useless ; he
was dragged ahead again, and, when the fish
turned suddenly, it became evident that he must
either catch hold of the boat or abandon the
prize.

" Catch the boat as you go by ! " shouted
Dick.

On they came. The shark went faster still
as it saw the boat, which was now moving in
the same direction. A few moments more and
Tom was alongside, strong arms hauled him
aboard, while the doctor took the line, to which
Tom still clung, and made it fast.

All hands now hauled on the line, and the
boat was soon directly over the big fish that,
after so brave a fight, was beginning to show
signs of fatigue. The doctor sent his grains into
the shark's head, and with a few sturdy splashes

122 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the monster finally gave up the struggle, and
was soon towed to the beach and killed.

"That," said Tom, as he leaped ashore,
" was the queerest ride I ever had ; it even
beats riding turtles. What a story to tell the
boys at home ! "

The shark was found to be eight feet six
inches long, and the doctor, cutting open the
stomach, showed that it contained sea-weed,
holothurians, and the remains of sea-urchins.

" It is too sluggish to catch fish," he ex-
plained, "and prefers to root for food, as the
pigs do."

Leaving the shark to the crabs, intending to
return at another time to secure the curious
hinge-shaped jaw, from which it takes its name,
the party returned to the boat and pulled away
for the cray -fish grounds.

" Here are the coral-heads ! " cried Harry,
giving the boat a shove to the starboard.

" I should say they were," responded Dick.
" Why, they must be four feet across."

" Almost," said the doctor. " You see they
look like immense brains deposited on the sand,

RIDING A SHARK. 123

and to this appearance the specific name cerebri-
formis refers."

The scene was certainly an extraordinary
one. All around them were great heads or
domes of coral, three or four feet in height and
from four to five feet in diameter. Their color
was brown. Some were perfect, and studded

Meaudrina cerebriformis.

with the heads of richly colored boring worms,
while others were completely worn out in the
center, so that they formed enormous vases in
which were seen richly tinted gorgonias and
fishes of every hue, from the gayly painted an-
gel-fish to a brilliant purple fish that gazed in-

124: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Marino cray-fish.

RIDING A SHARK. 125

quisitively at them. The sand beneath the
edges of the big coral-heads, as they were called,
was dug away by the cray-fish, which backed
in, only showing its waving whips or feelers.

" We'll wade along and see if we can find
anything new," said Tom, as he and Harry
stepped out on one of the heads, taking their
grains with them.

So closely were the heads connected that the
boys found no difficulty in jumping from one to
another, the water being only a foot deep over
them, though it was slow work, as they were
barefooted, and the peculiar coral borers had
raised sharp, jagged points not at all pleasant to
step upon. They wandered some distance ahead
of the boat, occasionally capturing a cray-fish,
and leaving it on the heads for the others to
pick up.

Tom had loitered behind to secure a fan-
shell that hung from a rich lavender gorgonia,
when a shout from Harry caused him to look
up. He had evidently struck something heavy,
and was pushing and hauling at his grains with
all his strength.

126

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Hurry up ! " lie cried ; " IVe caught some-
thing or it has caught me, I don't know which."

An octopus running.

As Tom jumped on to the head he saw the
cause of Harry's excitement. Clinging to the
coral was a large mottled octopus ; the spear
was imbedded in its body, but such was the
strength of the animal that he could not move
it. The eight sucker-lined arms were fastened
upon the rough surface of the coral, while one
was wound around the grains. Tom took hold
of the pole and jerked as hard as he could, but
still the octopus held on like a vise, its ex-
pressive eyes almost seeming to flash with
rage. Curious waves of color passed rapidly
over its body, accompanied by a tremulous
motion, while a continuous emission of ink

RIDING A SHARK. 127

or sepia colored the water for several feet
around.

Dick Lad read some terrible tales of the
power of the devil-fish, and as soon as he learned
what it was he hailed the boat.

" Look out," he said to Tom, "he'll fasten on
to your legs."

" Nonsense ! " the latter replied. " Let me
get a shot at it."

Dick moved a little to one side, and putting
his spear down close to the writhing creature,
Tom drove it into him ; both then pushed at
the same time, and as a result the octopus gave
way, winding its arms around both spears.
With a jerk they lifted it, squirming and writh-
ing, into the air ; and as the Rosetta had now
reached them they tossed it in.

" That is a fine specimen," said the doctor,
holding it down ; u but how will you get him off
the grains without tearing him all in pieces ? "

" Give him a drink of alcohol," suggested
Dick, stirring the creature up with a stick.

"A good idea," replied the doctor; "just
hold him over this pail."

128 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Long John turned the animal so that its
mouth and beak were up, and then a pint of
alcohol was poured over it, stupefying the creat-
ure so that with a knife the grains were quickly
and easily detached.

" Jump in, boys," said the doctor, when the
others came up ; " we have enough bait, and
while we are on the way to the fishing-grounds
I will give you a few points on the devil-fishes,
as they are called."

" Shake out the sail ! " sang out Long John ;
" and, Mr. Tom, you take the tiller, keep for the
middle buoy off Sand Key, and we'll strike it."

The boat payed off before the mild trade-
wind, the sail filled, and they were soon under
way.

" In the first place," said the doctor, as he
settled himself against the sail in a comfortable
position, " you must remember that this curious
eight-armed fellow, and all the squids, belong to
the highest division of the shells or mollusks.
They are called cephalopods, from two Greek
words meaning ' head-footed.' You see they
have a distinct head. Some have their shells

RIDING A SHARK.

129

within, like the spirula, while others, like the
nautilus and argonaut, are protected by a shell.

Argonaut with the shell.

The octopus in these \vaters seldom attains a
larger size than this specimen, or a spread of
three feet, though in Alaskan waters they have

Argonaut without the shell.

been seen measuring twenty-five feet across.
The arms, you see, are lined with suckers, and
between them are the mouth and bill."

130

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" It's exactly like a parrot's beak," interrupted
Tom, who was following his father with his knife
on the octopus.

Octopus punctatus.

" Yes," replied the doctor ; " the only appar-
ent difference is that the upper bi]l fits into the
lower one, and not over it, as in the birds. The
animal lives on the bottom, gliding in and out
through the small crevices of the coral with per-
fect ease, and some varieties have a web-like
growth between the arms, with which they
swim ; but they are essentially bottom animals,
throwing out a cloud of ink and escaping under
its protection, just as this one attempted to do

RIDING A SHARK.

131

when you struck it. But here we are," he said,
as a big buoy appeared ahead. "I will tell

Pearly nautilus.

more about the family some other time, and of
an ancestor that was as large as a cart-wheel ;
and another long, cannon-like one that must
have weighed a ton."

CHAPTER VII.

THE TALKING-FISH.

On the fishing-grounds — Exciting sport — Curious catches — The liv-
ing balloon — The porcupine-fish — Dodging a waterspout — The
man-eater — An exciting chase — Tom's adventure with a squid
— An ink bath— The talking-fish— Grunts and groupers.

HIS is the place," said Long
John, squinting around
to get his bearings.

u Stand by the port an-
chor ! " cried Tom, assuming
command with mock gravity
and pushing the helm hard
down. " Lower away the
mainsprit ! Let go port an-
chor ! Lay out and furl ! Live-
ly there ! "

In obedience to these man-
o'-war orders the killick was dropped, the sprit
unshipped, then the mast, and soon all hands
were in various positions and ready.

(132)

THE TALKING-FISH. 133

The lines were mostly smaller than a cod-
line, but very strong — the sinker on the bottom,
and the hook about four or six inches above it—
this rig being necessary in fishing in the coral,
the sinker always resting on the bottom, allow-
ing the baited hook to swing clear. Tom had
his line over first, and consequently was the first
to lose his bait. By the time he had hauled up,
the others had all thrown over.

" I've caught him ! " cried Dick, giving a tre-
mendous pull. A jerk at the other end sent the
line whizzing through his fingers.

" Take a turn around the rowlock," suggested
Harry, laughing at his violent exertions.

" No, I have him," repeated Dick ; and wind-
ing the line around his hand he managed to
start the fish. Now he would gain a little, then
the fish would get it back ; but finally the cap-
tive was drawn to the surface, and with a lift
brought into the boat. It had an enormous
wide-open mouth, and in color was reddish -
brown and yellow.

"A grouper," said Long John. "That's a
good catch."

134: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Before Dick had taken it from the hook the
doctor had landed another, and soon bites were
felt on all sides — a success that caused a con-
stantly deepening smile to grow on Long John's
red face. The tall fisherman was kept busy
preparing bait and killing cray-fish, but he en-
joyed the enthusiasm of the boys and shared
their delight.

" I've got the bottom ! " shouted ungram-
matical Harry, drawing up his line.

There was no pulling ; the line came in as a
dead weight, and in a moment or two Harry
had drawn up and lifted into the boat some-
thing that looked precisely like a porcupine and
was quite as large, at the appearance of which
Long John roared with laughter.

" Hey, don't put him near me ! " cried Dick,
drawing up his legs.

" Is he dead ? " asked Tom.

" Why, it's a porcupine-fish — a Diodon" said
the doctor delightedly ; " and a big fellow,
too."

The boys danced around in a lively manner
to keep out of the prickly fellow's way.

THE TALKING-FISH. 135

" Good gracious, he's growing larger ! " an-
nounced Tom. " (jive him room ! "

The sea-porcupine.

Indeed, the fish was swelling, and in a few
minutes was much larger, and as round as a ball.

" He would be a nice customer to meet in
swimming," said Tom ; and putting the sea-por-
cupine over, it floated on the water like a rubber
ball, having merely filled itself with air.

Harry now landed a beautiful fish with sil-
very sides and yellow fins, which Long John

called a " yellow-tail."

10

136 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Hand me that scoop-net, Dick," asked Tom
suddenly, fastening his line to a pin. "I've
been watching several squids playing around the
rudder, and I think I can catch one."

Dick passed the net aft, and Tom, who was
sitting on an inverted bucket, leaned over the
water and held it in readiness should the squids
appear again. They soon returned, and leaning
farther over, with his face close to the water,
he made a plunge under them with the scoop.
But, instead of catching a squid, he started back

The porcupine as a balloon.

with a loud exclamation, lost his balance, and
rolled backward over the bucket in among the
fish with a great crash, while the countenance

THE TALKING-FISH. 137

he turned on the rest raised a loud shout of
laughter. His whole face was dripping with
streams of ink that ran in little rivulets down
his cheeks and dropped from his nose.

" What in the world is the matter with
you ? " gasped Harry as soon as he could stop
laughing.

" I suppose the squids shot me," replied
Tom, wiping the ink from his face with his
handkerchief and trying to smile at the amuse-
ment he was affording. " I wouldn't have be-
lieved they could throw ink so far," he added.
" My face was certainly a foot from the water,
and the moment I put the net in I felt the ink.
I think I must have dropped the net, too."

" Here it is," said Long John, with a chuckle ;
" I fished it out. But you did get a dose," he
added.

" Well, I don't blame you for laughing," said
Tom ; " I must look like a zebra. I shall have
this handkerchief to remember it by, as they say
the ink is indelible."

"I think there is something on your line,
Master Tom," interrupted Long John.

138 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Righting his pail and grasping the line, after
considerable playing, Tom lifted in a large fish,
which no sooner touched the boat than it com-
menced the most remarkable grunting ever heard
from a fish.

" He's a regular talker," said Long John.

"I didn't know that fishes could make a
noise," said Tom.

" And, if they do, why isn't it a kind of lan-
guage ? " asked Harry, as he poked the fish, that
rolled its red eyes and gave a series of quick
grunts.

" It is very possible," replied the doctor,
"that they use their voices as do all animals,
and in this case it certainly means pain, though
some claim that fishes do not suffer out of
water; but I do not agree with them. Your
catch, Tom, is a remarkable vocalist, but it is by
no means the only one. If you have had fishing
enough, suppose we up anchor and start for
home ; we can interview the grunt on the
way."

The anchor was soon up, and the Rosetta
headed for the key. On the way the doctor

THE TALKING-FISH. 139

continued the subject of the " talking-fish," as
Tom called it.

" This," he said, " is one of seventy or more
known sound-producers among the fishes, and the
variety of noises they make would give you ample
material for a fish dictionary. They are caused
probably by either the lips, the bones of the
pharynx, or the air-bladder, and are in many cases
involuntary. In the latter class are the fishes
known as Zeus and Trigla, in which the swim-
ming-bladders have a diaphragm which is opened
and closed by curious muscles, the operation be-
ing accompanied by a murmuring singing sound.
The cat-fishes and eels speak, we will say, by
forcing air from this bladder into the oesophagus ;
the former produce a curious crooning noise,
while the eels make a somewhat musical sound.
It is generally a soft note rapidly uttered, with
imperceptible variations, and having a decided
metallic ring at times like the distant stroke of
a tuning-fork. The mud sun-fish, so common in
the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers, makes a
sound very similar to the grunt, only in a deeper
bass. The gizzard shad utters a loud whirring

140 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

sound like that of a toy windmill, and the mul-
let has been heard to utter successive intonations
like escaping steam. The hog-fish, found here,
and porgy, both make a loud grunting when
caught.

" As long ago as the time of Aristotle," con-
tinued the doctor, " fishes were known to utter
sounds. Sir Emerson Tennent tells us that,
while on a visit to the north coast of Ceylon, he
heard on the middle of a lake — from whose
bottom it was alleged musical sounds issued—
very distinctly these same sounds, which were
like the gentle trills of a musical chord, or the
vibrations of a wine-glass when you rub its rim.
The drum-fish make the loudest noises, and on
the Jersey coast they call the Prionotus pig-fish,
because it croaks so loudly when taken in the
nets. Prof. Baird believed that these sounds
came from the belly of the fish. Travelers have
often been startled in their berths by the strange
noise of the drum-fish, and I remember that Sir
John Richardson says that he could not sleep
when off the coast of Carolina on account of the
noise these fish made."

THE TALKING-FISH.

"I reckon that's what I've heard often,"
said Long John, who, while alternately tending
the sheet and cleaning up the boat as they sped
along, had been an attentive listener. " I remem-
ber one night Bob and me was out to the south-
'ard here in a calm. We had forgot the oars,
and laid there all night, and such groanin' and
whistlin' I never heard the like of before. The
next mornin' Bob stuck to it that I'd been asleep
and had the nightmare ; I hadn't, though. But
here wre are " ; and, taking out the boat-hook,
the boatman fended off as the Rosetta ran lightly
alongside the dock.

" War's dat shark dat we was to see swim-
min' roun' in de moat ? " asked Paublo, who,
with some of the colored boys, had come
down to help carry up the fish and other speci-
mens.

"We found so many other things that we
forgot all about it," said Tom. " When you can
catch porcupines on a hook and line," he added,
holding up his prize, that had now subsided,
" why bother about sharks ? "

"I only mention it, Mars Tom, 'case a big

142

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

shark's been fool in' 'round here all day waitin'
to be cotched," said Paublo.

Further inquiry developed the fact that a
dead cow had been thrown overboard, and as it

drifted away the men
observed several large
sharks about it, pull-
ing it beneath the
surface, then releas-
ing it, when it would
shoot up again, fol-
lowed by the savage
throng. But it was
too late to undertake
so serious a task, and
the sport was deferred until another day.

The young naturalists not only delved among
the wonders of the shallow reef, but, by using a
dredge which the doctor had made, they raked
the bottom in deep water beyond the outer reef,
obtaining many strange and interesting creat-
ures— delicate crabs and sponges, pectens of an
intense vermilion hue, and one crab, also found
in shoal water, so blue that it looked like a gem.

