some large, some small, and every
now and then we could see the rapid dash of one of the snake-eels as I
called them. I saw them regularly leap out of the water sometimes and
come down in a knot, twisting and twining about in the most
extraordinary way, and at last, so interesting was the clear, shallow
water, that we laid aside our lines and leaned over the side gazing down
at the fish that flashed about, till the reef was dry, and leaving Ebo
in the boat we landed to walk about over the shining weeds and coral,
picking our way amongst shell-fish of endless variety, some with great
heavy shells a couple of feet long, and some so small and delicate that
I had to handle them with the greatest delicacy to keep from crushing
their tissue-papery shells.

I could have stayed there for hours and filled the boat with wonders.
There was scarlet and orange coral, so beautiful that I was for bringing
away specimens; but Uncle Dick showed me that it was only the gelatinous
covering that was of so lovely a tint, and this, he told me, would soon
decay.

Then there were the brilliantly tinted weeds. There were sea-slugs too,
delicacies amongst the Chinese under the name of _trepang_, and so many
other wonders of the sea that I should have gone on searching amongst
the crevices of the sharp coral, if I had not had a sharp warning given
to me to make for the boat by the parts that had only been an inch or
two deep rapidly increasing to a foot, and my uncle shouting to me to
come aboard.

It was quite time, for I was some distance from the boat, with the tide
flowing in so rapidly that in a few minutes I should have had to swim,
and a swim in water swarming with such furious kinds of the finny tribe
was anything but tempting.

As it was I had to swim a few strokes, and was of course soaked, but my
uncle hauled me uninjured into the boat and I little minded the wetting,
but laughed at my adventure as we sat over our breakfast and feasted
upon frizzled fish to our hearts' content.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

EBO SATISFIES OUR WANTS.

It would be tedious if I were to go on describing the almost endless
varieties of birds we shot, glowing though they were with rainbow
colours, and to keep repeating how we skinned and preserved this
sun-bird, that pitta, or trogon, or lovely rose-tinted dove. Parrots
and cockatoos we found without number, and as we selected only the
finest specimens, our collection rapidly increased, so fast, indee