There are over two thousand volcano cones in these islands, and soon our friends were almost in the midst of them.  On all sides and at all distances were rugged peaks one hundred to two thousand feet high, rising sheer from a rose-pink sea over which the declining sun played ravishingly.  Along the shores pelicans soared above the shallow inlets, watching for unwary fish.  Tiny birds darted in and out among the cliffs.  Down in the crystal depths of the sea, over shelves of coral, vague shapes hovered and passed and repassed--sharks, dolphins, turtles, and grunts, even the ghastly devil-fish.