Scallop.

THE TALKING-FISH.

143

Its body was small, with long attenuated legs
radiating from it, and its movements reminded

Shells of living foraminifera : a, Orbulina universa, in its perfect condi-
tion, showing the tubular spines which radiate from the surface of the
shell; 5, Globigerina bulloides, in its ordinary condition, the thin
hollow spines which are attached to the shell when perfect having
been broken off; c, Textularia variabilis; d, Peneroplis planatus; e,
Eotalia concamerata ; /, Cristellaria subarcuatula. (a is after Wyville
Thomson ; the others are after Williamson. All the figures are greatly
enlarged.)

the boys of the toy spiders that work their legs
and antennae. In the mud brought up they

14A

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

discovered many beautiful and curious forms —
minute jelly-like creatures (Foraminifera) that
secrete shells that form a part of the unseen
ocean rain. The deep-water star-fishes were
especially interesting, nearly all being delicate
brittle forms that broke and fell in pieces upon
being handled.

The dredge, and especially a drag-net, which
was towed astern, brought in many curious fishes

floating at the sur-

o

face ; the young of
many kinds, which
the doctor pointed
out, did not resemble
their parents in the
least ; the young of
crabs in various
stages, known as the
zoea and navplius—
little creatures with
spines and barbs, that were floating in bits of
sea-weed. But the most gorgeous creatures
were the jelly-fishes, which were often caught
in such numbers that they fairly clogged the

Brittle star.

THE TALK1XG-FISII.

145

net. They could be studied anywhere, their
rich shapes moving here and there over the

Jelly-fish.

lagoon, crystal palaces by day, and at night
gleaming with vivid phosphorescent light.

146 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Here was the Mhizostoma, a jelly-fish of richly
sculptured form, and many more ; some like
platters, broad and shallow ; others bell-like,
with long tentacles. Then there were the
smaller forms, the minute young in their many
shapes ; some the offspring of corals, which
would in turn deposit eggs that would attach
themselves to the bottom, and grow into coral-
secreting forms, which in turn would throw off
jelly-fishes, illustrating the wonders of alter-
nate generation.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND.

Tom sees the barracuda caught — Beguiling a fish in the sunlight —
Long John's skill with the grains— North Key— The only in-
habitant— Wading among the coral — The basket-fish — A suicide
— Tom invents a method of classification — Dodging a water-
spout.

- . w - \a ,

i^iJT *

OM was up bright and early

the next morning, as he had
left a number of things undone,
and when he reached the boat-
house he found Long John just
ready to shove off in his dinghy.
"I'm goin' to get a barra-
cuda for breakfast," he said,
in answer to Tom's question;
" better jump in."

Tom had heard of the big
fish, but had not as yet obtained a glimpse of
one, so he readily accepted the invitation and

(147)

148 ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEP.

seated himself in the bow, while John sculled
the boat quietly out into the channel.

The sun was just up — a big gleaming orb
that appeared to rise out of the water, dissipat-
ing the pink-tinted clouds that lined the western
horizon. Long John headed the dinghy directly
at the sun, threw over a line about five feet
long, to w^hich was attached a white rag, placed
his long grain-pole across the boat within reach,
then carving off a big piece of tobacco, he sol-
emnly winked at Tom, as much as to say, " Now
keep your weather eye open." And this is ex-
actly what Long John meant ; so Tom sat still,
and watched his tall form working the oar with
one hand, and at the same time keeping an eye
on the rag that was towing astern.

" You don't mean to say you catch a barra-
cuda with that thing ? " said Tom after a few
moments, unable to hold his curiosity longer.

" Sartin," replied Long John, with a grin.

Again there was silence, and again Tom's
curiosity reached the boiling-point, and he was
about to propound another question, when Long
John stopped sculling, and reaching down with

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 149

one long arm seized the grains, then slowly and
carefully turned it in the direction of the wake
of the boat. Now he gave t\vo or three turns
to the oar, shooting the dinghy ahead again ;
then, with a movement so quick that Tom could
hardly believe it possible in any one so long and
slow, he hurled the grains at some object ten
feet away. The pole came out of the grains-
socket, while the line whizzed through the water,
cutting it like a knife. A second later a mag-
nificent fish, four feet in length, dashed out of
the water, shaking itself violently in a desperate
effort to throw off the steel barbs that impaled
it. Long John held the line, and it fairly
whistled through his fingers as the gamy fish
darted this way and that. Now slacking when a
vicious rush came, and playing it with marvelous
skill, he soon brought it alongside, and with a
quick grasp jerked it into the boat, a shout from
Tom testifying his appreciation of the skillful
capture.

" I'd give a good deal if I could do that,"
he said, looking with admiring eyes on the
beauty.

150 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Nothing easier when you know how," an-

o »/

swered the tall fisherman, breathing hard and
coiling his line. " Mighty curious fish," he con-
tinued ; " I've known 'em to come right along-
side of the boat, but generally they keep nine
or ten foot off, and when they get in range,
why, then I put the grains into 'em. It's easy
enough."

" Easy enough for you," replied Tom, " but I
don't believe I could do it."

In a short time Long John caught another
barracuda, upon which Tom took the oars and
pulled the dinghy in. Dick and Harry were
both down at the wharf waiting for them.

" See what you miss by lying in bed ! "
shouted Tom, as they drew near, holding up a
big fish.

The barracuda were slung on an oar, and,
placing the ends on their shoulders, Tom and
Harry started up the walk to the cottage, and
soon the odor of broiling barracuda arose from
Paublo's department.

" The barracuda must be one of the quickest
of all fishes in its movements," said Tom, after

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 151

describing the rushes of the big fish as he had
seen them.

" You are right," said his father ; " but how
fast they can travel would be difficult to deter-
mine. The speed of a salmon has been esti-
mated at forty feet a second. The barracuda is
more perfectly fitted for speed than the salmon ;
its long pointed head, powerful fins, and rakish
dorsal fin remind one of a yacht built for
speed."

Though the barracuda was so easily caught
by the skillful handling of the grains, it is, in
reality, one of the most wily fish, as well as
gamy, to be found on the reef, and an inexpe-
rienced hand might fish all day without success.
The smaller ones, from a foot to eighteen inches
long, are excellent eating, and were found in
great numbers in the shoal waters of the key,
or hanging on the outskirts of schools of mullets
and sardines into which they would occasionally
dash. Tom finally became very skillful in catch-
ing them. He used a very fine line rigged for
the purpose, the hook attached by a long piece

of the finest copper wire without a sinker. If

11

152 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. ',

live bait was not at hand, Tom was capable
of making a dead sardine struggle as if alive.
When he saw a barracuda he would hurl the
line beyond it to one side, the bait being gradu-
ally dragged in its direction. Soon the attention
of the game was attracted, and at it he would
dart, but not to bite. The cunning barracuda
merely dug its nose into the sand and backed
off, eying the bait with a critical gaze. Now all
depended upon Tom. If he could induce the
barracuda to believe the bait was alive and try-
ing to escape, the fish was his ; but, if the work
was clumsily done, the barracuda would turn
tail and swim away in disgust. A delicate
twitching at the line invariably produced the
desired result ; the barracuda darted again at
the bait, and after nosing it several times
finally took it deliberately and moved away ;
three or four convulsive swallows and the
bait disappeared, whereupon the hook was
jerked into it, and the latter end of the sport
commenced.

" I don't believe Long John was ever a pirate
if he can catch a fish the way Tom said he did,"

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 153

Dick remarked, as they stood on the shore after
breakfast, waiting for the doctor.

" Nor I either," said Harry ; " he must have
been a fisherman all his life."

As they spoke, the doctor appeared, loaded
with a box of phials for specimens, and the boys
hastened to relieve him.

" I am going over to North Key," he said,
" the most northwestern key of this group, and
interesting because it is a key just forming or
disappearing — it is difficult to tell which. After
a severe hurricane, the men tell me, a sloop could
sail over it, but during pleasant weather it ap-
pears out of water again."

The boys were always ready for an excur-
sion, and going aboard Long John's fishing-boat,
which he called the Bull-pup, because she clung
to the wind so, were soon bowling along, headed
in the direction of the island. After an hours
sail they sighted it — a patch of white sand, bear-
ing a few grasses, and so low that it was evi-
dently swept during heavy gales. The Bull-pup
was anchored near shore, the boys and the doc-
tor taking the dinghy and pulling in, hauling it

154: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

upon the beach, after which they explored the
limited area.

" North Key," said the doctor, as they stood
on the sands and looked about, " may be consid-
ered the last of the chain of islands to the north
in the waters of the Florida Reef. You see
there is no mangrove growth here, owing, per-
haps, to the strong winds which prevent the
seeds from taking root ; and, besides, the winter
northers sweep the ridge raised by the summer
trades, and level it so that for several months in
the year it is often entirely under water."

The boys were impressed by the singular
sight of an island dependent upon wind and
wave, and Tom christened it Disappearing Island,
as it was always coming and going. A few
clumps of grass grew here and there, the growth
of seeds washed ashore. Even the spirit-crabs,
generally the first to take up a residence, were
absent. The white shore showed a few stranded
sea-snails, while delicately outlined were the
tracks of a sea bird, whose footprint here was
almost as astonishing as the one found by Robin-
son Crusoe. The key was deserted. No, on the

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 155

very summit of the low ridge a solitary gull's
egg was discovered.

"Not much, certainly, to furnish instruction
or entertainment," said the doctor, " but it shows
that even here a purpose has been served, and
one of God's creatures has found a home."

There was no attempt made to rob that
home, and the egg was left to be hatched by
the hot sun and bring forth the little gull
that would certainly be the Robinson Crusoe
of the birds, as Tom said, and in full posses-
sion.

The reef off shore offering more inducements,
the party boarded the boat again, and after a
sail to the south came to anchor on the edge of
the channel.

" How low the water is ! " said Dick, pointing
to the tips of branch coral which appeared above
water. " Suppose we wade out, boys."

"Very well," said the doctor. "Take the
dinghy to put your finds in, and John will at-
tend to the lunch, after which we can try the
fishing."

Shoving off the dinghy, they waded along,

156 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

dragging the boat, there being just water
enough to float her without them. The coral
was nearly all a madrepore, with short branches
growing in clumps, forming quite distinct but
winding channels all over the reef ; in these the
boys kept, the water not being over knee-deep.
Their method of taking specimens was to tear
up a bunch of coral and lift it into the boat,
upon which the crabs, star-fishes, shells, and sea-
eggs, that made their home there, would drop
off, and those that clung to it could be picked
off, after which the coral was exchanged for an-
other bunch.

" Good gracious ! what's this ? " exclaimed
Harry, who had lifted up a bunch of coral on
which appeared something that looked like a
ball of snakes slowly twisting and coiling in
every possible position. As he raised it the-
curious arms commenced to drop apart, falling
into the water in a perfect shower.

The doctor, who was watching Harry, laughed
heartily at the ludicrous appearance presented
by the discoverer. Afraid to drop it around his
feet, or to move, there he stood, holding at arm's

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 157

length the writhing mass that was rapidly de-

creasing in size.

" Get it over the dinghy, quick," the doctor
said, "or there won't be anything left. It is
only a star-fish."

Harry secured what remained — merely a
round body, with several arms. " I thought I
had a nest of young sea-serpents," he said.

The basket-fish ( Aster opliy tori).

"It is the basket star-fish," explained the
doctor; "and these are its arms, branched in
every direction, and certainly snake-like."

158 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" But what made it break up ? " asked
Harry.

" It committed suicide ; a number of animals
do the same. The only way to save them is to
drop them instantly into alcohol after they leave
the water ; otherwise they throw off their arms
and tentacles, as you have seen. As it is, we
have not much left of this one."

" If I had my way," said Tom, who had been
trying to pronounce Asterophyton, the name of
the star-fish, as they rested upon the coral heads,
" I wouldn't have any long scientific names for
any animals, but just call this a basket-fish."

"That might do very well for you, Tom,"
replied his father, "but the scientific names, as
you call them, are very necessary. Suppose now
you had discovered a new star-fish, and in your
description called it the basket-fish; when the
French, German, Italian, and other scientists
read your report they would have no little diffi-
culty in finding out what you meant ; so for this
reason scientists decided many years ago to
adopt a common language. Latin was the one
selected, though Greek words are also used.

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND.

159

This simplifies matters, you see, as this language
is known everywhere."

u I see," said Tom, " and I don't believe my
system of classification would do."

" What is it ? " asked his father, laughing.

" Why, I should put all the long-nosed fishes
together, as an example."

Sword-fish and saw-fish.

" You would have a strange mixture," replied
the doctor.

" Why," continued Tom, " there is the sword-
fish, saw-fish, bill and trumpet fish, snipe-fish,
spoon-bill sturgeon, and narwhal."

" But the narwhal is not a fish," rejoined the
doctor. " See what a confused arrangement you
would have. Now, what are called pouched
animals you would think would be all alike ;

160

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 161

but they show the greatest variation, though
a great many entirely different animals have
pouches. For instance, there are the kangaroo,
opossum, some of the tree-toads, the pipe-fish
and sea-horses, an echinus, some of the cat-fishes,
and many others totally at variance as regards
structure. So you see your plan would hardly
work."

" If you young gentlemen don't object," in-
terrupted Long John, who had been an attentive
listener, " I think you had better come aboard " ;
and as Tom and Dick waded toward the boat
he pointed behind them. A long, low, lead-col-
ored cloud had appeared so quickly that they
had not noticed it, and from it two curious
points extended down.

" Jump in quick ! " cried the doctor ; and the
boys wasted no time, but floundered to the boat,
and, following Long John's directions, got out
the oars and put them over the sides of the
clumsy sail-boat.

" What is it ? " asked Dick.

" Them's waterspouts forming," replied Long
John ; " and as they have killed the wind, and

162

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

might bother us, I want to be ready. We could
pull the sloop away from them if they came this
way."

The boys had seen the full-fledged water-
spout, and now had an opportunity to see the

The sea-horse.

formation of these ocean monsters. Down came
the points until half way to the water, when
they noticed another column rising from the sur-
face up to it. It was a wonderful spectacle, and
they sat resting upon their oars almost spell-

THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND. 1£3

bound. Iii a very few moments the two por-
tions joined, and the perfect waterspouts began
to move away.

Now a gentle wind sprang up, and the giants
bending toward the direction of the wind, Long
John took the helm, and slowly the Bull-pup
filled away, passing not two hundred yards from
one of them. They saw how easily a ship could
be destroyed by contact with one, and would be
almost powerless to escape.

The waterspouts moved grandly away, and,
taking advantage of the fresh breeze that ap-
peared to come from the cloud, they bore away
for home, Dick and Harry holding trolling-lines
in what proved vain hopes of taking a king-fish.

CHAPTEE IX.

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR.

A pirate's island — The parrot-fish — The queen conch — Mimics — The
file-fish — Floating nests — Tom takes a lesson with the cast-net
— Catching a flamingo — The race — Tom succumbs to the For.
tuguese man-of-war — Long John blows up the man-of-war —
Wonders of phosphorescence.

FEW mornings after this
excursion the expedition,
under Long John's guid-
ance, was making a run across
to East Key, some eight miles
from the fort. The sky was
richly tinted with crimson from
the rising sun, that seemed re-
flected everywhere. Shoals of
fishes sprang from the water.
Dark-hued rays darted aside in
graceful curves, the musical cry
of the laughing-gull sounded above, and every liv-
ing thing seemed enjoying the beautiful morning.

