Milford chronicle., 1888-05-04
FULL oF LIE.


Taking to the dry beach masses of this
coral as great as could lift, I found it full
of life: little tiny crustaceans-white, black
and red-minute, quick moving star fish,
green and black; black spined sea eggs; long
worms with double line Of leg like points
on the lower surface and leather tube, in
which they carried themselves; funny little
old mossback crabs, so hid by vegetable
growth as to pass unnoticed if they would
only keep still; a beautiful olive shell, with
purple mouth, like a dainty lady in humble
company Here and there whelIk or two,
nestled under a little shelf, with its button
like door shut tight Larger and hatter
corals Of a dull yellow found covered with
parasitic life, such as tiny sponges, leather
like, fiat, some yellow with many a mouth,
others brown and like a miniature volcano,
in handling which there is left in the skin
spieula so fine and needle like that they
poison the hands, causing an itching and
eruption that lasts for days; waving alge,
thread like sea plants of many plumey
form and many a shade Of brown; coralites
white and brown, jointed, branching tufts.
Under the rock shelves were bright colored
anemones, siren like letting the shallow tide
comb their long hair. A little deeper big
crayfish, brilliant in gold and black, with
feelers twenty inches long, instead of claws,
steal quickly away; big crabs, blue and gray
or dark spotted red, hold up angry claws,
then try to hide under my boots. On shore
the great round leaves Of the red and green
sea grape hide tine land.
On the leeward side Of the cay the ebb tide
leaves bare a white marly bar 1000 acres in
area, full Of the tracks Of little lively she'll
fish blowing along and feeding; naticas,
white and blue; deep hole9 where the crabs
hide; other holes from which issues long
sack, translucent and filed with red spots,
the eggs of some creature; little collar like
rings, the egg cases Of the niritas A fringe
/ Of dead and brown gulf weed marks the line
| Of the spent high tide on the shore, with here
and there a dead shell or sponge. A couple
of hours wading, at each low tide, at the end
Of New Cay, is fruitful every day Of new and
| strange creatures. Such hours are fascinat-
ing and such pleasure is unalloyed.
GARDEN OF THE SEA.
Whoever has sailed in big steamship to
! Cuba, to the Bahamas, or through the South
/ Atlantic, has seen after crossing the Gulf
Stream, day after day, an unending process
sion Of great and little patches OF bright
orange colored plant which floats placidly on
the surface. Sometimes it is only a single
plant spread out fat with the leaves and
stems partly out Of water; often there are
patches of from many inches to many feet in
area; or again great fields acres in extent;
sometimes it is in streals or bands, continu-
Gus or interrupted, a few feet, or may be rods
wide, extending from horizon to horizon.
This is the orange colored garden Of the sea,
a simple plant, without apparent root, leafing
Towering and fruiting as it floats, the Sara
gossa sea weed, whose metropolis is in the
horse latitudes.
l have often wanted to fish it up from the
deck Of a steamer, but never succeeded tC
any satisfaction until recently, when
crossed on a little sloop one Of the abyssa
deeps Of ocean which reach in between the
Bahama islands. could easily reach it witt
landing net as we sailed. It is plant Of Z
soft orange color over, under and through
A multitude Of minute animals, little cora
like growths wreath the stems in strings Of
pearls. Crabs no bigger than finger nail
mailed in coats Of flesh red or black, reseni