Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-05-24

cred with tall, sharp splnes? Well,
some of these Fijian cousins tArocla.
dIa) are armed with spikes like slate
pencils, as thick as your middle finger
and good deal longer
And another extraordinary creature
is a starfish, tAcGnthaster solaris),
which seems to be nearly related to
the sea urchIn, for its fifteen arms are
each covered with very sharp, grey
and orange spines, precisely like those
of the echinus, while the underside Is 9
mass of pale-yellow heshy feelers, like
those of a ses-anemone, with q sucker
at the end of each. We have captur ed
some of these strange creatures, and
brought them home in bucket, but
they looked wretched In captivity.
Indeed, everything in the submarine
garden derives half its charm from be-
ing seen through the medium of clear
translucent water, which throws a gla-
NOR of enchautment over everything.
1t glorifies the scarlet corallines and
the waving branches of green and
| brown weed with their waving fronds,
through which dart shoals of the mo 4
exqu site minute fish of every dazzling
hue. Some are of q vivid green, others
| of bright cobalt, some are pure scarlet,
others are golden, and others like black
velvet with pattern of fairy-like
peacock's feathers. All these move to
and fro IL family parties, and seem to
be playing endless games of hide and
seek among the coral shrubs and ledg
| es.
We have brought some dainty dsr-
iings 1or the children's aquarium, and
find that they live very well, so long
as we refrain from the temptation of
Introducing a morsel of newly-gathered
coral which, in dying, poisons the wa
ter, so that all the creatures IN the
aquarium are sure to die. l had ather
an unpleasant little episode on the
reef, while trying to capture for the
aquarium some lovely golden-fsh with
brilliant blue collars. The fairy-like
| beauties had eluded my efforts again
and again, and at last darted beneath
the coral ledge on which l stood. In
tie excitement of the moment L
thoughtlessly slipped in my hand,
which was instantly bitten by a large,
very voracious kind of eel, much
dreaded by the natives. Happily he
only succeeded in catching one finger,
and was able to tear it away, but not
without a series of painful gashes, mark.
ing the course of each sharp tooth.
But by far the most interesting epi
sode connected with the reef is the
annual viCit of the Balolo, PdLotO Utri-
dis, which is a thread-like worm re
sembling vermicelli, often upwards of
yard in length. 1t has pointed
body with innumerable, almost micro
scopic legs. All the year round, these
long, lean worms live in the depths of
. J.. q
they hold high festival, and come to
the surface in countless myriads, dis
porting themselves for several hours
before day break, and with one accord
disappearing the very moment the sun
rises, to be seen no more till the follow.
Dg autumn.
With such unerrlng precision dc
they rise at their accustomed time,
that the natives know exactly when to
LOOK for them, and ara all on the a ert,
to make the most of tire great worm
festival. Their first annual appear
ance is early in October, which is
hence called Little Balolo," because
only few appear, rising with par.
ticular tide. November is called the
Great BaloIo," because the grand
rising of the worms invaribly occurs at
the tide of the full moon, between the
Goth and 2jtn of November. In the
Samoan Isles, the day selected by the
worms is = bout fortnight earlier.
The natives maze their calculations
by noting the position of certain stars,
and they assemble from all quarters to
await their rare visitors, who have
never been known to be unpunctual.
True to the traditions of their worm
AL
at certain well-known points near tbs
reefs, and here, year after year, the
whole sea, to the depth of several
inches, is simply alive with these red,
green and brown creatures-literally
UeTniceUi, which form one writhing
mass, and are pursued by shoals OF
fish of all sizes, which come to share
Il feast with the human beings.
1t IS the merriest day of the year,
and o, e to which all the FIlians and
Samoans look forward to with intense
delight a bout midnight they go out
in their canoes, and anxiously await
TIE appearance of the first few worms,
and great is the struggle to secure
these, which herald the approach of
the vast mul itudes. Great is the eI-
tement as they rise to the surface in
water seems to be alive with these
wriggling threads. Each lad and lass
carries a WICKER basket, wherewith to
capture the worms without bringing
too mrch salt water on board, and for
several hours the merry sport and
laughter never cease, everyone bailing
up the worms. and trying who can
nos quickly fill his canoe, either by
fn.v l,ry ekn
neiGhbJrs.
The noise and scrambling reach
their climax Just before dawn, for,
like magic creatures in some fairy
tale, no sooner does the suns first ray
gid the water, than these mysterious
palolo, wit one accord, sink to their
native depths and moment later not
one remains on the surface.
Never has it been known to fail in
the memory Of the Oldest lnhabitant,
white or brown. Nor is there any
record of any one having seen one rise
to the surface on any save the two ap-
pointed days.
Well aware how fruitless it would be
to continue fishing in forsaken water,
the natives all race back to the shore,
so on as the sun has risen, aud,
wrapping their balolo In bread-frult
leaves, cook them in ovens already dug
on the beach, and filed with red-hot
stones. and then they have a great
feast-the equivalent of a whitebait
dinner.
So great is the quantity captured,
that when the whole multitude have
eaten to their hearts content, they in
varlably have n large surplus which is
carefully preserved for several days,
and warmed MP when required. Nice
baskets of this dainty fare are sent by
t usty mes gers to distant friends in
inland districts, as the choicest Offer
ing of brother epicures. it tastes like
combination of potted meat and