of a reef, I must first sail and sail until I reach water that is not
deep at all.

Do you think you have ever seen coral, real coral? Yes, doubtless you
have, and you may have seen it in various forms. But I feel sure you
have never seen coral to know very much about it, as you have never been
to the bottom of the sea.

Ah, here are all kinds of graceful shapes shooting up from the depths,
so singular and varied in form, that one would wonder what they are
meant to stand for. Look at these trees, perfect little trees in coral,
eight or ten feet high, with branches spreading out from the trunk. On
the branches are delicate sprays of fairylike net or lace-work, all in
white, but of various patterns. Should you get near enough, you would
see that these branches, some of which seem to bear flowers in shapes
like pinks or lilies, are dented or pitted as if tiny teeth had eaten
into them. This may be partly the work of worms.

Now, this is simply a large piece of white coral, but all around and
about are fanciful shapes, nearly as large as the one described. Here,
too, are what might be taken for thick bushes or shrubs, branching out
with sprays of fretwork, white and spotless. Then there are smaller
growths like low plants, and curiously colored, some pink, some red,
others a yellowish white. These, too, appear to bear flowers, asters,
carnations, or roses.

And for miles at a time we can rove and sport in a beautiful coral
grove.

Think of a little house, if you can, made entirely of ivory, with here