Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-27
SEA CREATURES ARE STUDIED
m NATIVE F1AUNTS BY ARTIST
French War Hero, Here to
Execute Commission;
Tells Experiences.
Uses Own Device to Make
Paintings Of Fish in
Ocean Depths.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

DIX AnOM1AS nSa AAHANA'
Strange, silent gardens, yelled in
weird green fog which Is fllled with
fiuttering colors and through which
loom the orange, rose-red and yellow
towers Of fairy cities.
during the past eight years by French
war hero, who, after surviving the ex-
perience Of being buried alive on the
Western front, went to the ends Of the
earth in q quest for beauty and adven-
ture.
M. Eli Chaverlange, painter Of fishes,
now Is in Washington executing COM
mission from the Smithsonian 1nstitu-
ton after studying the loveliest crea-
haunts on the coral reefs Of the South
Sea Islands. He has been accompanied
on his expeditions into these regions,
which he describes as like gardens on
another planet" by Nine. Chaverlange,
who Is an enthusiastic naturalist. Both
will return to Tahiti after finishing
their work in Washington.
Adopts Device Of His Own.
The elf land Of M. Chaverlange is at
the bottom OF the sea. He first at
tempted to study and reproduce the
colorful scene in q diving suit. but soon
realized, he says, that this was too
clumsy and that his movements were too
much hampered. So he adopted de-
vice of his own, which gives him almost
perfect freedom Of movement, but which
requires practice to master.
Equipped with sea goggles and with
weights attached to his feet, he goes
down with a long rubber tube in his
mouth. He must inhale and expel air
through the same tube. So he takes a
long breath, expels the air through the
entire length Of the tube, waits until 1t
Is clear, and then takes another breath.
BY practice he has reached the point
where he can remain q half hour under
about 10 feet of water in perfect COM
fort. Nine. Chaverlange also has mas
tered the same technique.
BY this method the artist actually has
been able to make oil paintings under
water by using paint of the proper con-
sistency and having the canvas stretched
on heavy metal plate He also sketches
on slate, steel and copper, later trans
ferring the work to paper.
But grueSome horrors Turk in the
silent gardens, teeming with life and
color, where M. ChaYerlange works.
Most dreaded of these Is the patui, a
giant relative Of the rock cod, which
hides In the coral caves. This flsh,
says the artist. seems to be simply q
long, but. the mouth alone, trimmed with
sharp teeth, opens to width Of about
2 feet. The creature will attack any
thing 1t can get into its mouth, grab
bling the head first. Occasionally it
picks OF q native diver, literally swal-
lowing the head and trunk Of the man,
leaving his legs sticking out Of It's
mouth Then 1t proceeds to chew up
and digest the suffocated victim At its
IaH~ H. ua,4. L. L. -
rare fish, and when one Is reported in
a neighborhood divers give; it . wide
berth. To guard against such attacks
M. Chaverlange carries a steel harpoon
on his painting expeditions.
Sea Eel Is Another Menace.
Then there Is O species of sea eel
which darts like lightning at q human
victim and sinks It's sharp teeth into an
arm or ankle. A man would be help
less against one OF these creatures were
1t not for . trick familiar to the natives.
In It's lightning like dive the eel gets
any grip it can and holds on. Then it
waits for the victim to weaken. when
1t will relax its grip and try to get
more advantageous one. All the at
tackled person has to do is to endure the
pain until the h2h opens its mouth.
Then, If the man moves quickly enough,
with spear or weighted fooC IL Is posi-
bic to escape to the surface by puSing
the creature away.
The coral caves also TEEN with multi
eolored sea snakes; members of the
dreaded cobra family, whose venom Is
fatal They are, however. inoffensive
creatures, and instances Of human be-
ings bitten by them are very rare. M.
Chaverlange has picked them up with
his hands before he knew Of their
deadly reputation.
The farpoon, the painter says, is
good defence against. the weird octo-
puses which abound in the coral cav
erns. Most of these are small, but oc-
casionAlly giant is encountered which
would prove . dangerous foe If it de-
cided to, attack. These are found most
ly at greater depths, where nobody
would venture without the protective
arTnor Of diving suit.
Studied Octopus In It's HaHntS.
M. Chaverlange Is perhaps the first
man to have studied the octopus in its
native haunts. He has watched It
change color from second to second,
almost too rapidly for the human eye
to follow, from dark sepia through flesh