(164)

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 165

They rapidly crossed the channel, by Sand
and Middle Keys, and in an hour were on the
great reef that surrounded East Key. The wind
had died away entirely, and a dead calm left the
sails hanging straight and lifeless.

" Well," said the doctor, u I'm afraid we shall
have to pull for it. But it is only about three
miles to the key, and, by working slowly along,
we may pick up some specimens."

Long John, who was sculling the dinghy
alongside, kept pace with the larger boat, and his
watchful eye saw many a choice specimen that
their inexperienced eyes would have overlooked.
The water was about fifteen feet deep, and so
clear that the smallest shells could easily be seen
from above as the boats drifted leisurely along.

" See those angel-fishes ; how they resemble
birds ! " said the doctor, pointing to a number of
them gliding in and out among the coral branches.
" They sweep down, a score at a time, as if they
were a flock of birds-of -paradise ; and there is a
parrot-fish. Steady a moment ! "

" It seems too bad to kill this beautiful
creature ! " said Harry.

166 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" But one may be spared for a specimen,"
said the doctor, preparing the fatal alcohol.
Then he showed the boys how wonderfully the
saws of the Scarus are adapted for grinding
coral. The teeth, they noticed, were incorpo-
rated with the bone, and grew crowded together
in groups of five.

" No wonder they are named after the par-
rot," said Dick ; " they are like them in color
and in beak."

" There goes a beautiful fish ! " exclaimed
Tom, pointing to a yellow one with blue stripes
and a black spot on its tail.

" It is one of the Chcetodons" said the doc-
tor ; " they are so evenly balanced that it is diffi-
cult to distinguish the head from the tail. They
are commonly called £ four-eyes.' '

" It's a good name for them," retorted Tom,
having hurled his grains ineffectually. "They
are too keen-sighted to be caught."

Here a shout from Long John, who had
sculled ahead, drew their attention, and pulling
up to him they found that he had seen a rare
shell — a " queen-conch," or Cassis. It lay at the

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR.

bottom of a shelving bank among some large
shrub-corals. The great mollusk seemed almost
elephantine as it glided along the smooth sur-
face, its large proboscis, like the trunk of an
elephant, extending far before it. Its mound-
like shell seemed covered with a checkered
cloth ; and, indeed, this is the soberest part of
the Cassis, the gorgeous colorings being upon
the under surface or shield-like face which drags
over the mud.

Tom, who stood on the bows of the boat,
swaying to and fro, suddenly tumbled over into
the gulf. As the ripples cleared, the boys could
see him far below, peering cautiously among the
coral branches. Dick plunged in after him, and
soon both boys had deposited the great conch in
triumph in the boat. It proved a grand speci-
men for the aquarium. The great conches,
when in the cabinet or on the mantel, are hand-
some objects, but they are perfect marvels of beau-
tiful coloring when first taken from the water.

"You'll find plenty of crabs and things in
this," said Long John, hauling a little field of

floating gulf- weed alongside.
12

168 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Dick secured it, and they captured several
specimens of the Antennarius — the nest-builders
first seen at Marquesas.

" Why, here's a crab," exclaimed Dick, " right
under my eyes ! And here's another lying on
the weed, and a fish with a file for a fin."

" It is not strange they escaped your notice,"
said the doctor. "They are mimics, and see
how exactly in color they resemble the weed.
This is a provision of Nature for their protec-
tion. These animals are what is called pelagic
in their nature, floating around in the Gulf
Stream carried by the weed. Now, if colored
like some other crabs, the first gull that came
along would swoop down and carry them off ;
but Nature looks out for this, and has given
them tints in exact imitation of a patch of the
surrounding weed, and you will notice that even
the little zoophytes that grow upon the weed
are imitated. So with the fish," continued the
doctor, taking one up. " See the yellow, green,
mottled colors, its curious barbels and fringed
fins, how almost exactly they resemble the Sar-
gassum. If you did not know what you were

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 169

looking for, it would escape notice, so complete
is the deception. A large number of animals
are afforded protection of this kind, while others
use their natural advantages to obtain food.
Some time to-day I will try to give you a fur-
ther account of some of them."

" Hold hard a second ! " cried Long John
suddenly ; and reaching under the seat he
hauled out a cast-net. With a quick motion he
threw it over his left arm, wound a cord about
his wrist, and, taking another portion of the net
in his mouth, motioned the boys to pole toward
a school of fish. Wondering how anything
could be caught from such a confusion of
meshes and sinkers, they obeyed. When within
reach, Long John swayed his body to the right,
and swinging the net to the rear, with a sweep
he hurled it from him. It spread out in a cir-
cular form about ten feet in diameter, and came
down with a crash among the mullets, covering
at least two thirds of the school. The skillful
developments of its powers elicited a shout of
admiration from the party. Long John gave
several jerks at the line he still held that secured

170 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the struggling fish, and as they came up he
lifted the catch aboard, when the construction
of the net was seen.

Though in use on the reef, the cast-net is
probably of French origin. When spread out,
it is circular, the circumference being lined with
oval sinkers. At the axis of the net, supposing
it a circle, was an opening through which passed
eight cords that radiated to different parts of
the circumference. After passing through the
aperture at the axis, they joined and became a
single cord, of any length, that is held in the
hand when the net is thrown. When held up,
the net hangs like a closed umbrella without a
handle, and, when cast, falls like an open para-
chute. No little skill and practice are required
to make it fall perfectly open ; this having been
done, it will be seen that a few twitches at the
cord w7ill tend to haul the different parts of the
circumference, which has now become the bot-
tom, up toward the axis, now the top, until the
fish are entirely encompassed and can be lifted
from the water completely enveloped in its
folds.

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 171

The operation looked so simple that Toin
was anxious to try it, and after some directions
from Long John he took the net over his arm,
grasping several of the meshes in his teeth, and,
with one foot on the gunwale, with more force
than skill he hurled the net. The catch was
heavy. The flap that swung behind him caught
over his elbow, and the sudden pull upon his
teeth forced him ahead, and amid the roars of
the party over he went in a confused tangle into
the water, from which they extricated him as
soon as they could.

" Caught yourself that time," said Long
John, with a chuckle, as Tom came up, feeling
of his teeth.

" Yes," he answered, " and came near being
my own dentist. I think I'll practice on shore
before I try it again."

Later, the boys, under Long John's instruc-
tion, became expert cast-net throwers, and it
was invariably used in taking the mullet and
various bait-fish.

Drifting along, the boat soon reached East
Key — the coral bed, over which they had been

172 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

passing, coming to a sudden end a hundred yards
from the beach, and giving place to a clear,
pearly, sandy bottom.

" Give way with a will ! " said the doctor,
clapping his hands. The oars bent in the water
and, with a rush, the boat was sent high on
shore, where all speedily hauled her above high-
water mark. Long John took out the sails to
rig up a tent, while the boys followed with the
hamper and the frying-pan. As they came
ashore, innumerable bright-colored crabs were
seen to run up the beach and suddenly disap-
pear.

" Spirit-crabs ! " cried Harry ; but it seemed
an inappropriate name for these singular, square-
bodied creatures, which were of the same color
as the surrounding sand, into which they burrow
quickly, sallying out by hundreds, when danger
is past, to feed on whatever is washed ashore.

Tom had heard a story of some pirate's gold
being buried on East Key long ago, and his curi-
osity was roused.

" I believe I'll take a look for that gold," he
said.

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 173

"We must all go, then," said his father,
laughing, and starting ahead. As the nearest
way to the east shore was through the brush,
they found an opening, and struck into it in
Indian file at a slower pace. The bushes were
low and thickly tangled, and it proved hard
work to push through. Hermit-crabs hung on
the branches, and the sand was so undermined
by land-crabs that the walking was uncertain.

"Here's an opening," cried Dick, and with
much satisfaction they were just about to pass
through, when, with a great rustling, seven or
eight large flamingoes rose in air just before
them. Tom, with ever-ready gun, blazed away
at them, and brought one down ; it fell like a
rocket-stick on Dick's head. The great bird was
uninjured, except that its wing was broken, and
Dick found it no mean antagonist, receiving sev-
eral hard blows from its blunt bill before he
could grasp the snake-like neck. Finally, how-
ever, he secured the bird by the neck and legs,
and the party moved on to the beach.

" Don't flamingoes build nests like mounds ? "
inquired Harry.

ALOXG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Yes," replied the doctor, " they make a nest
like a column, and sit on it as do other birds.
The nests are high or low, as the case may be,
but that they sit astride the nest, as some claim,
is a fable."

As they came upon the beach the doctor,
shaking the mangrove leaves from his coat, said,

>

Flamingo and nest.

with a laugh : " Now, Tom, here is a half-mile of
sand to turn over. If you expect to find the

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 175

pirate's gold before night, you had better be-
gin."

Tom thought the prospects scarcely promis-
ing. " I believe I'd rather take a swim," he said.
This suited the rest also. Long John, who had
just rowed around in his dinghy, hauled it up
on the beach, and he and the doctor threw them-
selves on the sand, while the boys went into the
water. The beach shoaled off here, as on the
other side, with a hard coral bottom, coming to
the living coral about a hundred feet off shore.
The boys had become expert divers from con-
tinued practice, and now arranged themselves in
a row, four or five feet distant from one another,
in order to see which of the party could swim
farthest under water.

" Are you ready ? " asked the doctor.

" All ready, sir," they replied.

"Well, then— go!" he called; and at the
word " go " the row of boys disappeared beneath
the blue waters in a simultaneous dive. Less
than half a minute brought two of the swim-
mers to the surface for breath. A few seconds
after, Tom's head appeared quite near the coral

176 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

belt. His victory was hailed with cheers, but,
instead of striking out for shore, he gave a terri-
ble scream, for an instant seemed trying to tear
something from his body, and then sank out of
sight.

As Tom disappeared beneath the waves,
Dick and Harry, speedily recovering from their
first surprise and fright, struck out for the scene
of danger. But Long John and the doctor were
already in the dinghy, and with a few powerful
strokes passed the swimmers and reached the
spot soon after Tom appeared at the surface.

"A man-o'-war stung him!" exclaimed Long
John.

" Keep back, boys ! " cried the doctor, wav-
ing the swimmers away, and together he and
Long John lifted the apparently fainting boy
into the boat.

Poor Tom presented a terrible appearance.
Upon his arms and the upper part of his body a
blue, jelly-like mass of tentacles had fastened
themselves and seemed eating into the flesh.
Long John seized the boat-sponge and rubbed
off the slimy mass, while the doctor forced a re-

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR.

177

storative down Tom's throat. The greater part
of the blue slirae was soon washed off, and then
Long John, taking his
knife, scraped the skin
as hard as he dared. A
bottle of oil was poured
over the poisoned parts
and brought much relief

to Tom, who began to

show signs of recovery.
An hour later, as he

lay on the shore under

the shade of the man-
groves, weak but com-
paratively comfortable,

he said, in reply to a

question from Long John:
" I came up right

under it; I felt as if I

had fallen into the fire,

and then I must have

almost fainted away."

"You're all right now, though," said Long

John ; "I wascaught in the sameway myself once."

Portuguese man-of-war.

178 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Here's what did it," said Dick, holding up
a stick upon which hung something that looked
like a bubble attached to a long mass of blue
streamers.

" What is it ? " Tom asked.

"It is the Phy salia, or Portuguese rnan-o'-
war," said the doctor ; " one of the most beautiful
of all marine animals, and at the same time, as
you can testify, one of the most dangerous. It is
a mere bubble that floats on the water, dragging
these tentacles after it* They are covered with
minute cells, and when touched throw out mill-
ions of barbed darts, carrying with them the
blue poison which, as you see, covered you with
a network of lines." *

" Why do they call them ' men-o'-war,' doc-
tor?" inquired Henry.

"Because this membrane on the top can be
spread out by the animal, and, when the wind
catches it, the PTiysalia bowls along like a man-
o'-war under full sail," the doctor explained.

" Some men-o'-war blow up," said Long John ;

* This was the author's experience, and I carried the marks for
nearly a year.

TOM AND THE MAX-OF-WAR. 179

"and so does this ! " and, giving the Physalia a
blow, he exploded Tom's uncomfortable assail-
ant, which burst with a loud report.

" Those tentacles into which Tom ran," con-
tinued the doctor, " can be lengthened or drawn
up at will. They are the fishing-lines of the
animal. When a fish touches them he is killed
as by an electric shock, and then hauled in
among the tentacles nearer the body and ab-
sorbed."

They sat for a long time, in the shadow of
the mangroves, discussing the Physalia and other
curious and kindred forms, until Long John told
them that the night camp was ready. By this
time, Tom being able to walk without help, the
party left for the camp, where an excellent sup-
per of turtle meat, gull's eggs, and fried grouper
awaited them. After watching the gorgeous
tropical sunset, the mainsails and foresails were
unshipped with the masts and hung over the
bushes for a shelter, as they had concluded to
pass the night on the key. Before this im-
promptu tent had been arranged it w^as eight
o'clock. It was a fine night, and a slight breeze

180 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

rolled gentle waves upon the sands with a musi-
cal intonation.

The party were stretched on the beach, which
was still warm with the sun's rays, when the
curious appearance of the water attracted their
attention. Wherever a wave broke or threw off
its pearls of spray the water, as if by magic,
assumed a ghostly, cream-like tint ; and, as the
night grew darker, the entire sea glowed with a
moving, golden light. Waves of fire broke upon
the beach, drops of liquid flame hung upon the
bits of coral or dropped from them like streams
of molten lava.

" There is an uncommon sight," said the doc-
tor, rising and walking toward the water. Soon
the whole party was wading in what seemed to
be a gleaming sea of fire that fairly blazed at
every step ; and, as they walked along, splash-
ing the water right and left, the effect was inde-
scribable. The doctor now proposed that they
row out to study this phenomenon. The row-
boat was shoved off, and, jumping aboard, they
pulled out through a blaze of fire that with
every dip of the oars seemed, as Dick said, " to

TOM AND THE MAN-OF-WAR. 181

light up the sea all around." Taking a tall
specimen-glass, the doctor filled it from the sea
of fire and placed it on a thwart where all could
see it.

" Now you can see what makes the light,"
he said, pointing out numbers of round animal-
culse. " They are Noctilucce — the same that we
saw at Marquesas. See how the light changes.
Sometimes we catch a blue or yellow gleam, and
then it deepens to a rich green."

The boat slowly drifted to shoal water again,
and now the scene below them was still more
animated. Here a large jelly-fish was moving
about in a basin formed of leaf and branch
corals, throwing a beautiful light among the
branches, lighting up the homes of the zoophytes
and making the fishes cast dark shadows. Scores
of delicate Medusae moved up and down, or in
and out, with as many different motions, each
gleaming with a subdued, steady light.

" They are like satellites revolving around a
larger planet, are they not ? " said the doctor.
" They may well be called the light-houses of
the sea, as one of you suggested."

182

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Why, I declare, boys," exclaimed the doc-
tor, some time after, looking at his watch, " it is
after eleven o'clock. We must return to camp
— such as it is."

The cars were manned and the rowers bent
to them, passing silently through a golden river
of their own making.

After reaching the shore the light-givers
were laid aside for alcohol baths on the morrow,
and soon after the tired party sought their
prinfitive beds.

Parrot-fish (ticarus).

CHAPTEK X.

