Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-12
artui5o
Narine wonders-The Bottom oftho Oceu

Marine wOnders-The Bottom ofthe Ocean
Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells singula
stories of his adventures, when making searcl
in the deep waters Of the ocean. He give
some sketches of what he saw on the Silver
Banks, near Hayti;
The banks of coral on which my divings
narrated in the previous chapter, were made
are about forty miles in length, and from ter
to twenty in breadth.
On this bank of coral is presented to the
diver one of the most beautiful and sublime
scenes the eye ever beheld. The water varies
from ten TO one hundred feet in depth, and
so clear that the diver can see from two to
three hundred feet, when submerged with
little obstruction to the sight.
The bottom of the ocean in many places on
tnese banks is as smooth as a marble floor
from ten to one hundred feet In hight, and
from one to eighty feet in diameter. The
tops Of those more lofty support a myriad Of
pyramidal pendants, each forming q myriad
more; giving the reality to the imaginary
abode OF some water nymph. In other
places, the pendants form arch after arch, and
as the diver stands on the bottom of the
ocean, and gazes through these into the deep
winding avenue, he feels that they fill him
with as sacred an awe as if he were in some
old cathedral, which had long been buried
beneath "old oceans wave" Hero and there
the coral extends even to the surface of the
water, as ifsome loftier columns were towers
belonging to those stately temples now in
ruins.
There were countless varieties Of diminu-
tive trees, shrubs and plants, in every crevce
OF the corals where the water had deposited
the least earth. They were all Of faint hue
owing TO the pale light they received,
although of every shade, and entirely dif-
ferent from plants l am familiar with that
vegetate upon dry land. One in particular
attracted my attention it resembled sea-
ian OF immense size, of variegated colors, ana
OF the most brilliant hue,
The fish which inhabit those Silver Banks
found as different in kind as the scenery
was varied. They were ofall forms, colofs
and slzes--trom the symmetrical goby, to the
globelike sun6sh; from those of the dullest
hue to the changeable dolphin; from the
spots ofthe leopard, to the hues Of the sun
beam from the harmless minnow, to the
voracious shark. Some had heads like
squirrels, others like cats and dogs; one of a
small size resembled a bull terrier, some
darted through the water like meteors, while
others could scarcely be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain all the various
kinds of fish beheld while diving on these
banks would, were | enough of naturalist
SO TO DO, require more space than my limits
viii allow, for am convinced that most of
the kinds of fish which inhabit the tropical
seas can be found there. The sun-fsh, saw
fsh, star-fsh, white shark, ground shark,
blue or shovel-nose shark, were often seen.
There were also fish which resembled plants,
and remained as fixed in their position as a |
shrub. The only power they possessed was
TO open and shut when in danger Some of |
them resembled the rose in full bloom. and |
were of all hues.
i, There were the ribbon fish, from four to
tive inches to three feet in length Their
eyes are very large, and protruded like those
Of the frog: Another fish was spotted like
he leopard from three to ten feet in length.
They build their houses like the beaver, in
Which they spawn, and the male or female
watches the egg until it matches. saw many
pecimens of the green turtle some five feet
ong, which should think would weigh from
our TO five hundred pounds.