A few had wound their arms around the weeds or were creeping slowly from one place to another, in the latter case turning their points downward and using them as legs.
But most of them were lying motionless, and as Trot looked down upon them she thought they resembled stars in the sky on a bright night, except that the blue of the heavens was here replaced by the white sand, and the twinkling diamond stars by the colored starfish.
"We are near an island," said the Queen, "and that is why so many starfishes are here, as they love to keep close to shore.

Also the little seahorses love these weeds, and to me they are more interesting than the starfish." Trot now noticed the seahorses for the first time.

They were quite small--merely two or three inches high--but had funny little heads that were shaped much like the head of a horse, and bright, intelligent eyes.

They had no legs, though, for their bodies ended in tails which they twined around the stems of seaweeds to support themselves and keep the currents from carrying them away.
Trot bent down close to examine one of the queer little creatures and exclaimed, "Why, the seahorses haven't any fins or anything to swim with." "Oh yes we have," replied the Sea Horse in a tiny but distinct voice.

"These things on the side of my head are fins." "I thought they were ears," said the girl.
"So they are.