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY.

Tom has a remarkable adventure— The mysterious stranger— The
surprise— Following up the trail— General Tom leads the army
—Pirates and doubloons— Jack Tier— The sea-horse— Small
conchs — Collecting shells.

OM'S adventure with the
Portuguese man-o'-war did
not tend to render sleep-
ing on mangrove and bay-cedar
leaves an easy matter, conse-
quently he was up long before
sunrise, and to pass the time be-
fore breakfast he wandered
down the beach, listening to the
musical ripple of the waves as
.they broke upon the sands like
so many bell notes.

He had walked possibly a quarter of a mile
along the beach, when, seeing an opening in the

13 (183)

184: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

bush, he strolled in, led by the sweet odor of the
bay -cedar and possibly to see how far the path
led. He had not gone far when he saw an
object that almost made him shout with aston-
ishment. In the dim light was the figure of a
man on his knees, digging with both hands in
the sand. Tom knew that the island was unin-
habited, or at least that it was supposed to be,
and the thoughts that rushed through his mind
of pirates and Spanish galleons would have made
a chapter in this recital. Alarmed and surprised
at the apparition, he stood for a moment rooted
to the spot ; then, fearing that he would be dis-
covered, he backed cautiously into the bush, still
keeping his eyes on the figure that was evidently
engaged in excavating something. Tom decided
to drop to the ground and creep away under
cover of the bay-cedar, and so regain the beach,
when he could quickly make his way to camp
and inform the others. He was about to put
this resolution into operation when the figure
rose up and quietly disappeared in the bay-
cedar forest. After waiting a moment, that
seemed an hour, Tom quickly retraced his steps

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY. 185

and in a short time rushed breathlessly into
camp.

The boys and the doctor were still asleep,
but Long John was preparing to build the fire,
when he was startled by the appearance of the
excited young naturalist.

" Didn't you say that no one lived on this
island ? " he asked breathlessly.

" Sartin I did," responded Long John, drop-
ping his armful of wood and turning his red face
on Tom with an expression of amazement.

" Well, it isn't so," retorted the latter ; and
then he rapidly related his experience to the fish-
erman and the others, who, awakened by the
talking, now gathered about him.

" It's singular," said Long John, taking off his
hat and rubbing his head, as if feeling for an
idea.

"Very," echoed the doctor, who had been
studying the luminous face of their guide and
boatman. " Are you not mistaken, Tom ? "

"Certainly not, sir," replied Tom. "I saw
the man not thirty feet from me, digging in the
sand, and as plainly as I ever saw anything."

186 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" Who could it have been ? " asked Dick.

" I propose we find out/' said Tom, bravely
picking up his gun.

" We'd better all go," said Long John. " It's
five to one, and I reckon we kin take him."

He then picked up his grains, which was
perhaps a habit, the others took their shot-guns,
and the little army moved off up the beach, led
by General Tom, presenting a decidedly warlike
appearance.

It did not take them long to reach the open-
ing in the bush, and as they drew near the spot
Tom pointed triumphantly to the impressions of
feet in the sand, and then a cavity a foot or
more deep.

" Something has been here, surely," remarked
the doctor.

"Looks that way, sartin," replied Long John,
examining the sand carefully. "You're sure it
wasn't a turtle ? " turning to Tom.

"A turtle wouldn't stand up and walk off,
would it ? " asked the latter.

"No, it wouldn't, that's true," admitted Long
John.

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY. 187

" Here are a man's tracks leading into the
bush ! " cried Dick.

" Let's follow them up," said Tom, excitedly,
and into the bush they pushed, Indian file.

There had evidently been a path here at
some time made by egg collectors, but the bush,
nearly ten feet in height, had grown together, so
that it was necessary to push it aside ; but as
the tracks were distinct they went ahead rap-
idly.

" What do you suppose is the matter with
Long John ? " whispered Tom to Harry after
they had gone a hundred yards. " Do you see
how he lags behind ? He can't be afraid, can
he?"

It apparently looked as if Long John did
consider discretion the better part of valor, as
nothing but the top of his grain-pole could be
seen.

" What should we do if the man should at-
tack us ? " asked Tom of his father.

" Better try arbitration first," answered the
latter.

The path wound in and out, and as the

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

tracks grew more distinct the "bush grew
higher.

"I don't know which way we are going,"
said Tom, " but I think I hear water."

"Yes, and I see it," said Harry. "The trail
leads out to the beach here. Whoever it is proba-
bly has a boat, and we shall come out where it is
hauled up. Here we are," he added, coining to
a halt ; " let's all push out at once." After wait-
ing a moment for Long John, the party moved
quickly forward and came suddenly out upon
the beach.

"Why, it's our camp," exclaimed Tom, evi-
dently dumfounded ; " we've come back to it."

He stood still a moment ; then, hearing a snort,
turned his eyes upon the tall figure of Long John,
who was standing with his back to him, sup-
porting himself upon his bending grain-staff and
evidently laboring under some strong emotion.

Tom walked quietly up to him, and, after
one glance at his face, redder than ever, he burst
into laughter, in which all joined at his expense.

" Then it was you," he said, throwing down
his gun.

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY. 189

" I believe it was," answered Long John, rub-
bing his head vigorously, " and I reckon I've had
a narrow escape."

" But what were you doing up there ? " con-
tinued Tom.

" I wasn't digging gold at four o'clock in the
morning," replied Long John, laughing, " but I
was gettin' water. You see there aint no water
on the key, so I keep a demijohn filled and
buried up there in case I ever git caught here in
a norther, and I was digging for that demijohn
when you came upon me. There it is," he added,
pointing to the innocent cause of all the ex-
citement.

" Well, I suppose I'll never hear the last of
this," said Tom good-naturedly, and Dick and
Harry assured him that he never would.

" The way I came to put the water here," said
Long John in further explanation, "I was off
the key fishing with Bob once, and a squall
came up and sent us ashore ; then it turned into
a norther and blew for three days before we
could get off, there was such a sea running. For
the last two days we had no water to speak of,

190 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

and I made up my mind I would never git
caught again ; so I keep the demijohn hid here,
and as we had plenty of water in the boat, I
went up to fill it this morning."

" Well, if we haven't found the pirate's gold,
we have had some excitement over it," said the
doctor.

" There used to be pirates enough here in old
times," said Long John. " I never found any
gold myself, but there's a story going around
the reef that a big Spanish treasure ship went
ashore on the east side of the key one hundred
years ago, and that the old light-house-keeper
picked up twenty thousand dollars in doub-
loons ; but I never see any of it, so can't say for
sartin."

" These islands must have been a famous ren-
dezvous for the old Spanish freebooters," said
the doctor. " Cooper, the novelist, evidently
thought so, as here he laid the scene of one of
his novels — Jack Tier."

After breakfast a trip was made up the west
beach, where they found a fine collecting-place
for shells, and filled their pockets with many

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY. 191

beautiful kinds. They wandered over the sand-
flat that extended all around the island, and
dived overboard from the boat, bringing up va-
rious treasures. Dick discovered a large horse
conch, probably the largest shell on the reef,
while in one place they found a colony of a
small species of Strombus, about the size of one's
closed palm ; the back of this was rough, while
the interior was beautifully tinted. The big
Strombus gigas was seen everywhere, the shells
ranging from the big broad-lipped fellows to
younger ones in which the lip had not begun to
turn. This was the shell that jewelry is made
from, and that is supposed to furnish pink pearls,
though our young naturalists failed to find them.

Among the discoveries were another attract-
ive conch — a Fusus — and a rough Triton. In
some places varieties of Pecteti and a Trochus
were very common, while a minute pink shell
was especially abundant.

While looking over some weed Harry found
the first sea-horse — Hippocampus — a singular lit-
tle fish with a horse-like head and a prehensile
tail that clung to the weeds. The little creature

192 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

made no attempt to escape beyond moving his
fins, and was transferred to a glass, and finally
to the aquarium, where he was kept some time.

The doctor gave an interesting account of
the habits of this little creature, and pointed out
the marsupium or sac in which the males carry
the eggs until hatched. He told them of a sea-
horse, a wonderful mimic, with long streamers
like sea-weed, that had been caught in Australian
waters.

Near where Harry found the sea-horse Dick
noticed a curious object, of a greenish tint, that
looked like a bird divested of its feathers. It
was soft, and when touched emitted a rich pur-
ple ink and moved two wing-like folds. Long
John said it was a sea-pigeon, while the doctor,
who had joined them, pronounced it one of the
shell-less inollusks — an Aphysia. " In ancient
times," he said, "these animals were called sea-
rabbits " ; and certainly there was a resemblance,
as the Aphysia had now regained its upright
position and was moving about its glass prison
on the deck of the boat, showing a head and
long ear-like appendages. This patch of weed

THE MYSTERY OF EAST KEY. 193

also produced the long spiral egg-case of the
horse-conch.

After a small but valuable lot of specimens
had been collected the boat bore away for home,
the party well satisfied with their trip to the
largest key of the group.

CHAPTER XL

THE ISLE OF BIRDS.

The black cloud — What it was — Collecting eggs in barrels — Eggs in
the air — The noddy — Some wonderful mimics — Flying fish — A
narrow escape from sharks — Wonderful sea-weed — A discovery
— The pirate's cannon — Diving after a relic — The movement of
shells — The silk of shells — Robber crabs — Decorative crabs —
Tom leaves the party.

O W would you like some eggs
for breakfast ? " asked Long
John one morning at day-
break, as the boys were turning
out.

" No turtle-eggs for me, if
you please/' laughed Harry.

" I don't mean turtle-eggs,"
rejoined Long John.

" Has the pelican been lay-
ing ? " asked Dick, as he came out.
"Come here, and I'll show you the kind I
mean," answered Long John, wrho wras standing

(194)

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 195

at the south window. Following the direction
of his long finger, they saw a dim cloud hanging
over Bird Key.

" What is it ? " they asked in chorus.

" What is it ? " repeated the fisherman ;
" why, that cloud means birds, and eggs just as
good as hens' eggs."

Taking the glass, Tom saw what were ap-
parently thousands of birds wheeling over the
island. " That is a sight ! " he exclaimed, hand-
ing the glass to Dick. " Why, there must be a
million ! "

" Where do they come from ? " inquired
Harry, who was always ready to ask questions.

" From all over," replied Long John.
" They've been here two days ; but I thought I
wouldn't say anything and give 'em a chance to
lay ; to-day you can git all you want."

The young naturalists had been so long on
fish and turtle diet that they were delighted at
the thought of a change, and after breakfast they
rushed down to the boat, where they were joined
a little later by the doctor and Long John.

" What are you going to do with that, Mr.

196 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Tom ? " asked Long John, smiling, as Torn tossed
a small basket into the boat.

" Put eggs in it," was the answer.

"This 'ere's the kind o' basket you want,"
said Long John, lifting an empty flour^barrel into
his dinghy.

"Do you expect to get that/w^f" asked
Tom.

" Well, I reckon," replied the fisherman, shov-
ing off the pelican, that expressed a desire to go
with them. Tom said nothing, but looked ex-
ceedingly doubtful.

As there was no wind, they took the oars,
and slowly pulled along the channel toward
Bird Key. Dick stood in the bow, grains in
hand, on the lookout for anything new. A long
shoal extended out here toward Bird Key, form-
ing the southwest channel. Along its edge they
skirted, passing groves of branching coral, heads
of Astrcea, and again the broad leaf -coral. The
reef fairly teemed with life, and oars were often
dropped and the boat allowed to drift slowly
along, her occupants, with faces near the surface,
watching the panorama below.

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 197

The water gradually became deeper, but,
owing to its clearness, they were enabled to dis-
tinguish small objects at a depth of nearly fifty
feet.

They had almost neared the stake buoy,
where they crossed the channel, and were about
to resume the oars, when Harry cried " Stop !
back water ! see what that is on the bottom."

Peering over, the others saw lying in the
short grass, and hardly distinguishable except to
a keen eye, a long, dark object.

" Can you make it out ? " asked Tom, strain-
ing his head over so far that the boat tipped.

" It looks like a log, or a piece of boom or
mast," said Dick.

" I'm going to find out what it is." So say-
ing, Tom began pulling off his outer clothing.
" Stand by with your grains and don't let the
sharks eat me," he said.

" There are no sharks here," retorted Long
John.

" Hold on, then," said Dick, " and 111 go with

you."

The boys were soon ready, and while the

193 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

boat was steadied they dived down. When the
water had cleared, the lookers-on saw them swim
rapidly to the dark object. Then they evidently
touched it, as a cloud of mud or sand almost ob-
scured them from view. Hardly half a minute
elapsed before they both appeared and were at
the surface, hanging to the boat, puffing and
blowing.

" It's an old cannon," said Tom breathlessly ;
"I've discovered something piratical this time
surely."

" Where do you suppose it came from ? "
asked Harry of the doctor.

" It may have been from one of the old pi-
rates," he replied.

" It is covered with weed and coral," con-
tinued Tom ; " but if that was scraped off we
might find a mark on it. Here goes ! " and he
again sank beneath the surface, followed quickly
by his companion.

This time they dug the sand away from the
gun, and when again at the boat the hole they
had made by its side exposed the cannon to full
view.

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 199

" There will be no trouble in getting it up,"
said Tom, climbing into the boat; "only take
the bearings of the spot, and we can come back
for it."*

" The two chimneys on the quarters are just
in line," said Long John. "If you remember
that, you can easily find it again."

" Your conch is bound to be a cabin passen-
ger, Dick," said the doctor, as a huge mollusk,
which the former had brought up from the side
of the gun, gave a lurch and hauled its shell
along toward the stern with a half -leap.

" It must be hard work traveling that way,"
Dick remarked, pushing the conch over upon its
back to see its sword-like operculum.

" Still, they make very good progress on
sandy bottom," replied the doctor. " The mol-
lusks are queer travelers. The Donax moves
along by sudden leaps, just as this conch does.
The river mussel, which you remember has the
curious marsupium for its young, progresses
by a climbing movement of its so-called foot,

* The gun was placed in Fort Jefferson, and is probably there
now. — AUTHOR.
14

200 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

but the common scallop dances through the
water by rapidly opening and closing its shell ;

and when a party of
them start off they
look exactly as if they
were dancing through
the water. Many oth-

Common salt-water mussel. er g^g float along

the surface, and depend upon the currents and
winds for their movements. The stilifer snail,
like one of Tom's pirates, boards the star-fish
and sea-urchins and is carried by them, while
many others are peculiar to the gulf-weed, and
either go the
grand rounds
with it or be-
come a fixture
in the great
Sargasso Sea.
But the great- The dancing scallops'

er number of bivalves are forced to lie in one
spot, trusting to the currents to throw food in
their way. Such are the oysters, and on some
grow spines that hold them so that the waves

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 201

will not wash them about. Some build grottoes
and lattices, thus imprisoning themselves. Other
shells burrow deeply in the mud, and others
again weave cords of silk to which they fasten
themselves."

" Is it really silk ? " asked Harry.

" Sufficiently like it to be made into articles
of ordinary wear. If you ever visit the British
Museum, you will see gloves and other articles
made from the silk of the pinna. The threads
are fine and of great strength, and when mixed
with about one third real silk spun on the dis-
taff, form a material of a beautiful brownish-
yellow color."

