One of the charms of fishing in the Philippines lies in the fact that one can never tell what one is going to strike next. At Mæander Reef I took the first yellowtail ever caught in the islands with rod and line. Doubtless there are plenty more where that one came from. Indeed, yellowtails are common in the market at Zamboanga at certain seasons. Off the coast of Mindoro I took the first dolphin known to have been captured in these waters. On a recent trip I took a large porgy of a species new to the Philippines and likely to prove new to science. As yet we have hardly begun to explore the fishing grounds. What shall we find among the swift currents of the Batanes Islands, and what along the barrier reef of the unexplored east coast of northern Luzón? No one knows! Although some 1400 species of fish have already been reported from the Philippines, new ones are constantly being added to the list, and it is rather a rare event when a returning party of fishermen fails to present the ichthyologist with one or more puzzles. On my first trip to Apo Reef, Dr. Heiser hooked a tremendous fish which leisurely went its way regardless of his efforts to control its movement. At one time it deigned to come under the bottom of the launch and within forty feet of the surface, where it could be seen with perfect distinctness. It was a long, slender, gamy-looking creature weighing perhaps one hundred fifty pounds, and it had vertical yellow bars on its sides. No such fish is known from these waters. Having viewed the boat to its satisfaction, it proceeded to go back to the reef and to take refuge under its overhanging edge. Vigorous efforts to dislodge it, lasting for half an hour, resulted only in sawing off a heavy wire leader. One may tire for the moment of catching fish, but with a glass-bottomed boat at his disposal he will never tire of looking at them as he floats over the wonderful coral reefs for which the archipelago is famous. Certainly there are no "sea gardens" anywhere which can excel those of the Philippines. The powerful tropical sun penetrates the marvellously clear sea water to a great depth, revealing marine animal and plant life in endlessly varied and marvellously beautiful forms which beggar description. Former Secretary of War Dickinson is a rather serious-minded man, but when he gazed for the first time through the glass bottom of a boat into one of these wonder houses of nature, he shouted in his excitement and delight for all the world like a small and enthusiastic boy. In a few moments one may see fish of the most amazing forms and extraordinarily bizarre colours: huge sharks; enormous rays; great sea-turtles; clam shells big enough for children's bath-tubs; sea-urchins; starfish; sea-anemones; jellyfish in endless variety of form and colour; sea-fans; and many other varied forms of marine animal and plant life.