IN CORAL-LAND
Oh! do you know
Where the sea-flowers blow,
Down deep in the ocean's bed?
Where the shy plants hide
'Neath the swelling tide,
And the Anemone lifts its head?
Where the Nautilus frail,
To set his sail,
Creeps forth from the silver sand?
Then come with me,
And you will see
The wonders of Coral-Land.
"So this is Coral-Land!" exclaimed Sammy, wonderingly. "What a
beautiful place it is!"
He and his companion had soon recovered from the fright caused by
their recent unpleasant experience, and now, filled with a comforting
sense of tranquillity, they swam leisurely along in the placid water.
The dangers and privations of the journey were over, they had made an
excellent meal on some delicious tidbits found among the weeds, and
nothing now remained but to enjoy to the full the delights of their
new home.
It was truly a charming place, being in reality a good sized lagoon,
or lake, shut off from the outside world by the protecting coral-reefs
which encircled it like a large ring.
There are many such lagoons, and this one, called by the fish-world,
"Coral-Land," because of the beautiful coral within its depths, was
only one of many coral-lands, for coral-islands, and coral-reefs are
found everywhere in tropical seas. Sometimes these coral-reefs are
found near the shores of large islands, or continents, and then they
are called Shore-Reefs. There are also Barrier-Reefs, usually
enclosing an island in the deep sea, and Lagoon Islands or Atolls,
which enclose a lagoon, or lake, such as the one where Sammy now was.
Near the centre of this Lagoon arose another ring of coral-reef, like
a small circle within a larger circle, and in the centre of the second
little lake so formed, was a tiny coral-island, dotted here and there
with gay flowers, and waving palm-trees.
Outside the reefs the white-topped breakers thundered on unceasingly,
but the calm waters of the Lagoon were undisturbed by their fury. Far
above and below towered the magnificent rocks, forming so complete a
barricade that sharks and very large fish found it difficult to gain
an entrance to the Lagoon, and could never penetrate to the inner
lake, where the inhabitants of Coral-Land sometimes took refuge.
As for the smaller fish, the reefs were punctured with innumerable
little passages and caverns through which they could easily gain
access to the outside ocean, if they wished, but most of them
preferred the quiet and security of the Lagoon. Many had been born
there and knew no other life, and many, like the Sun-Fish had grown so
fat with good living that it would have been almost impossible for
them to squeeze through the largest opening.
In fact the Lagoon was like a large aquarium of curious and beautiful
fish. Floating lazily along was a round, prickly Globe-Fish, and close
behind him drifted a cross looking Porcupine-Fish, an odd, countrified
sort of creature, with his gaping mouth, the sharp spines on his ugly
body raised in preparation for a possible attack from the strangers.
Away off among the distant rocks some dazzling Gold-Fish chased each
other merrily hither and thither; a brilliant blue fish darted out
from a near-by thicket, and a company of scarlet fish swam past,
making a beautiful picture, with the clear, blue waters of the Lagoon
as a setting.
[Illustration: GLOBE FISH A Curious Inhabitant of Coral-Land]
[Illustration: PORCUPINE FISH Another Curious Inhabitant of
Coral-Land]
Far down below myriads of gorgeous shells lay scattered about on the
white sand like gay figures in a carpet, every color showing plainly
through the wonderfully transparent water. Here a tree of coral rose
up from the depths, its branches covered with lovely star-shaped
flowers; farther below a bed of shrubbery sprang from hidden rocks,
and close at hand a colony of beautiful Sea-Anemones lifted their
proud heads, and swayed gracefully in the water. Some of these flowers
were shaped like chrysanthemums with rows of fringed petals, some were
shorter and stouter, like dahlias, and all formed a mass of brilliant
color, pink, purple, orange, blood-red, and sea-blue, striped with
pink.
Never had Sammy seen such a sight as this bed of Anemones, and, struck
with admiration, he stopped to examine them more closely. But the
experienced Pilot warned him to be careful.
"They look very fine," said he, "but they are not to be trusted." You
know, of course, that the Sea-Anemones, like almost all flowers and
plants which grow in the ocean, are living animals, polyps, we call
them. The Anemones are polyps, and the coral big and little, living
and dead is being made, or has been made by polyps.
"You see that bed of pink flowers over there, and those green rushes,
and those fern-like plants? Well, they are all living polyps, or
colonies of polyps, some kinds of which leave coral when they die,
like the coral polyps proper.