A noise, heard slightly at first, but now in-
creasing to a roaring sound, interrupted the doctor,
and as they neared the key it was evident that it
proceeded from the black cloud, which began to
show its true nature to the astonished party. In
a few moments the noise was so great that they
could hardly hear each other speak. As they drew
near, the birds flew at them with wild cries, as if
determined to stop them, then turning suddenly
to fly back and rejoin their companions.

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

As the boat ran on to the white sandy beach
the uproar was indescribable. The gulls dis-

Oysters, showing different stages of growth.

puted every inch, flying down and darting into
their very faces. Tom uttered a loud cry and the
effect was remarkable. In an instant it was per-

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 203

fectly quiet, not a sound being heard, the great
mass of birds sweeping down in silent fear, as if
to listen. But it was only for a moment ; then
the confusion recommenced and seemed greater
than before.

After Long John had rolled out the barrel
they started into the brush The island was
about a mile around, and, like East Key, com-
pletely covered with bay-cedars, forming a close
brush nearly ten feet high, interspersed here and
there with patches of prickly pear. Under it
on the sand the speckled eggs lay in such quan-
tities that hardly a step could be taken without
breaking them.

u I think we had better sweep them up," said
Tom ; but he had hardly spoken when down
came an egg, dropped by a bird frightened
from her nest, striking him fairly on the head.

" Yourd better get a net if you are going to
take them that way," shouted Dick.

" I didn't think it would rain eggs," retorted
Tom laughingly, and wiping his hat.

The boys went down on their hands and
knees and piled the eggs together, while Long

204: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

John filled the barrel, carefully placing leaves
between each layer.

The eggs were laid in a slight depression in
the sand, made by the gnll, that left them to be
hatched by the sun. Besides the immense num-
bers on the ground, almost pure white eggs were
found on the top branches of the bushes, laid by
the noddy — a lovely bird, with dove-like eyes
expressive of gentleness, a dark body, and white
head. The nests were on the very top of the
slender bushes, and in but few instances did
they appear to be hollow, the single egg being
held in place by the twigs.

" See here, boys," shouted the doctor, put-
ting his hands to his mouth that his voice might
reach them.

The egg-collectors stopped, and, approaching,
found him standing in a little pathway that led
into the bush. The doctor pointed to a large,
stout spider's web that spanned the path, and
asked them if they saw the spider. They all
shook their heads, as it was almost useless to try
and talk in such an uproar.

" It is right before you," he shouted. They

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 205

looked again, and then witnessed a remarkable
performance. A big, gorgeously-colored spider
appeared in view, clinging to the middle of the
web. Upon touch-
ing the network, the
spider, a clever fel-
low indeed, raised its
big body and im-

parted tO the Web a 0^od^ marine-crab that lives on land.

swinging motion that rapidly increased until
the acrobat almost disappeared from view, on
the same principle that the eye can not follow
an object moved to and fro with extreme ra-
pidity.

Dick raised a cheer at the spider's cunning,
and some time was spent practicing on what
Tom termed the magic spider, until, convinced
that it was found out, it dropped to the ground
and moved away. There were numbers of these
spiders here, and the doctor called attention to
them as illustrating a most interesting method
of protection. If an enemy, as an insectivorous
bird, approached, the spider could almost imme-
diately render itself invisible.

206 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

As the doctor had encouraged the boys to
discover protective resemblances, this was an in-
teresting addition to a number of mimics they
had found.

Later Tom found a cactus or prickly-pear
branch bearing the ripe fruit, and clinging to it
one of the big purple land-crabs (Gecarcinus)
common on the keys. He was trying to obtain
the fruit, and did not notice the crab clinging to
the leaves until he almost touched it, which the
doctor pronounced a most interesting instance of
protective resemblance- "You can see, boys,"
said the doctor, Hhe application of this: the
crab was certainly protected by its resemblance
to the fruit for the time being."

Dick had the cast of a shell of a white spirit-
crab on a patch of white sand to illustrate its
habit and another example, and the doctor
pointed out the fact that these crabs were never
seen away from the white sand or in the bush
where it was covered by the yellowish leaves of
the bay-cedar, while the purple crab was never
seen away from the interior or upon the domain
of the spirit-crabs. It was Harry's good fortune

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 207

to discover the most remarkable mimic. The
day previous, observing a very large Physalia or
Portuguese man-o'-war floating near shore, he had
gone out in the dinghy, at the doctor's request,
to measure its tentacles. He found them drag-

Gecarcinus rusticola, a land-crab.

ging ten feet, being lowered down into a school
of sardines, and as he was watching he saw the
method of fishing adopted by this dangerous
creature. Above the surface a beautiful bubble
with all the luster of satin and the tints and
hues of the rainbow — a gem of the sea; but
from the lower portion depended a bunch of
intense purple tentacles which could be lowered
down to a greater or less distance. Harry dis-

208 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

tinctly saw a sardine dash from the school and
bite at the tempting bait. The instant of con-
tact, over it turned as dead as if struck by an
electric shock ; in fact, as the doctor afterward
showed them, its delicate scales were perforated
by thousands of minute barbs that were shot
out from lasso-cells in the tentacles of the man-
o'-war, and the shock had killed the victim,
that was then hauled rapidly up to be eaten
by this singular creature.

To better examine it and see how far the
sardine had been drawn up, Harry lifted the
PJiysalia out of the water by its satin-like sail,
which could be done in safety, and then made
his discovery. The moment he lifted the bub-
ble he saw four or five little fishes dashing

o

wildly about. They had been beneath the
death-dealing PJiysalia and now were evidently
much alarmed. He placed the PJiysalia in the
water again, and immediately the little fishes
swam back to it. Placing his face near the
surface, he saw distinctly the fish hovering up
under the bubble surrounded by the tentacles,
and extremely difficult to distinguish from them,

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 209

as they were of almost the exact tint of the
tentacles — a rich purple — and in this resem-
blance found protection.

This led to the examination of other Portu-
guese men-o'-war, and one was rarely found with-
out the little attendants.

This instance of mimicry was a remarkable
one, and Tom added to it by finding little
fishes beneath large jelly-fishes, all having pink
and white tints, affording them protection by
the resemblance.

The boys were infatuated with this feature
of natural history, and almost every day added
to what they called their collection of mimics.
The little attendants of the jelly-fish and PTiy-
solid were all members of the mackerel family,
famous for seeking protection beneath other
animals.

Having heaped up all the eggs they could
carry, the boys wandered down to the beach
again, where Long John had just hauled ashore
a cast-netful of fine mullets.

The day was warm, and after lunch they
crept under the bushes and rested an hour,

210 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

watching the wonderful sight of unlimited thou-
sands of gulls in the air.

"Look here, boys," said Harry, who had
been watching a bay-cedar; "here is a grand
example of a struggle for existence ! "

He was standing by a noddy's nest, upon
which was a young bird — a queer featherless

Marine hermit-crab.

little creature ; and overhead the mother was
wheeling around in evident despair. She had
liberally provided her young with a large sar-
dine— too large, in fact, for it to eat ; and hang-
ing on the nest, in all conceivable positions, were
a dozen or more land-hermits and two large

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 211

purple-backed land-crabs. One of the latter had
the tail of the fish in its claw, while the hermits
were tugging at the head ; others were crawling
around the defenseless bird as if trying to make
up their minds whether to attack it or not.

UI should think it was a struggle," said
Torn, giving the nest a shake. " Why, they're
regular robbers ! "

" Worse than that," retorted Dick ; " as
they steal from children, I think the noddies
must be kept busy if they have to feed their
young and all these crabs."

Torn and Dick now started up the beach to
see an old wreck, while Harry and the doctor
followed along through the bush. The latter
had gone but a few yards when they found sev-
eral flying fishes caught in the bushes and dried
in the sun.

" They couldn't have flown here, could they ? "
asked Harry.

" No, they were probably dropped by the
gulls when chased by the large man-o'-war
hawks that you saw hanging so still in the air
over the light-house the other day," replied the

212 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

doctor. " The gulls catch them, and the hawks
trying to steal them, they probably fall here."

After a short walk they reached a point
where the boat was in sight, and found the rest

Frigate-bird.

of the party waiting for them. All being ready,
Long John shoved off, and the doctor proposing
that they make a tour of the island, which was
agreed to. As the water was very shallow, the
boys preferred to wade along and pull the boat
— a plan that suited Long John, who lighted his
pipe and began to clean the rest of the mullets
for supper.

They had gone but a short distance when
Harry held up a spider-crab, which he had

THE ISLE OF BIRDS. 213

taken out of the coral, and exclaimed : " This is
an old stager ! He has a regular forest on his
back."

The crab was, indeed, well covered ; sprigs
of purple and red sea-weed growing from its
back, while its claws were bedecked with a soft
sponge, several barnacles, not to speak of tube-
making worms that had taken possession of
other portions.

" He is one of the decorators," explained the
doctor; "pass him over, and I will show you
how they ornament themselves."

Harry passed the crab to him, and taking a
finger-brush, which they used to clean shells, he
began a vigorous rubbing on its back, evidently
much to the creature's astonishment, and soon
had it clean and free from the various growths.

" Now, give me some little pieces of sea-
weed," he said, dipping the sea-spider into a
glass of water. These were soon forthcoming,
and dropped in the glass with the crab.

" Now," continued the doctor, " these crabs
are instinctively aware that the rays and nurses,
and many other fishes, have a weakness for

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

them as articles of food, so the question natu-
rally arises in the crab's mind, i How can I pro-
tect myself ? ' Its movements are slow, so it
can not run ; its claws are inadequate as a de-
fense, and you would think the old fellow in a
desperate strait. But somehow it occurs to him
that moss-covered rocks are not molested by the
fishes, so he evidently says : ; I will become one
of these rocks to all appearances.' Nature has
helped him, you see, with a rugged exterior,
and — but I need only refer you to the crab him-
self for a justification of my remarks."

While he had been talking, the old crab had
felt all around its prison and now was proceed-
ing to carry out the transformation the doctor
had predicted. The long claws, with great de-
liberation, picked up a sprig of the weed they
had thrown in, and slowly passed the root or
severed part to its mouth.

" He's eating it," exclaimed Tom.

" Wait a moment," said his father.

The branch was pressed against its mouth,
and then, instead of eating it, the crab raised it
over its back and pressed the severed end against

THE ISLE OP BIRDS. 215

its shell, then removed its claw, leaving the
weed attached to its back as if growing there ;

The decorator.

then another piece was taken and the operation
repeated man^ times. The boys felt very much
like cheering the crab for its wit and cunning,
and before they reached home it had an assort-
ment of algae upon its shell.

This proved an experiment the boys \vere
delighted with, and it was remarkable how well
concealed the crabs became by the operation
that is by no means confined to the crabs of the
Southern seas. Now wading, pushing the boat
through the narrow passages lined with coral,
and anon jumping aboard and rowing over the
deeper places, stopping to dive down after some

15

216 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

choice shell or coral, the party gradually com-
pleted the circuit of Bird Key, or the Isle of
Birds, as Tom named it, and shoved off into the
blue channel that led toward home.

As they neared the fort, Tom, who was at
the helm, steered the Rosetta near a spile that
took the place of the buoy, and as they passed
by he stepped upon it and the boat shot OD.

\

CHAPTER XII.

CATCHING A MAN-EATEK.

Tom's narrow escape — Preparations for the sport — The struggle and
capture — Falling on a man-eater — In the moat — The prisoner
and provost-marshal — The hermit-crabs — A wonderful assem-
blage— The animals on the island.

OM'S idea was to perpetrate
a joke upon his companions.
They were all facing the bow of
the Rosetta, and he assumed that
they would not miss him for
some seconds or until the boat
came up in the wind, and then
would be astonished at his ab-
sence.

Such was the case. The l?o-
setta glided on for some dis-
tance, then, naturally, came slowly up into the
wind, and as the luff of the sail quivered and
then flapped, the occupants looked around and

(217)

218 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

were dumfounded for a moment in finding that
Tom was gone ; then, seeing him standing as
straight as an arrow on the pile, they raised
a shout.

" You'll have to swim for it," called Dick,
taking the tiller. " Turn about is fair play."

Tom was somewhat disconcerted at the turn
his joke had taken, as the fort was a quarter of
a mile away and deep water nearly half the dis-
tance. He called for them to come back, but
they laughingly held on their course, leaving
him monarch of all he surveyed. Finally, see-
ing that they intended to make him swim for
it, he began to take off his clothes — a difficult
operation while standing on a platform about
eight by ten inches. He had divested himself
of his shirt and trousers, and was about to fasten
them upon his head preparatory to lowering
himself into the water, when a shout from the
Hosetta caused him to stop. Looking up, he saw
that the boat had gone about and was now coin-
ing back.

" Hold on ! " shouted Harry, who was stand-
ing in the bow ; " look at that ! "

CATCHING A MAN-EATER.

219

220 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Tom looked in the direction indicated, and
saw, not one hundred feet away, between him
and the fort, several large fins slowly cutting the
water.

"See what you were going to swim into,"
said the doctor, as they came up, pointing to the
sharks that, re-enforced by several others, were
now playing around on the top of the water.

" Well, I'm glad I didn't start," replied Tom
as he jumped aboard, "though," he added, "I
don't believe they would have touched me."

" /wouldn't risk 'em," said Long John ; " this
might be just the time."

" Suppose we get the eggs ashore and catch
one for the moat this afternoon," suggested Dick ;

/ GO /

" we've talked about it so long."

" Good ! " responded Tom. " But can we haul
him in ? " he asked Long John.

" Yes," the latter replied. " I looked at it this
morning, and it's high tide this afternoon, so you
can easily run one over — that is, if he don't haul
you over first," he added.

" Well, we'll try it. Give way, boys ! " cried
Tom, and the boat shot ahead and was quickly

CATCHING A MAN-EATER. 221

run alongside the lower dock nearest the quar-
ters.

After the eggs had been disposed of on shore
the shark-lines with several groupers were thrown
into the boat with a coral-hook as anchor, and
the boys started off again, poling along in the
direction they had observed the sharks.

Upon reaching the spot the boat was laid
alongside the branch-coral that fringed the chan-

O O

nel. and the loner coral-hook thrust into it instead

' O

of an anchor, as it could be easily pulled up and
cast off.

Tom baited one of the lines with a headless
grouper, and, swinging it around his head several
times, launched it out into the blue water where
the sharks had been seen but a short time before.

" Now throw over these old heads and gills,"
said Harry.

Tom did so, and then, after seeing that the
line was run through a hole in the cut-water, sat
down to wait.

They were chatting about their many expe-
riences when a splashing was heard astern, and
some of the bait that had drifted there was seen

222 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

to have disappeared ; tlien a faint jerk came on
the line.

" He's taken it ! " whispered Tom hoarsely,
as if afraid of frightening the fish.

" That was a crab ! " said Dick.

" No," Tom insisted ; " they bite that way,
gently at first. Here goes the line anyhow."

Sure enough, the rope commenced to run
slowly out.

" Stand by the coral-hook ! " cried Tom to
Dick, slackening out. " Long John said to give
him about fifteen feet, and when I jerk, cast off
and see that the line isn't foul. Keep your knife
ready to cut, Harry, if we get into trouble."

Dick and Harry took a good hold on the
line ; then, when the fish hauled it taut, all hands
jerked the hook into it with all their force and
so much energy that Harry, who was last on the
line, went backward down among the bailers,
oars, and bait.

The astonished shark hesitated a moment,
then darted off like a shot, tearing the line from
their grasp and giving them a lively dance to
keep clear of it.

