I immediately recognised that marvellous region in which, on that day, the Captain did the honours to us.

It was the coral kingdom.
The light produced a thousand charming varieties, playing in the midst of the branches that were so vividly coloured.

I seemed to see the membraneous and cylindrical tubes tremble beneath the undulation of the waters.

I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with delicate tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while a small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly, like flights of birds.
But if my hand approached these living flowers, these animated, sensitive plants, the whole colony took alarm.

The white petals re-entered their red cases, the flowers faded as I looked, and the bush changed into a block of stony knobs.
Chance had thrown me just by the most precious specimens of the zoophyte.