"As for the Anemones; those innocent looking flowers really possess
powerful weapons in the shape of tiny lassos, which are concealed in
lasso-cells. These lasso-cells, which are very small, are carefully
hidden in the walls of those petal-like tentacles, or feelers of the
Anemone. Still other lasso-cells are hidden in the mouth of the
Anemone, and inside its stomach. In the cells the long, slender,
thread-like lassos lie coiled up ready for use. The lassos escape from
the cells by turning themselves inside out with lightning-like
swiftness, and woe to the crab, or small water animal that comes in
contact with this lovely flower! It is immediately pierced by the
lassos, and poisoned by the deadly fluid hidden in the cells. Even big
fish have been known to die in great agony when touched by the
Sea-Anemone.
"The Anemone frequently swallows a whole crab (if it is a good size
itself) and is particularly fond of gulping down its food in this
manner, keeping it for awhile in its stomach to squeeze out the juice;
after which what is left is thrown out through its mouth.
"All Anemones have mouths and stomachs, and some have rows of eyes
like a necklace around the body. The mouth is a small opening in the
centre of the disk, or head of the Anemone, and this leads into the
stomach below.
"Sometimes the Anemone uses the tentacles around the disk to help feed
itself, and it also uses the mouth, lips and disk for the same
purpose. When the Anemone is at rest it expands its disk and draws in
the sea water, and when it is disturbed it contracts, and throws out
the water from its mouth. The Anemones are very sensitive to touch,
and will shrink up like a sensitive plant. They are of all sizes too;
that little blue one over there is only about one-eighth of an inch,
and that big purple fellow stands over a foot from its base.
[Illustration: A COLONY OF SEA ANEMONES]
"You see that the body of the Anemone is shaped like a column, the
flat head, or disk, being at the top, with rows of tentacles, like
petals, fringing the edge. The bottom of the Anemone is also flat, and
with this flat base it holds fast to the rocks to which it attaches
itself. The Sea-Anemones are able to move about from rock to rock, and
in that they differ from their first cousins, the Coral Polyps, for
they are always stationary.
"The Anemone has several curious ways of reproducing itself. Sometimes
one animal will divide itself and become two individuals, and
sometimes pieces from the bottom of the Anemone will become separate
Anemones. Another strange way is by throwing out the young through the
mouth, and it doesn't seem to make much difference whether they come
out in the shape of eggs, or whether they are fully formed, as is
frequently the case.
"Still another process of reproduction is by budding. A small lump
appears on the parent Anemone; this keeps on growing and growing until
it soon has a mouth, disk and tentacles like the mother; after which
it separates, and starts out in life for itself. Whole colonies of
Anemones are formed in this way.
"But come," said the Pilot. "Here we have spent all this time talking
about the Anemones, and the coral is far more interesting and
beautiful. Suppose we take a look at this large tree," he went on in
his most school-master manner. "See how lovely it is with its trunk
and branches covered with little star-shaped flowers! Those flowers
are the polyps, and they, or rather their ancestors, made the tree.
You know that the most important of the coral polyps live in groups,
or colonies. They usually reproduce themselves by budding in very much
the same way as do the Anemones, but the Coral Polyp does not separate
from the parent when it gets its growth; it stays fastened to the
mother, and soon imitates her example by producing a bud which becomes
a coral flower. And so it goes on until there is a whole colony of
animals, each one having a separate mouth and stomach for his support,
and yet continuing as a part of the family.
"I told you that the Anemones and Coral Polyps were first cousins, and
so they are, for almost the only difference between them is that the
Anemones have no coral in their make-up. Then too, the Coral Polyps
cannot move about like the Anemones, and they are somewhat different
in appearance, being more like lovely daisies, or stars, than
chrysanthemums.
"The coral is made from the lime of which the water of the ocean
contains a large quantity, and is hidden in the sides and lower part
of the polyp, there being none in the stomach and disk. When the polyp
dies the fleshy part decays, and the coral, which is the skeleton of
the polyp, is left. It is very hard, being composed of carbonate of
lime, and will last for ages. The inside of this tree that we are
looking at is all dead coral, or corallum, while the flowers that are
on the outside of the trunk and branches are the living animals.
"Some kinds of coral polyps bud and extend in different directions,
and that accounts for the many wonderful shapes in which coral grows.
Some species divide in two, like the Anemones, but the majority live
in families, or colonies. There are coral reefs and coral trees, domes
and balls of coral, graceful vases, and all sorts and kinds of
different plants and odd growths.
"You know that living coral cannot exist above the surface of the
ocean, for exposure to the sun and air kills the polyps; yet it is
always growing upward and outward, the living animals making their
homes upon the tombs of their ancestors, so to speak, until they in
their turn perish and add their skeletons to the growing structure.