CATCHING A MAN-EATER. 223

"Look out for your legs and keep amid-
sliip ! " screamed Tom, taking a turn with the
slack. " Steady, steady ! look out ! "

His warning came not a moment too soon ;
the line was all out, and as it came taut suddenly
the boat lunged ahead with such a terrific jerk
that they all went down except Tom, who was
well braced in the bow.

"It must be a big fellow," gasped Harry,
picking himself up the second time.

The boat was rushing up the channel at a
rapid rate, the bow deep in the water, and a
small tidal wave running ahead, not at all pleas-
ant to contemplate.

" It's a big one, sure enough," said Tom, who,
red in the face from trying to keep the line in
place, stood, knife in hand, hesitating whether
to cut the line.

" Get in the stern, all hands, or he'll pu]l the
bow under," said Dick.

" Cut the rope ! " cried Harry, as the boat
gave a suggestive lunge, water coming in.

" The line's broken," answered Tom, as the
strain let up suddenly and the boat righted.

224 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" That's a shame," he added. " No it isn't. Look
out for yourselves ! "

As he spoke, the line came taut again at right
angles to the boat. The shark had only changed
his direction, and the jerk pulled the boat down
so that the water poured in by the bucketful.

" Get to windward quick ! " shouted Tom ;
and they all rushed to the other side just in
time to escape a capsize.

The boat now darted ahead as before, bury-
ing her bows in foam, and moving around the
channel toward the fort.

" We're going the right way now, and must
try and take in some slack," said Tom. " Take
hold ! That's it, now ! "

Altogether they grasped the line and hauled
away, starting the shark to more furious exer-
tions. But they kept at it ; now gaining a little,
then losing, till after ten minutes they had the
fish, a perfect monster, in sight.

" Here comes the doctor," cried Harry in a
ralieved tone.

He was in a dinghy with Long John and
Bob Rand, rapidly nearing them.

CATCHING A MAN-EATER. 225

Tom got a line ready, and as they tore by
he hurled it at the dinghy, and soon their
fiery steed had two boats in tow instead of
one.

" I was afraid he was too much for you/'
called the doctor, hauling in on the line ; " but
he can not stand this long."

Tom was taking in every inch, and in a short
time their boat was directly over the shark's
tail. <; Now a long pull ! " he cried.

The boys surged on the line with a hearty
" heave o' ! " and ran over the shark. Another
brisk turn, and they had its head partly out of
water and on its side. But the shark had not
given up yet ; the great scythe-like tail beat the
water with terrible strokes, and twisted in every
possible position in the attempts to break away,
showing a mouth full of white serrated teeth
which it ground together in a most unpleasant
and suggestive manner.

" Pass your line astern ! " shouted Long
John, " and you can tow him in."

Unshipping the rope from the notch, and
quickly passing it astern, they soon had their

226 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

captive hard and fast, with its mouth partly out
of water, held by the chain alone.

" Now man the oars, boys, and pull slowly
so not to drown him," said the doctor ; and, with
the thrashing, floundering creature as a rudder,
they slowly pulled toward the breakwater,
highly elated. It was such hard work that the
dinghy was finally pressed into service, and
after half an hour's rowing they reached the
bridge that crossed the entrance to the outer
moat. Here the boat was left, and, passing the
line under the bridge, they took hold to haul the
shark under, when the planks, old in the service,
cracked, and down they went — boys, boards, and
scantlings upon the shark. Tom and Harry
clung to the planks, but Dick landed squarely
on the shark. Such a thrashing around and get-
ting out of the way was never seen before ; but
probably the shark was the most frightened of
the party. The water was shallow, and amid
much laughter and shouting they came out all
right.

As the shark had now subsided, the line was
passed to the tide-gate and along the wall, while

CATCHING A MAN-EATER.

227

two of the boys held some large boards as a
slide. Finally, the word was given : the dozen
or more colored men
who. had gathered
around rushed away,
and the shark went
floundering over into
its prison. It only
remained to cut out
the hook, and this
delicate operation was
performed by Long
John. With a skill-
ful cut of his blade
the hook came out,
and with a sav-

The pet shark

228 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

age splash the man-eater dashed away amid the
cheers of the lookers-on. Up the moat it swam,
stirring up the mud, turning the corner at the
second face ; then, discovering that it was fairly
caged; it assumed a more moderate rate of speed,
and sailed up in plain view, much to the satisfac-
tion of its captors.

" He must be twelve feet long," said Tom to
his father.

" Easily that," replied the latter. " At least,
as large as you would care to catch."

" Yes, indeed," Tom rejoined. " I don't care
to try it again to-day ; it's too hard work."

It was near sundown, and the boys returned
to their quarters well pleased with the day's
work.*

That evening the boys brought out all their
hermit-crabs. They were in shells of all kinds.
Some had gorgeous ones of dazzling pearl that
had been partially cleaned with acid ; others had
taken up with top shells or a Troclius, while

* This shark was kept for six months, and was dubbed the Pro-
vost-Marshal by the dwellers in the fort. It steadily refused food,
and probably died of starvation. Its jaw is now in the Museum of
Natural History, Central Park, New York.

CATCHING A MAN-EATER. 229

Diogenes of the old pipe lumbered about, creat-
ing a laugh at every move. The doctor pointed
out to them the singular fact that the hermits,
land and marine, were born in this defenseless
condition, the abdomen or tail being soft, and
that instinctively they sought out empty shells
to live in ; then he showed how nicely the big
red or purple claws fitted into the opening of the
shell, serving as an operculum.

The crabs were in constant warfare. Out-
growing their shells, they endeavored to oust
their fellows, the stronger jerking out the weaker
—a series of operations extremely interesting to
the observers. Their hermits ranged from a
gigantic marine form which they had found in a
big strombus to the purple-clawed land-crabs com-
mon under the boards in the fort. When
arranged in a group they looked like soldiers ;
indeed, soldier-crab was the name given them on
the reef.

The doctor had encouraged the boys to col-
lect all the animals found on the key, and they
soon had an interesting list and a motley assem-
blage— cockroaches, scorpions, centipedes, mole-

230

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

crickets, all of which must have been brought
there by vessels, while many others had drifted
in or were blown there by the wind. On all the

keys a species of
walking - stick was
found. Scorpions

lived on Loggerhead,
and, according to
Long John, a white
variety. Many of the
Northern and South-
ern birds stopped at
the island during mi-
gration— cranes, cur-
lews, and occasional
flamingoes, flocks of
butcher birds and numbers of beautiful fly-catch-
ers, rail, gallinules, and one day the mangrove
and cocoanut trees in the fort were the resting
place for numerous cuckoos. Many of these
birds were caught, and a tame gallinule, several
rail, two or three pelicans and herons were
added to the list of pets, while the rabbits —
old Bon and Bess — they had brought from New

Walking-stick.

CATCHING A MAN-EATER. 231

York had increased so from the original pair
that they were taken to Loggerhead Key,
where doubtless their descendants may still be
found.

CHAPTER XIII.

A TURTLE

The expedition to Loggerhead Key — Another victim of the PJiysalia
— A new pet added — Graining craw-fish — Tortoise-shell — Log-
gerhead light — Turning the turtle — Tom and Harry have a
struggle — Almost carried overboard — Turned at last — The
night's work.

£ ^tr^z^^''^

T'S a-breezin' up from the
east," said Long John one
morning as the boys gathered
on the wharf, "and turtle is
layinV

" A good time to try Log-
gerhead Key," suggested Tom.
"The very thing," re-
sponded Dick, while the oth-
ers joined in and expressed
their desire to visit the as yet
unexplored key, famous for its
large turtles and the sport their turning pro-
duced. Long John agreed that a better time

(232)

A TURTLE TURN. 233

could not be selected, so preparations for the
start were at once commenced. The lines, a
hamper of food, and fresh water were stowed
in the dinghy which was towed behind the
Bull-pup, and with a fair wind they stood out
around the southwest channel, heading for the
great needle-like tower that alike forms the
land's end of the United States and the highest
light-house in the country.

The key was about five miles distant, and, as
there was good fishing on the way, Long John
proposed that they should stop and catch a mess
for supper. They found at the north end of
Bird Key some large heads of coral, under which
their bait appeared in the guise of craw-fishes.
The grains soon brought them up flapping,
and when enough had been caught they
kept on toward a reef on the southwest
channel.

" There's a friend of yours, Tom," said
Harry, as a large Portuguese man-o'-war ap-
peared.

"Yes," replied Tom, standing up and hold-
ing on to the shrouds ; " I know all about him.

234

ALONG THE FLORIDA EEEF.

But what is that under him ? A turtle, surely.
Luff a little, please."

Long John hauled the boat up in the wind a
trifle, and seizing a large scoop-net, Tom lowered
it under the PJiysalia and drew it up, and with
it a turtle about a foot long that had been

Craw-fish.

overpowered by its violent stinging apparatus.
Tom i ubbed the . purple mass away and finally
anointed the animal with oil amid the laughter
of the rest. Tom was a humanitarian. The tur-
tle was a hawk's-bill, the kind so valued for its
shell in trade.

" It is too bad to lose this breeze by stopping
to fish," said the doctor finally. " Suppose we

A TURTLE TURN. 235

keep on and haul the seine at Loggerhead in-
stead/'

This plan was received with favor, so Long
John kept the boat away from the point where
he intended anchoring, and they sped along
down the channel at a famous pace, making the
dinghy jump around, much to the discomfort of
Long John's dog, " Sugar," that was endeavoring
to take a nap in it. They gradually neared the
key, and finally made soundings about a quarter
of a mile out. The water was too rough to see
the bottom distinctly, but it was covered with
a rich growth of fans, plumes, and small head
corals that suddenly came to an end fifty yards
from the beach in a circle of pure white sand
seemingly made for the bather. The sail was
now lowered and a few moments later the
anchor was dropped. Taking the dinghy, the
party pulled ashore, hauling the boat well be-
yond tide-water upon the sand.

Nearly opposite the big tower they came to
a path which led to a commodious house for
such an isolated spot, occupied by the light-
house keeper and his family, who gave them a

236 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

cordial welcome. After some refreshments the
party started off to examine the key and the
big light.

The island was almost entirely covered with
bay-cedar bushes, with here and there patches of
cactus. Its inhabitants were gulls, hermit and
spirit crabs, and a few insects. In pushing
through the brush Dick noticed a curious stick
on his coat, and, in brushing it off, discovered
that it was alive.

" It's a walking-stick," said the doctor, laugh-
ing at the surprise of the boys, who had never
seen the insect before, " and one of the most re-
markable of all the mimics. In the extreme
tropics there is one nearly a foot long. The
walking-leaves are equally curious," added the
doctor, " being so almost exact in their re-
semblance that they find absolute protection in
it."

The brush grew thick and it was hot and
close ; but the boys found something to amuse
them at almost every step. Big hermit-crabs
were plentiful, and a large purple land-crab was
exceedingly common, sulking under the cactus

A TURTLE TURN. 237

or climbing upon the low branches of the bay-
cedar. As they came out upon the beach the
spirit-crabs dashed in every direction. They
were as white as the sand itself, and their name
well suited them, as they appeared and disap-
peared in a most ghostly manner. They were
continually tempting the boys to a race, and it
was very difficult to catch them, as they scurried
about this way and that, most successful dodgers.
They only took to the water when closely
pressed, and then writh great reluctance, coming
out immediately, lifting their long colorless
stalked eyes as if to see if the persecution was
to be continued. The beach was tunneled every-
where with their holes, showing that they were
successful and experienced miners. After a stroll
along the beach, picking up shells, sponges, and
fans, the boys returned to the anchorage, where
Long John had built a fire, upon which some
mullets were giving out savory odors.

" You've seen floating coral and brain coral,
but here's pepper coral," said Long John, hand-
ing Tom a piece of coral with very fine pores or
cells.

238 ALONG TILE FLORIDA REEF.

" Why do you call it pepper coral ? " asked
Tom.

" Taste it," was the fisherman's reply.

Nothing daunted, Tom bit off a portion, and
a moment later, concealing his emotion and the
tears that stood in his eyes, he handed the coral
to Dick, who also fell into the trap.

The coral Lit the tongue even more than
pepper, the smarting sensation lasting some time,
and the boys agreed that it was well named
and almost as disagreeable as the prickly pear
which Harry had essayed to eat without remov-
ing the skin, filling his lips with the minute
barbs.

The boys had ridden big turtles and were
familiar with them, but they had never spent a
night on the beach watching for them, and when
supper was over they stretched themselves on
the sand to receive their instructions from Long
John, who was an old turtle- turner.

" Turtles ain't particularly smart," he began,
" but they're cunning, and you have got to
go for 'em jest so. Now, they don't come
up till the moon's risen ; then they come in

A TURTLE TURN. 239

shore, look around, and, if it's all right and quiet
like, they come up. If it isn't, they don't ; so
you want to lay low. When they make up
their minds to come in, they don't waste any
time, but come right up, dig the hole, lay their
eggs, cover 'em up, and go back down another
track. Now, we want to divide up into parties
of two or three and get stations all along the
beach about three hundred yards apart. Sit
close in by the bush, and every few minutes
some one must run down to the water edge and
walk along to the next station, and in this way
cover all the beach. When you see a track, jest
sing out, follow it up on the run, and grab the
turtle by the side, then turn her if you kin," he
added, with the grin that he seemed to manu-
facture only on special occasions.

The boys laid around on the beach until the
moon came up, enjoying the beautiful evening
and listening to the gulls, then took stations as
Long John had directed, and began the patrol.
It was a perfectly quiet night, even the musical
rill of the water upon the sands being low and
sweet. From the outer reef came a faint moan-

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

ing of the surf, and occasionally the cry of a
stray laughing gull was heard.

Tom and Dick were lying together flat upon
the sands, looking up at the stars, the doctor
and Harry having taken their station to the
south, when there came a low but distinct hiss.
Tom impulsively started up with an exclama-
tion, but Dick pulled him back. Again came
the hiss, and then in the silvery path of the
moon a black head glistened on the water. A
moment later a black body was seen clamber-
ing slowly over the sands not fifty feet below
them.

"It's a turtle," whispered Tom, starting up
again.

" But suppose it isn't," retorted Dick ; " sup-
pose it is something else."

" Well, what ? " asked Tom impatiently.

" I don't know," was the reply.

" It's a turtle fast enough," said Toni. " Let's
wait until it gets well up, then we will rush
at it."

They remained perfectly quiet, and in a few

minutes the turtle was hi^h on the beach near

~

A TURTLE TURN. 241

the line of brush, evidently making the sand

fly-

"Now," said Tom, "let's sneak up until it
sees us, then hail the rest."

Accordingly, they crept along on their hands
and knees for a few feet, when suddenly a long
sigh or snort was heard, and the big turtle was
seen making for the water. At this the boys
uttered loud shouts and rushed ahead. Tom
reached the animal first, and, seizing it by the
shell, lifted with all his strength. To his sur-
prise, he received a heavy blow in the face from
the big fore nipper that was whirling like a
windmill. Down went the animal again, pull-
ing Harry head-foremost to the sand, while Tom
swuno1 around on its back and tried to hold it

o

back. The turtle could easily carry both of
them, and soon tripped him up.

" Let's both try this side," cried Tom ; so
both took hold of the same side, and, dodging
the flying flippers, lifted with all their strength.
" Up she comes ! now, all together ! "

The boys lifted with a will, but the moment
the big flipper was clear of the ground it struck

242 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

Dick such a sounding blow that he let go, and
the big reptile pulled Tom to his knees again.

u He'll get away from us sure," exclaimed
the latter, clinging desperately to the side of the
shell, but being carried down the beach. " Help ! :>
he shouted. " We've got him, but we can't keep
him."

