The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-05-28
THE PATHS OF THE SEA.

the q. s.
WONDERS OF THE SE~A-BoTroM.-But let us pass
from the deep above to the deep below. The lead is
let down to the bottom of the sea, and 1t Is curious 70
see the work that is going on there. Beautiful cora
islands are built up there; perhaps a part OF a one' II
we could dissect it, would be found to nave come
down the Mississippi, from the rocky Mountains Vi
to have been borne upon the bosom OF the great
Amazon, from the tropics of South America; or,
indeed, parts in that island may have come from
every part of the world, by routes which, If we could
trace them, would seem wonderfully long and strange.
In the cell which one of these little animalculae has
built foF itself, we should recognize a part of the
Table Rock from Niagara, and sand from the Holy
Mountains. 1t may contain matter from the Euphra-
ties, from the sunny plains of southern Europe, from
the battle fields of the Danube and the Nile, or from
the soil of classic Italy. We know all this, because
mariners have told US of the islands these corals have
built up; they seem to have been at work In the sea
ever since the waters were gathered together in one
place, and looking at the work they have done, the
islands that have been built up, we have q proof of
their eternal diligence and perseverance. 1t appears
that We had no idea of the operations that were
carried on in the depths of the sea till we began to
explore it with lead and line, and now it seems a
great charnel-hOuse. Every body who has stood
upon the shore of the sea has desired to fly away
upon its waves, and learn what there is beyond it; or,
if POSSIBLY, to dive below, and learn what there is
beneath it.
DEPTH OF THE OCEAN.-Till recently all was con-
lecture about the depth and formation of the bottom
Of the sea; it was supposed that it might be as deep
as q mountain is high; but as to the character of the
bottom, they left that to poets brains to picture.
Some supposed it scattered over with gold, gems,
anchors, dead mems bones, ETC., but BrOOke's lead
teaches q different story; it shows that all such
things are covered up and buried, deep down. many
feet, by shells and animalcul9. Everywhere where
Ghis admirable sounding apparatus of Brooke has
been, it has brought up shells and the corpses Of the
dead. A single quill may bring up thousands-nay,
millions OF these shells; they are so small that it
requires the minutest microscope to discover them;
they can not be seen when alive. The bottom of the
deep is covered over with their carcasses; they have
obeyed the commandment which was given on the
fifth day Multiply and bring forth abundantly.'
Never before now does history give an account of any
attempt being made to measure the depth of the sea.
Chance circumstances caused me to attempt it, and
thinking 1t might result in good, l continued the at
tempt. Congress then passed an act directing the
Secretary OF the Navy to set apart and direct one
vessel to continue these s~oundings for the purpose Of
assisting-in perfecting these discoveries, and also to
allow the whole navy to assist in making the investi-
cation in so far as they could without interfering
with their proper duties. In order to get at the bot
tom of the sea, they got some common Irvine and tied
a t~hirty-tWo pound ball to it; then letting it down
into the sea, they waited to see how much line would
run out, and considered the length of that line
measured the depth of the sea at that point. The
Irvine and ball were left in the sea-. = AS soon as the
deep sea s~oundings were commenced, we found we
were IN a new field; we found that system would not
do; experiment showed us that when the cannOn-ball
was at the bottom the Irvine continued to run out,
and that the larger the ball the slower the Irvine
would run. The difficulty Of getting it down was not
because OF the increased density of the water, since
that can only be compressed very slightly, but
because that when the cannon-ball had gone down q
mile, it had to drag a mile of Irvine after it. Then
We used the same kind of Irvine and the same weight
of ball for every experiment, but we found sometimes
that the twlne would never run out. A vessel one
day was sent out to take soundings, or measure the
depth of the sea at a particular spot; they began at
sunrise, and, as the captain was a very patient man,
they staid there till sunset, the Irvine still running
out so thew came hack and said fhoU OUnSCpH fhnpn
was no bottom there. This was before we discovered
the under currents.
INSTRUMENTS FOR EXAMINING THE BoTToM OF THE
SEA.-By the use of proper leads we now know the
structure of the bottom of the sea along the North
Pacific, as we'll as along the Atlantic. The most pc
culiar thing in the North Atlantic is a ridge from
Newfoundland to England, which is called the tele-
graph plateau. The deepest point along that route
Is about two miles. Having learned this, we must
next get some plan to prove to the people that we had
reached the bottom of the sea, and knew its compost
ton and geography. We tried to bring up the shot
to which the Irvine was fastened, but the Irvine was
not strong enough, and if we used a larger one it was
too heavy for the shot to carry down. Hence we
have the invention of Brooke's excellent apparatus.
The shot is followed, with a long reed running
through it; there are quilts in this reed; now, the
shot Is left at the bottom, but the quilts and reeds
are drawn uD. The apparatus is so arranged that
the moment the end of the reed-which extends six
or eight inches beyond the ball-touches the bottom
the shot falls off, and the rest can be easily drawn
up. Provided with these instruments ana 1acllltleS
n ship was sent out to the ocean to take soundings,
and it discovered better than gems and pearls at the
bottom of the seat discovered the telegraph plateau
which is to unite the Old and New World. The
quilts, on coming up, contained skeletons of sea
insects of microscopic minuteness; these were. sent to
West Point, and particularly examined by Professor
Bailey. The spe :imens from the calm sea, from the
Gulf of Mexico, from the Gulf Stream, all evidently
consist of one family, and are of one kind. When
Professor Bailey examined the matter brought from
the telegraph plateau, he found volcanic cinders in it.
the volcanoes of South America had cast their cinders
as far as Cuba; but if they came from that source,
we would have found them in the Gulf Stream; so
it was useless to look there for an explanation. 1t
was next suggested that those cinders lying just along
the track of the European steamers might be the
ashes from those boats; so Professor Bailey told me to
get him some cinders from the ash-pits Of the Baltic
and the Pacific. After giving them a careful and
critical examination, he established the gratifying
fact that steamboats, are not volcanoes. The source
of these oinders still remains q mystery; but they
show that the matter there lies as soft as down at the
bottom of the deep sea. There is no motion nor dis
turbing force there. Indeed, these s~oundings suggest
the idea that the sea, like the snow-cloud with its
flakes in a calm, is always letting fall upon its bed
showers of microscopic shells; and we may readily
imagine that the ''sunless wrecks which streW its
bottom are, In the process of ages, hid under this
feecy covering, presenting the rounded appearance
which is seen over the body of the traveller who has
persisted in the snow-storm.
Crr1r or ruE OcEAN Depths Tho ooooo o.noo;