"The most wonderful of all coral is that found in the coral reefs,
which are so old that the most ancient fish in all fishdom, or his
great-grandfather before him, could not tell when they were begun; and
so hard and enduring that the storms of centuries have never been able
to destroy them. But strong as they are, the mighty ocean, (both
friend and foe to the coral), is still stronger, and in time the
constant washing and beating of the tides wear away portions of the
hard rock, changes the formation of the reefs, and helps in a large
measure in the making of the lovely coral islands. But still the coral
goes on growing, the living polyps protecting the dead coral below and
beneath, and then dying to make way for the next generation. And so
the coral holds its own in spite of the fury of the sea, and the many
little boring water animals that strive to penetrate the dead coral,
and crumble the rock into ruins. But the coral has its friends, as
well as enemies, and the most useful of the first are various weeds
and plants which grow on the reefs, and beside protecting the upper
parts from exposure, help in their formation by leaving a kind of
coral behind them when they die.
[Illustration: A SCENE IN CORAL-LAND, SHOWING STAR-SHAPED FLOWERS OF
CORAL, AND OCTOPUS]
"If you will look about you," went on the Pilot, "you will see what
beautiful colors some of the coral has. See that big piece over there
like a large red toadstool, and this curious vase all covered on the
outside with tiny polyps like purple stars! You will find it in many
lovely colors, and still more fantastic shapes. I have heard that some
varieties of pink and red coral are very highly valued for jewelry by
the two-legged land race."
In this manner the learned Pilot discoursed to his pupil, being only
too glad to have an excuse for showing off his superior knowledge; and
Sammy drank it all in, having in mind the time when he should return
to his far-away home and brag of his adventures to the simple
fresh-water fish.
Beside acting as guide, and explaining to his companion the mysteries
of Coral-Land, the Pilot kindly introduced Sammy to some of his
acquaintances and friends. One of these was a very large odd-looking
Sun-Fish, a curious creature, all head and no body. This fish, being
very haughty in his manners, and exclusive in his tastes, was
considered very aristocratic: and having spent the greater part of his
life in the Lagoon, was acknowledged as the great social leader of
Coral-Land.
The Sun-Fish presented Sammy to the Trunk-Fish, (so named from his
curious shape), and the Trunk-Fish in turn introduced him to the
Globe-Fish and the Porcupine-Fish, and they made him acquainted with
the family of scarlet fish, and some handsome gold-fish. Two of the
gold-fish, called respectively Gay and Gilt, were particularly
friendly to Sammy, who soon found them much more entertaining than the
worthy, but somewhat prosy Pilot.
So, as the days went on, our hero spent more and more of his time in
the company of his new friends, while the Pilot was content, now that
his duty was done, to gossip with the Sun-Fish, or betake himself to
some particularly good feeding ground of which he knew. Coral-Land
abounded in quantities of good things such as fishes love, and Sammy
soon grew fat, for Gay and Gilt were much less greedy than the Pilot,
and always shared their meals evenly with their friend. It did not
take him long to learn what to enjoy and what to avoid, both in the
way of food and acquaintances, and he found it a most useful form of
knowledge.
Thus he learned to beware of the graceful jelly-fishes who were
constantly to be met floating about, their long tentacles streaming
behind, and their umbrella-shaped disks expanding and contracting as
they swam, for he knew that the Jelly-Fish was a cousin of the
Sea-Anemone, and that its tentacles could sting most unpleasantly. So
he admired them from a distance, and very beautiful they were,
especially at night, when their gleaming phosphorescent bodies lighted
up the darkness of the sleeping Lagoon.
Sammy learned that the affectionate embrace of the many-armed Octopus
was not to be desired; and that a thicket of seaweed is a good
hiding-place from a chance enemy, and is apt to contain many delicious
tidbits in the way of fish food. He knew the manners and habits of the
many brilliant-hued fish who live in Coral-Land; and he knew that the
floor of the Lagoon had as many curious and beautiful inhabitants as
its waters. There the Star-Fish sprawled on the sand, the Sea-Cucumber
crawled along, expanding and contracting its worm-like body; there the
Sea-Urchin hid himself in the rock, and shells large and small, pink,
blue, red and all the colors of the rainbow lay scattered about on the
sand and rocks.
All these shells had, of course, their living inhabitants, for a shell
is always the home of some water animal, and when the owner dies the
shell is left as a monument, and very beautiful monuments most of them
are.
The Sea-Snail, the Cockle, the Razor-shell and many others have each a
good-sized foot which helps them in crawling along, or in boring holes
for themselves in the rocks.
[Illustration: a. SEA SNAIL b. NAUTILUS c. COCKLE, SHOWING FOOT
d. RAZOR SHELL]
Sammy had taken some pains to become acquainted with the Nautilus and
his family, whose beautiful little boats he had often seen sailing
gaily along on the surface of the Lagoon, especially after a storm
when the water was calm.