" There's a plank," cried Tom ; " try that."

Dick seized the plank that had been washed
ashore, and, thrusting it beneath the turtle, tried
t'j use it as a lever, while Totn stood in front
and tried to intimidate the turtle that was bent
upon reaching the water. She would have es-
caped had not the doctor and Harry arrived from
one direction, while Long John and the keeper's
son came running from the other.

" Now then, again," shouted Tom, hopefully.
" Up she goes ! Heave o' ! "

Three or four pairs of arms grasped the mon-
ster this time and over she went, flapping her
bright-yellow breast with powerful strokes.

" Well done," said Long John. " I'd reck-
oned that she would pull you into the water."

" So she would," replied Tom, puffing and

A TURTLE TUItN. 213

breathing hard. " We never could have stopped
her if you hadn't come up."

Long John cut a slit in the turtle's flippers,
making them fast with rope yarn, and then the
party separated again.

In the course of the night five large logger-
head turtles were caught, and by three o'clock
the young turtle-turners were well tired out.

The next day their prisoners were placed in
the large boat and taken over to the fort, where
they were released in the turtle crawl.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE PET-HOUSE.

Some remarkable pets— Young turtles— Bon, the goat— Bess and
Jack — The pet-house — The gulls, pelicans, and crabs— The tame
gopher, chickens, and pigeons— The little turtles— Growth of
coral.

of the turtles had suc-
ceeded in laying forty or
fifty eggs before it was
caught at Loggerhead Key,
and these Long John had
brought home, giving some
to the boys and eating the
rest. Tom buried his in the
sand in an inclosure, and was
rewarded in time with a
dozen young loggerhead tur-
tles that afforded no little
amusement, and soon became interesting pets.
The instinct of these little creatures was re-

(244)

THE PET-HOUSE.

245

markable, as the boys tested on many occasions.
When placed on the floor of the little office, they
invariably crawled in the direction of the door
which led into the water. How these helpless
turtle infants knew the water was there puzzled

The lophius.

the boys. When Tom would open the door they
would crawl toward it, tumble into the water,
and go paddling off.

The time was not all passed upon the water,
though nearly every day an excursion of some

216 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

kind was made. The weather was so warm
that they often went in bathing several times
during the day, diving from the dock, and under
the tutelage of Paublo becoming expert swim-
mers, The fishing even from the wharf was
good, snappers, grunts, and the barracuda being
caught here, while from the upper wharf they
often captured a beautiful Cyprcea — the shell
climbing up the teredo-eaten piles, from which
they were taken by the skillful young clivers.
Often they would lie on the timbers of the
wharf for hours, watching the wonderful variety
of fish-life, observing their curious ways and hab-
its, their games and antics.

The aquarium was a favorite spot. The lit-
tle office had been fitted up by the doctor, and
here were their microscopes, their collecting-jars,
instruments, and everything appertaining to the
study. Here they could sit and look out of the
open door into the aquarium and watch the
movements of the various animals they had
placed there. From the walk that surrounded
the basin they could see the anemones, star-fish,
trepangs, craw-fish, the sly octopus crawling over

THE PET-HOUSE. 217

the dead coral rock, or the agile squid as it
darted here and there, the gar-fish that never or
rarely left the surface, and the curious fishing-
frog, or Lophius, with its fishing-rod, that as
closely clung to the bottom.

The doctor had placed specimens of all kinds

Afeandrina convexa. Tortugas, Florida, growth of which was watched by
Dr. J. B. Holder.

of coral found on the reef in the inclosure,
watching them from day to day to determine
the rapidity of their growth, and many facts

new to science were discovered. He found that

17

248 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

coral grew much more rapidly than was formerly
supposed. A common brick, upon which the
accompanying head of Mceandrina had fastened
itself, was closely observed, and as a result its
growth was estimated at one inch per year.
The branch-corals grew at least six or eight
inches a year — observations that were new and
interesting.

As the weeks passed on, the collections con-
stantly accumulated, and, when opportunity of-
fered, many treasures were sent North to the
Cambridge Museum, the Smithsonian Institution,
and the College of the City of New York, while
various schools and friends were supplied with
sets of corals and shells. The fishes were shipped
in alcohol, with many of the smaller and more
delicate animals, as the anemones, star-fishes,
sea-pigeons, while the gorgonias or sea-fans were
carefully dried. The corals were bleached by
allowing them to stand for a week in stale
water, when they were thoroughly rinsed and
syringed with fresh water, to remove every
portion of the animal. Then the branches were
placed in the sun, soon bleaching a pure white.

THE PET-HOUSE.

249

AVheii ready for shipment they were packed in
barrels and boxes in shavings or bay -cedar leaves

as the case inisrht be.

o

A group of sea birds.

Many evenings were passed in the little
room that soon became a home for the boys,

250 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

and where the doctor talked to them about
their finds and explained many of the mysteries
of the deep sea, always finding in these won-
ders new evidences of a higher wisdom which
was impressed upon his hearers.

The pets accumulated day by day, as all the
boys were fond of animals. Tom had two tame
porcupine-fishes that swam through his fingers,
while the turtle that was rescued from the
Physalia was tied to a stake by a hole in its
shell, and considered a pet, though it must be
confessed it showed little evidence of domestica-
tion. Tame gulls and noddies stalked about,
keeping Dick busy in providing them with
food, while Harry, having reared two young
pelicans, which he took from a rude nest on
Bush Key, was similarly employed in supply-
ing them with fishes. Long John had made
him a small cast-net, and with this and a
long iron barrel-hoop with which, by using it
as a saber, he cut down sardines, he provided
for these pets that were always hungry and
never satisfied.

The crab in the pipe-bowl was an especial

THE PET-HOUSE. 251

pet of the doctor, the clanging of its home being
heard at all hours. Other pets were a gorgeous
purple gallinule and several rails that were blown
ashore in a gale of wind, while a pet goat —
"Bon"— a white heron, and a sooty tern shared
the affections of the whole party.

The pets increased so in numbers that finally
the doctor had a large inclosure made out from
the boatswain's quarters, in which various pets
were kept, affording much amusement and de-
light to their youthful owners.

Not a day passed but something occurred to
form the topic of interesting conversation. Sud-
den squalls or storms would drive strange birds
ashore, while the following day the beaches
would be strewed with shells and the flotsam and
jetsam of the gulf.

One day Tom heard cries of a gull in dis-
tress, and was witness to one of the contests of
Nature. A wily laughing-gull had alighted on
Long John's pelican and, quickly snatching the
fish from its bill, soared aloft with cries of de-
light; but before it could make way with the
prize a man-o'-war bird — another thief — heard

252 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the outcry and darted forth. Then began a
chase that was magnificent in its evolutions.
The gull sought to rise, but the swift man-o7-
war bird dashed after it, rising higher and
higher, and finally shot by. It turned, hesitated
a moment, then projected itself like a meteor at
the gull. The latter, with wild cries, attempted
to avoid it, and then in despair dropped the
fish, which the man-o'-war bird had followed,
catching it before it struck the water, bearing it
off in triumph.

Many nights were spent on the water listen-
ing to the tales of Long John or old Busby,
while Chief and Bob Rand, who were upon rare
occasions tempted out by the enthusiasm of the
boys, would sit and listen, but seldom say a
word. Sometimes a smack would come in with
its well loaded with groupers, yellow-tails, and
porgies, bound for the Havana market, or the
fleet schooner Tortugas would go over and bring
them back guava jelly and various dainties. In
this way the happy days passed in this land of
perpetual summer. As their acquaintance with
their pets increased, their peculiar traits devel-

THE PET-HOUSE. 253

oped. The two rabbits which the doctor had
brought from New York afforded never-ending
amusement. They had little pens to themselves,
with stairs leading up to little rooms and a sec-
ond story — an arrangement that was very neces-
sary in the case of old Jack, a handsome lop-
eared black and white rabbit. He wTas so fero-
cious that he enjoyed being attacked, and, far
from running away, would chase the boys at
every opportunity. Sometimes he was taken up
into the fort and placed in the yard about the
little cottage where the boys lived. Playing
that Jack was a bull, they would imitate the
Spanish bull-fight, dashing into the yard and out
again very rapidly with Jack at their heels.
Occasionally they failed to make good their es-
cape, and his sharp teeth and claws would rend
their clothes wherever he could seize them.

Bon, the goat, was most esteemed. She pro-
vided them with all the milk for their coffee,
and was harnessed up at times to drive around
the fort. When released, she had a trick of run-
ning at a perpendicular wall, planting her feet
against it, then leaping off, landing upon her

254 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

feet again, th is singular performance being repeated
time and again before the lookers-on. The pigeons
Tom trained so that they would alight upon his
head and shoulders when he entered the yard,
while even the chickens were educated, to the
astonishment of the boatswain, who one day,
when he saw one of the old gopher turtles walk-
ing slowly off with a cat upon its back, raised
his hands and announced that " them boys took
the constraint out of onything he'd ever seen."

The pet-house was so arranged that the
water came into the yard at high tide, when
ducks, geese, gulls, pelicans, cranes, rail, and the
purple gallinule waded, picking up the shrimps,
worms, and other animals that came out, and
presenting at such times a singular scene.

Dana's astrangia (Astrangia Dance, Agassiz): c, a growing cluster; a, a
single polyp enlarged ; 6, the dead coral.

CHAPTER XY.

HAULING THE SEINE.

Attacked by a sting-ray — The nurse shark — Gambols beneath the
water — Tameness of fishes — Angel-fishes— Hauling the seine by
moonlight — The mangrove-root city — A wonderful catch — A
shark in the toils.

TJRTLE and egg time had
passed, yet the naturalists
lingered on the reef. The
days continued the same clear
sunny ones they had experi-
enced all summer, the blue
waters of the gulf often for
many hours being as smooth as
glass, with not a ripple save
where some leaping barracuda
or hungry pelican disturbed the
surface. These days wrere spent
by the party in deep-water collecting, the boat
being sculled slowly along just outside the great

(255)

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 short-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, wrhile 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 form 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-

HAULING THE SEINE. 257

sion. The tail of the sting-ray resembled the
lash of a whip, the stings being just at the base
of the tail, one above the other. Just how the
wound was made the boys could not conjecture.

During one of their submarine excursions a
sleeping nurse was started up, its black form
creating a momentary panic among the divers.
Planting their feet against the bottom, they
thrust themselves up to the surface as quickly
as possible.

As seen from the boat, the white forms scram-
bling about, fifteen or twenty feet below, pre-
sented an amusing spectacle. The boys could
see each other very distinctly beneath the water,
even a submarine smile or wink being readily
detected. Sometimes their jokes resulted in
making the boys laugh outright, thus taking in
mouthfuls of water and bringing about a gen-
eral rush to the surface.

In these submarine excursions they often
noticed a peculiarity that is familiar in the at-
mosphere. In diving twenty or more feet, strata
of different temperatures would be encountered.
At the surface the water would be very warm

258

ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

for ten or twelve feet ; then the swimmer would
enter a cold stratum, and going deeper would
reach a warmer area, and emerging again from

Decorating in captivity.

the warm area would at the very bottom enter
into one colder than all. Even in swimming on
the surface, cold and warm rivers, so to speak,
were often met with.

HAULING THE SEINM. 259

\Yhile swimming, many fishes were disposed
to examine the boys from mere curiosity, as if
they wondered what kind of an animal this was
that had so suddenly appeared upon their mount-
ain home ; for we must remember that the ma-
rine inhabitants also have hills, valleys, and
mountains, and the dwellers on the reef were
highlanders, living far above those in the water
a mile away, and under pressures differing as
the air pressures differ between high mountains
and valleys on land.

One afternoon the boys had been on a trip
down the reef, and were returning by Bush Key,
Avhen Harry suddenly stood up and pointed to
a collection of submerged roots that were strewed
about. " Look at the angel-fishes ! " he ex-
claimed ; and, dropping the oars, the others also
stood up and saw the most wonderful assem-
blage of these beautiful creatures they had yet
observed.

The roots were those of the mangrove trees
that had been washed out into the lagoon be-
tween Bush and Long Keys, and in three or
four feet of water their tangled masses formed

260 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

excellent homes for innumerable and resplendent
small fry. When the boat was pushed nearer,
the great black roots were seen to fairly blossom
with these animated flowers. Some were yel-
low, blue, and brown, with eyes of beautiful
hues, and others, not angel-fishes, were of a most
intense blue. All moved about with great delib-
eration, and flashed here and there like living
gems.

" If we only had the seine ! " whispered
Harry, as if fearful of disturbing the living pano-
rama before them.

" Why not go and get it ? " suggested
Tom.

" My proposition," said the doctor, " is that
we come out to-night and haul the seine by
moonlight."

This being decided upon, the oars were re-
sumed, and the boat went rushing through the
water toward the fort, accompanied by the pet
pelican that had espied them from afar an 1
joined them, expecting its supper. It was always
hungry.

The nights on the reef were often almost

HAULING THE SEINE. 261

counterparts of the days, and as the party
pushed off after supper, carrying the seine piled
in a great heap in the bow, and with collecting-
cans stowed in between the seats, the moon was
just rising over Bush Key, casting a flood of
radiance over the lagoon, and lighting up the
sands of Long Key until they gleamed like sil-
ver. Not a sound could be heard save the
creaking of the oars and their monotonous
clink in the rowlocks, or an occasional splash
from the outer reef, followed by a thunder-
ing crash, telling of some huge fish that had
essayed to leave its native element and had
fallen heavily back in obedience to the law of
gravity.

The pull to Bush Key was a short one, and
soon the boat rounded to near the mangrove
roots.

" Now, boys," said the doctor, " we must
work carefully. Don't rush in too quickly, or
you will tear the net. Two of you take the end
and run it out ; and when it is stretched we will
all move toward Bush Key beach, some of you
tossing out the roots.1'

262 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

These orders were followed literally. Tom
and Dick leaped overboard, the water being
about three feet deep, and taking an end stick
of the seine, walked or waded away with it,
while the others payed it out regularly. They
made a long sweep, so as to surround the roots,
and, when two thirds of the net had been hauled
over, Harry and Long John went overboard and
drew the other end of the seine toward shore —
the net now presenting a semicircle. The doc-
tor now pushed the dinghy just inside the bend
of the net and gave signal to go ahead.

What a si^ht it was ! The moon was look-

o

ing over the mangroves on the keys, bathing the
fishermen in its light. The net came slowly in ;
the doctor or Long John called a halt whenever
a root was found, these obstructions being lifted
and the occupants frightened out of the home
that w^as then tossed outside of the floats ; then
the signal would be again given, and the seine
taken in until another root was met, and so on
for half an hour or more, when, the ground beinsr

/ * O o

clear, the net went rapidly in.

" Look at them ! " cried Tom, who was haul-

HAULING THE SEINE.

263

264: ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

ing at the end ; " angels, snappers, grunts, and—
there's a shark, too ! " Sure enough, a small
shark was in the toils, making the water boil and
demoralizing the other prisoners, who made des-
perate efforts to escape from his struggles. This
would not do, and, seizins; a boat-hook, Lon^

7 7 O ' O

John waded in and soon had the young man-
eater in the toils. He seemed to be about three
feet and a half long. Long John lifted him over
to the beach, where he soon flopped back into
the water and escaped.

