Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 66.djvu/569

Rh excursions were made to various parts of the archipelago, according as the conditions of wind and tide favored this or that locality. For all purposes except that of dredging she was well suited to our needs, for, being of light draught, she could be used about the shoals and flats with safety and ease.

I recall with pleasure not only my own fascination, but also the

expressions of delight which involuntarily came from the lips of all who, with water-glass in hand, peered down into the fairy-like gardens of the sea, as we slowly drifted with the tide or lay at anchor in the midst of one of the great coral patches that flourish over extensive

areas of the north lagoon. I confess the pleasure was so great that the spirit of the collector was suppressed for the time being; it seemed sacrilege to touch with violent hands a picture that showed such harmony of form and color—the waving plumes, the graceful branches