The Nautilus has a beautiful spiral mother-of-pearl shell, and when on
a voyage it uses part of its body as a sail, and the long tentacles
about its mouth help it in swimming. It spends a good deal of its time
on the bottom of the ocean near the coral reefs, and can creep along
very quickly, supporting itself with its head and tentacles. The head
is flat and muscular and acts as a defense to the opening of the
shell, and the Nautilus also possesses very strong jaws which it makes
good use of in crushing crabs and other shell-fish on which it feeds.
Sammy found it rather difficult at first to come to a friendly
understanding with the Nautilus, for the gallant little mariner was
somewhat shy of strangers, and would frequently show his distrust by
suddenly drawing in his tentacles, upsetting his shell, and dropping
to the bottom of the Lagoon, thus effectually cutting short any
conversation. But this was only his way of protecting himself; after a
time he grew bolder, and being a true sailor spun many a wonderful
yarn about his voyages.
To the Nautilus Sammy was indebted for a most important piece of
information. It happened in this wise. He had now spent several weeks
in Coral-Land. He knew the Lagoon thoroughly from end to end, the best
feeding and hiding-places, the delightful caverns and caves in the
reefs, and was on friendly terms with almost all its inhabitants. But
a fish is a restless creature, and, strange to say, Sammy was daily
growing more and more weary of this peaceful Lagoon. It was all very
wonderful to be sure, the beautiful coral in its lovely colors and
fantastic shapes, the gay flowers and plants, the strange shells, and
the brilliant, sparkling fish; but then the warm water _was_
certainly enervating, and the mountain stream that he called home had
many charms, now that he was no longer there.
The Pilot-Fish had long since departed for other scenes, and Sammy
wished that he had consented to accompany him. Now it was too late,
and the only thing to do was to wait and hope for some way of beating
a retreat. Not caring to confide his weakness to his two friends, who
would not understand it, he kept his secret to himself, longing more
and more for that quiet mountain stream so very far away.
One fine day as Sammy was swimming sadly along, and alone, near the
outer reef of the Lagoon, his friend, the Nautilus approached him in
great excitement.
"I've seen such a strange sight," he exclaimed eagerly, sailing close
up to the salmon in his haste. "This morning I thought I would have a
little adventure, for it's very tiresome spending so much time in the
Lagoon, so I found my way, through a passage known only to myself, out
to the ocean, and such fun as I had sailing up and down! To be sure I
had to keep a pretty sharp outlook, for it is a dangerous place out
there. However, nothing of any consequence happened, and I was
beginning to feel a little disappointed, when suddenly, only a short
distance away, I saw a school of large, pink fish, very much like you
in appearance, and all swimming north. Never before in all my
experience have I known a school of fish of that kind in our
neighborhood! It will be the talk of Coral-Land for a week. Excuse me,
but I really must go and tell my family," and abruptly upsetting his
shell the Nautilus disappeared at once from view.
For a moment Sammy hesitated. Gay and Gilt, with his other friends,
were far away. Should he try to find them and say good-bye? No, it
would take too much time, and they would be sure to protest against
his going, and then the school would be out of sight. One swift glance
about him, and away he dashed; another moment and he was at the reef,
a passageway out was found, and darting through the breakers, he rose
to the surface and looked forth once more on the broad ocean. Behind
him lay all the wonders and beauties of Coral-Land, and there, far
away towards the north, a mass of moving fish darkened the surface of
the water. Could he reach them before they disappeared, or before some
hideous monster saw and intercepted his flight? Away he darted,
faster, faster, and still faster. Now the school was getting larger,
he was surely gaining; still nearer, and he could see the sun gleam on
countless scales; nearer still, one final effort, and the school of
salmon opened to receive him, and then swept on northward and
homeward.
* * * * *
There was a pause. Grandma dropped her work, and leaning idly back in
her rocking-chair, gazed dreamily out over the ocean, sparkling in its
sunset glory.
"Is that all?" inquired Eleanor. "Didn't Sammy really get home?"
"That is all," said grandma. "What became of our hero after he joined
the school of salmon I never knew. In all likelihood he never left his
companions. But whether he guided them to the pleasant waters of that
mountain stream, or whether they took him with them to some lake or
inland river, I cannot tell."
As for Gay and Gilt, they long mourned the mysterious disappearance of
their playfellow, and often now when the sun shines brightly on the
blue waters of the Lagoon, when the Nautilus sails forth on his
voyage, and the sea-flowers sway and nod in their deep beds, the two
gold-fish swim sadly about amid the depths of Coral-Land and tell
stories to the passing stranger of the merry young salmon who came
from the north, so long ago.
THE END.