ers of Fundy is likely to remain long
in one's memory, and one's first dive of short duration, but the glimpse
which is had and the hastily snatched handfuls of specimens of the
beauties which no tide ever uncovers is potent to make one forget his
shivering and again and again seek to penetrate as far as a good-sized
stone and a lungful of air will carry him. Strange sensations are
experienced in these aquatic scrambles. It takes a long time to get used
to pulling oneself _downward_, or propping your knees against the _under_
crevices of rocks. To all intents and purposes, the law of gravitation is
partly suspended, and when stone and wooden wedge accidentally slip from
one's hand and disappear in _opposite_ directions, it is confusing, to say
the least.
When working in one spot for some time the fishes seem to become used to
one, and approach quite closely. Slick-looking pollock, bloated lump-fish,
and occasionally a sombre dog-fish rolls by, giving one a start, as the
memory of pictures of battles between divers and sharks of tropical waters
comes to mind. One's mental impressions made thus are somewhat
disconnected. With the blood buzzing in the ears, it is only possible to
snatch general glimpses and superficial details. Then at the surface,
notes can be made, and specimens which have been overlooked, felt for
during the next trip beneath the surface. Fronds of laminaria yards in
length, like sheets of rubber, offer convenient holds, and at their roots
many curious creatures make their home. Serpent starfish, agile as insects
and very brittle, are abundant, and new forms of worms, like great
slugs,--their backs covered with gills in the form of tufted branches.
In these outer, eternally submerged regions are starfish of still other
shapes, some with a dozen or more arms. I took one with thirteen rays and
placed it temporarily in a pool aquarium with some large anemones. On
returning in an hour or two I found the starfish trying to make a meal of
the largest anemone. Hundreds of dart-covered strings had been pushed out
by the latter in defence, but they seemed to cause the starfish no
inconvenience whatever.
In my submarine glimpses I saw spaces free from seaweed on which hundreds
of tall polyps were growing, some singly, others in small tufts. The
solitary individuals rise three or four inches by a nearly straight stalk,
surmounted by a many-tentacled head. This droops gracefully to one side
and the general eff
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