one o’clock
as one witty naturalist puts it . `` The animal kingdom blossoms , and the vegetable kingdom does n't ! '' These various types of shrubbery were as big as trees in the temperate zones ; in the damp shade between them , there were clustered actual bushes of moving flowers , hedges of zoophytes in which there grew stony coral striped with twisting furrows , yellowish sea anemone from the genus Caryophylia with translucent tentacles , plus anemone with grassy tufts from the genus Zoantharia ; and to complete the illusion , minnows flitted from branch to branch like a swarm of hummingbirds , while there rose underfoot , like a covey of snipe , yellow fish from the genus Lepisocanthus with bristling jaws and sharp scales , flying gurnards , and pinecone fish . Near one o'clock , Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt . Speaking for myself , I was glad to oblige , and we stretched out beneath an arbor of winged kelp , whose long thin tendrils stood up like arrows . This short break was a delight . It lacked only the charm of conversation .