The net was now well in shore, and the
splashing and beating of innumerable fish com-
menced. One more pull, and the finny assem-
blage was in shallow water. The sight of their
catch soon exhausted the adjectives of even the
young enthusiasts. There were hundreds and
thousands of fishes, leaping, splashing, and
bounding, one over another : angel-fishes in gor-
geous tints, brown-hued snappers dripping with
the molten gold of phosphorescence, yellow
grunts making audible protest, ugly toad-fish,
long gar-fish, rakish barracuda, prickly porcupine-
fish inflating their balloon-like bodies. Over all,

HAULING THE SEINE. 265

creating a noise like falling rain, flapped count-
less mullets with sides gleaming like silver. Be-
sides these, there were craw-fishes, echini, star-
fishes, crabs, and an. occasional octopus ; in fact,
almost every animal to be found on the great
reef was represented in these mangrove-root
communities.

" Now, boys," said the doctor, when their ex-
citement had somewhat abated, "hold the net
steady, and remember our rule — not to kill
more than we can actually use."

The seine was well up, but the fish were
still massed in enough water to keep them alive,
and out of this wonderful collection the young
naturalists made their selection. Of grunts,
snappers, and the commoner fishes they had long
ago secured a good supply, and only the rare
forms were taken, together with some small
specimens which the doctor thought might be
new to science. The net was then raised and
the affrighted throng released, to swim back
again to the old roots and perhaps exchange
opinions as to the cause of their remarkable ex-
perience.

266

ALOXG THE FLORIDA REEF.

It was a merry party that pulled back over
the lagoon that night, and as they turned into
bed they little dreamed what the following day
would develop.

Horseshoe-crab.

CIIAPTEE XVI.

THE HURRICANE.

The boatswain's warning — Securing the boats — The hurricane —
Busby pronounces the house unsafe — The fall of the building —
Work of the hurricane on the reef — The Rosetta and Tortugas
wrecked — Departure for the North — Last days on the reef —
The results.

asflTV>A

ARLY the next morning
Tom was aroused by some
one standing in the door-
•ay, and, raising up, he saw
that it was the old boatswain
rith his famous spy -glass under
arm.

" IVe jest been down to the
boat-house making things snug,"
said, "and Bob wanted me
ask you if you wouldn't give
him a haul with the Bull-pup?
" What is the matter? " asked Tom.
" It's goin' to blow, and blow hard," replied
the old sailor.

(267)

he
to

268 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

" But it's as clear as clear can be," said Tom,
getting up and looking out of the window.

"Well," rejoined Busby, "I tuk a gaze
aboot with her," tapping the glass, "and I've
concluded its goin' to blow, and blow hard ; and
so has Bob, and John, and Chief. Don't you
hear that?" he asked, putting his hand to his
ear.

The boys listened silently, and from far
away there seemed to come a faint moan. Ten
minutes later Tom, who had run to the top of
the fort, saw a dark cloud over beyond Logger-
head that had an ominous appearance. "The
barometer is going down as if the bottom had
fallen out," announced Harry, who had been out
to examine it. "I guess we are in for it."

The boys hurried down to the dock to lend a
hand with the rest in pulling the old Bull-pup
on the ways eight or ten feet above high-water
mark. They then looked around to see if every-
thing else was snug. They were none too soon,
for a short time after a squall struck the key,
gradually increasing in strength during the day,
the shrieking and howling of the .wind and the

THE HURRICANE. 2G9

roar of the waters keeping every one awake
nearly all the night. The following morning it
was blowing a hurricane, and as the boys strug-
gled up on the fort and looked out from behind
the grim battlements a fearful scene was pre-
sented. The water, so smooth two nights previ-
ous, was now covered by a mass of foam that,
caught by the wind, was carried high into the
air. The sea appeared to be making a clean
breach over Bush and Long Keys ; many of the
trees had disappeared, while the lower portion
of Long Key was washed away. The wind was
so powerful that they could scarcely show their
heads above the wall. Sticks, gravel, and all
movable objects were flying through the air like
hailstones. The cocoa-nut trees had been de-
spoiled of their beauty; their leaves had been
beaten into shapeless whips, and from many the
foliage was entirely twisted off.

Later, Tom, who was looking out of the
window, cried out, "Here comes the boat-
swain ! " And, sure enough, the old sailor was
seen, bent double, buffeted by the gusts, envel-
oped in a whirlwind of sand, and headed toward

270 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

the house. As he reached the fence he grasped
it and held on, beckoning with his arm. As
Tom stepped out to meet him the old man
shouted : " You'd better come out o' that, all
hands ! "

" What for ? " screamed Tom.

" It's a-gittin' worse. I never see the like,"
again shouted Busby, crawling up the steps,
" and I don't like the look o' fliat" pointing to
the big four-storied brick building that, only
partly finished, stood near, towering high above
the cottage next to that occupied by the party.

" What were you saying ? " asked the doctor,
who now appeared, and as the boatswain re-
peated the warning he said to the boys around
him : " I hardly think there is any danger my-
self, but it is always best to take the advice of
those who know more about such tilings than
we do, so we will leave the cottage."

Accordingly, a short time after the little
party were struggling toward the casemates.
The wind had increased to a frightful degree,
and as they reached a clearing midway between
the cottage and the arches they had to crouch

THE HURRICANE. 271

low to avoid being blown over. As they pressed
on, a frightful gust came, and then for an instant
a strange lull was felt. At an exclamation from
Busby they all turned, and saw, to their horror,
the huge walls of the brick building rocking and
trembling; then, with a wild roar and an ap-
palling crash, the mass of stone, mortar, brick,
and broken beams went dow^n before the hurri-
cane, crushing like pasteboard the cottage next
to theirs. From the ruins for a second rose a
great white cloud of dust that whirled about
like a living thing and was borne away on the
gale.

The boys, who were often in the crushed
house, were too thankful at their escape to say a
word; indeed, amid the roar they could only
look their gratitude at the boatswain, who, al-
ways cheerful, responded by sundry winks and
nods, as much as to say : " I told you so ! "

This hurricane did great damage on all the
keys, and in the West Indies generally. It con-
tinued all the afternoon, and not until the next
morning did the end come, and not until then
did the young naturalists venture out. Their

272 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF.

own quarters were safe, had escaped the falling
building by a miracle ; but outside there was a
scene of ruin. The sea had encroached upon the
island, beaten down one of the docks, partly
washed away the aquarium, and hurled coral-
rock in a confused mass upon the beach. Amid
the wreckage Tom found a small board bearing
the name " Rosetta " in copper letters, and, haul-
ing it out, eyed it with sorrow and regret. It
was all that w^as left of the boat that had carried
them so many times over the reef.

She had been torn from her place during the
extreme high water and literally ground to
pieces, the stern-board being all that was left.

The hurricane caused great devastation in
Key West. Its force may be understood from
this incident : A vessel lying near Havana was
blown without sails across to Key West in an
incredibly short time, the crew finding them-
selves in the morning high and dry on Key
West beach. The city was flooded ; vessels
were sunk at the wharf, and among them the
schooner Tvrtugas, that had borne the young
naturalists on many a trip.

THE HURRICANE.

273

These and other events resulted in the de-
parture of the party for the North ; not without
regret, as the months passed here had been of
the greatest interest and value. For the doctor
and Tom it was but a partial breaking up, as
they returned to the little garden in the gulf
and remained for several years.

The old boatman lies by the deep sea on the
Florida Reef.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS.

T

GOOD BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS.

HE EXPLOITS OF MYLES STANDISH. By
HENRY JOHNSON (Muirhead Robertson), author of " From
Scrooby to Plymouth Rock," etc. Illustrated. I2mo. Cloth,
$1.50.

" A vivid picture, keen and penetrating: in its interests, and familiarizing young
people in a popular way with the hardships endured by the early settlers ot New Eng-
land."— Boston Herald.

" A'l that concerns the settlement at New Plymouth is told with fine skill and vivid-
ness of description. ... A book that must he read from cover to cover with unfalter-
ing interest." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

C

CHRISTINE'S CAREER. A Story for Girls. By

PAULINE KING. Illustrated. I2mo. Cloth, specially bound,
$1.50.

The story is fresh and modern, relieved by incidents and constant humor, and the
lessons which are suggested arc most beneficial.

J

OHN BOYD'S ADVENTURES. By THOMAS
W. KNOX, author of " The Boy Travelers," etc. With 12 full-
page Illustrations. I2mo. Cloth, $1.50.

A LONG THE FLORIDA REEF. By CHARLES
•*•* F. HOLDER, joint author of " Elements of Zoology." With
numerous Illustrations. I2mo. Cloth, $1.50.

ENGLISHMAN'S HAVEN. By W. J. GORDON,

*-~* author of " The Captain-General, " etc. With 8 full-page Illus-
trations. I2mo. Cloth, $1.50.

ALL. A Story of Outdoor Life and Adventure
in Arkansas. By OCTAVE THANET. With 12 full-page Illus-
trations by E. J. Austen and Others. I2mo. Cloth, $1.50.

ING TOM AND THE RUNAWAYS. By
Louis PENDLETON. The experiences of two boys in the forests
of Georgia. With 6 Illustrations by E. W. Kemble. I2mo.
Cloth, $1.50.

K

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. NEW YORK.

T

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS.
BOOKS BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.

UNIFORM EDITION. EACH, I2MO, CLOTH, $1.50.

HE PILOT OF THE MAYFLOWER. Illus-
trated by H. Winthrop Peirce and Others.

Mr. Butterworth pictures the scenes preceding the sailing of the Pilgrims and
attending the voyage, and he describes the early days at Plymouth. All this is done
in a story whose thread is maintained consistently throughout. He has dramatized,
as it were, one of the most important pages of our history, and the vividness of his
characterizations brings the scenes actually before his readeis. The book is of great
value historically, and the unflagging interest of the story adds another book of peculiar
merit to Mr. Butterworth's American historical stories, the Creators of Liberty Series,
published by D. Appleton and Company. The illustrations include views of Plymouth
Kock and other actual scenes at Plymouth, together with pictures which aim to re-
produce the first settlement.

TO HIS HOME. A Tale of the Boyhood
of Franklin. Illustrated by H. Winthrop Peirce.
"No book can be placed in the bane's of the youth of the country which is better
calculated to develop within them the spirit of industry, enterprise, morality, patriotism,
and chanty than this record of the boyhood of America's greatest sage." — The Inde-
pendent.

T
T

I

T
T

WAMPUM BELT; or, The Fairest Page
of History. A Tale of WTilliam Perm's Treaty with the In-
dians. With 6 full-page Illustrations.

HE KNIGHT OF LIBERTY. A Tale of the
Fortunes of Lafayette. With 6 full-page Illustrations.

HE PATRIOT SCHOOLMASTER. A Tale of
the Minutemen and the Sons of Liberty. With 6 full-page
Illustrations by H. Winthrop Peirce.

'N THE BO YHOOD OF LINCOLN. A Story of
the Black Hawk War and the Tunker Schoolmaster. With 12
Illustrations and colored Frontispiece.

HE BO YS OF GREEN WA Y CO UR T. A Story
of the Early Years of Washington. With 10 full-page Illus-
trations.

HE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE ON THE CO-
LUMBIA. With 13 full-page Illustrations by J. Carter Beard,
E. J. Austen, and Others.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS.

BOOKS BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD.
UNIFORM EDITION. EACH, I2MO, CLOTH, $1.50.

JX7ITH THE BLACK PRINCE. A Story of
* * Adventure in the Fourteenth Century. Illustrated by B.

West Clinedinst.

This is a story of adventure and of battle, but it is also an informing presentation
of life in England and some phases of life in France in the founeentli century. The
hero is associated with the Black Prince at Crecy and elsewhere. Mr. Stoddard has
done his best work in this story, and the absorbing interest of his stirring historical ro-
mance will appeal to all young readers.

SUCCESS AGAINST ODDS; or, How an Ameri-
^ can Boy made his Way. Illustrated by B. West Clinedinst.

In this spirited and interesting story Mr. Stoddard tells the adventures of a plucky
boy who fought his own battles, and made his way upward from poverty in a Long
Island seashore town. It is a tale of pluck and self-reliance capitally told. The sea-
shore life is vividly described, and there are plenty of exciting incidents.

'ITHE RED PATRIOT. A Story of the American

•*- Revolution. Illustrated by B. West Clinedinst.

O
T
L

WINDFALL j or, After the Flood. Illustrated
by B. West Clinedinst.

RIS, THE MODEL-MAKER. A Story of New
York. With 6 full-page Illustrations by B. West Clinedinst.

N THE OLD FRONTIER. With 10 full-page
Illustrations.

'HE BATTLE OF NEW YORK. With n full-
page Illustrations and colored Frontispiece.

ITTLE SMOKE. A Story of the Sioux Indians.
With 12 full-page Illustrations by F. S. Dellenbaugh, portraits
of Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and other chiefs, and 72 head and
tail pieces representing the various implements and surround-
ings of Indian life.

/CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD. The story of
^-^ a country boy who fought his way to success in the great me-
tropolis. With 23 Illustrations by C. T. Hill.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS.

T

YOUNG HEROES OF OUR NAVY.

UNIFORM EDITION. EACH, I2MO, CLOTH, $I.OO.

HERO OF ERIE (Commodore Perry). By
JAMES BARNES, author of " Midshipman Farragut," "Commo-
dore Bainbridge," etc. With 10 full-page Illustrations.

In this graphic and spirited slory Mr. Barnes tells of Perry's adventures as a boy
on the frigate General Greene, and conducts his hero through the exciting scenes which
attended the battle of Lake Erie. It is a story which illustrates the resourcefulness,
energy, and dauntless courage which have characterized our naval heroes from Paul
Jones to Dewey and Hobson. The book is an important addition to a series which is
indispensable for American youth who wish to know the historic deeds of our navy,
and at the present time the Young Heroes of our Navy Series is ot peculiar interest
to older readers.

/COMMODORE BAINBRIDGE. From the Gun-
^ room to the Quarter-deck. By JAMES BARNES, author of " Mid-
shipman Farragut." Illustrated by George Gibbs and Others.

"A well-told story of a gallant captain of the sea. . . . The boys will read it with
avidity, and will thank Mr. Barnes lorit."— New J ork Sun,

J\^IDSHIPMAN FARRAGUT. By TAMES

•* *•*- BARNES, author of " For King or Country," etc. lllusttated by
Carlton T. Chapman.

" We do not knnw of a more thr'lling book for boys, or one more interesting, than
' Midshipman Farragut.' " — ~.Vew York Mail and £,.ij» ess.

T\ECATUR AND SOMERS. By MOLLY ELLIOT
*-** SEAWELL, author of " Paul Jones," " Little Jarvis," etc. With
6 full-page Illustrations by J. O. Davidson and Others.

~DAUL JONES. By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL. With

-*• 8 full-page Illustrations.

1\/TIDSHIPMAN PA ULDING. A True Story of
* *^ the War of 1812. By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL. With 6 full-
page Illustrations.

T ITTLE JARVIS. The story of the heroic mid-
*-** shipman of the frigate Constellation. By MOLLY ELLIOT
SEAWELL. With 6 full- page Illustrations.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

RETURN TO the circulation desk of any
University of California Library

or to the

NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

University of California
Richmond Field Station, Bldg. 400

1301 South 46th Street
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

To renew or recharge your library materials, you may

contact NRLF 4 days prior to due date at (510) 642-6233

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

OCT2 02007

DD20 12M 7-06

U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES

M202991

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY