The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-11-27
. n,rus,lIsr I'M THE WEST INDIES.

A reef unlteS the latter lSianu Will 1iie iii"ii
land. This is but q few hundred feet long,
ouite narrow. and consists of a beach de-
posit of single and coral cemented togeth-
er so as to form q very hard and compact
conglomeration. Inside this reef IS a shall
low. quiet cove between the westermost end
of the island and the main land. During
stop made at st. Thomas last summer, whlie
resting with Professor Agasis' party, found
this to be good collecting ground Tor cor
ais.
Outside of the little island to the south,
lies larger island, high and rocky, called
Water Island Passing through the reel,
had my boatman row me out to the western
shore of this Island, where / knew some very
interesting corais and other marine animals
were to be found. Landing with basket
full of bottles. hammer, &C., kept along
the shore, wading about in the shadows, my
man Ike ping near me to take into the boat
the specimens as I collected them. Sharks
are plentiful here, but felt no uneasiness on
that score, as the boatman assured me that
they did not come so close in shore unless
they are very hungry The shore here is in
part rocky, in part sandy, while just along
SHORE inc DOllOIu Is oudloW- eho S"Ahpo'N"
of white sand The water is perfectly clear,
and moderately open to the action OF the
sea.
About high-tide mark, an immense num-
Der of specimens of large and pretty Lit
toriaa are found clinging to the rocks while
among the stones, laid bare by the tide, large
numbers of small gasterop~ls creep about
Among these Is the well-known bleeding
tooth she'll" There are several large spiral
shells that are used for food. Among these
is the giant conch-that large, wide-mouth-
ed shell Styvnbus giqas, with rich pink tint
inside, so common as mantel ornament
This shell lives in moderately deep water. :
found one live specimen. lwish my read
ers could see the curious animal that teuants
that blushing chamber.
There, thrown rudely among the rocks by
the waves, lies my prize, its delicate lip
bruised and broken. l pick it up; but l
can only see that something is in tie shell,
but it has retired so far that cannot distinct
ly see it. While am examining it the ami
NAL begins to prelude itself, and what an
odd-lo0king creature! There is pushed out,
from inside, what looks like foot with on
ly one toe, and that is armed with something
that resembles IA long flat nail or claw. In
front of this projects strange finger like
proboscis, at the end of which is the mouth,
while from the base of this organ extends
two long stalks an inch and half long,
more or less, on the tip of which is beau
tiful bright eye with golden iris. Near
the tip, on the inner side, each stalk bears
little fecler or tentacie, and now our conch
has stretched his strange, ill-shapen body far
out of the shell and presses the claw armed
mottled forcibly against the hand. This
shell belongs to family of molluses which
is noted for being carrin-feeders and lively
in their motions. The large shell so often
seen on mantel-pieces, whose lip flares out
into number of long, finger-like spines, be-
longs to this family, and there is a small
West Indian species, which, from its activity
of motion, has, earned for it the name of
strom5us pugiiis. or the fighting stromb.
Turning over the stones, my walls were
soon filed with curious tortoise-like Chitons,
marine worms, crabs, sc.
On the larger rocks and on the lodges
along shore grew number of massive cor
ais. The largest OF these was q species Of
fHeIRdriHa or Brain coral. so-called because
the cells on the surface arc long and convo-
luted, causing the surface to resemble that of
the brain. Some os these masses were three
or four feet in diameter One fine specimen
I succeeded in securing by dint Of much
tagging and hammering. This coral is of a
brown color, when alive, and it grows in
spherical masses
another coral Siaerastraa grew in smaller
and fiatter colonies. whose cells were small
and star shaped, while yet another of dark
brown color and with larger and more prom
inent cells than the latter, formed small glo-
bnlar masses of the size of the first orbicella.
A not uncommon coral is called Porites as
trGB0ides, which is of bright sulphur vel
low, and grows in fiat patches on the rocks
On the same ground large specimens of a
Aadepora. m. palDlata grew attached to the
rocks like immense fiat yellowish brown
fringe. Some were three or four feet across.
In some places the lodges were as thickly
covered with them as decaying logs are with
fungi in damp places. 1t was not an easy
matter to collect specimens of this speciee
especially when the water was up to ones
neck, and heavy swell was breaking il
over them; but I had soon as many large
specimens as 1 could accommodate in my
boat.
These shores are the very paradise of ses
urchins, or g sea eggs" animals exceedingly
interesting to the naturalist, but of which,
presume, my readers, most of them, have
faint idea. Then are animals with more o.
less globular bodies, thin shell marvelousl,
constructed of little polygonal plates solder
ed together, the whole covered outside with
forest sharp, movable spines. There is on
large species, four or five inches in diameter
with small, whitish spines, which is yer,
common growing among the rocks or on tn
sand. Another kind is small, larger and
stouter spine, of dark purple color. Thes
are usually found wedged in holes and ere
vices in the rocks, and bushels might bt
picked off the reef at low tide; but there
another that the collector will never forget
Carleton published, some time ago, conf
cal little album of caricatures, entitled "Ou
Artist in Cuba" In one of the sketches
our artist and his attendant meager-tailet
chicken, bent on a bath, have encountered
spiny little monster, of whose character the
seem to entertain wholesome doubt. Their
is no installing the animal.
One sees at st. Thomas, perhaps for tn
first time, through the clear but tremulou
water, something that looks like bunch c
b soft sea weed. He stoops down to pick
up when the boastmen shrieks: "Musser
touch dat. Pizenln He is just little to
late-there is cry of pain, and the hant
dripping with blood, is drawn out of th
water pierced by dozen spines of yillair
GUS sea urehin, which some sentimental ma
uralist has christenrd DiademG. If he ha
discovered the animal and bearded it in il
den, wager that he would have chosen
more BETTING name for it, diadenl-like as
does look despoiled of its spines. The spine
are sometimes six inches long, and so exces
lively long and sharp are they, that put yor
hand down as gently and cautious as poss
BILE before Won have felt than a halfloze