Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-07-19
Bottom of the Ocean.

Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells singu-
lar stories of his adventures when making
search in the deep waters of the OCEAN
He gives 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
ten to twenty in breadth.
On this banks 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 SUBJ
merged, with little obstruction to the sight.
The bottom of the ocean, in many places
on these banks, is as smooth as marble
floor; in others it is studded with coral
columns, from ten to one hundred feet in
height, and from one to eighty feet in di-
ameter. The tops of those more lofty sup
port myraid ofpyramidal pendants, each
forming myraid 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 aven-
ue, he feels that they fill him with as sa-
cred an awe as if be was in some old Ca
thedral, which had long been buried be-
meath Aold oceans wave." Here and there
the coral extends even to the surface of the
water, as if those lofty columns were tow
ers belonging TO those stately temples now
in ruins.
There were countless varieties of dimin-
utive trees, shrubs and plants in every
crevice 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 en-
tirely different from the plants am famil-
lar with that vegetate on dry land. One,
in particular, attracted my attention; it re-
sembled sea fan of immense size, of va
riegated colors, and of the most brilliant
hue.
The fish which inhabited those Silver
Banks l found as different in kind as the
scene which varied. They were of all forms,
colors and sizes; from the symmetrical goby
to the godlide sunfsb; from those of the
dullest hue to the changeable dolphin; from
the spots of the leopard TO the hues of the
sunbeam; from the harmless minnow to the
voracious shark. Some had heads like
squirrel, Others like cats and dogs; one of
small size resembled bull terrier. Some
darted through the water like meteors,
while Others could scarcely be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain all the vari-
GUS kinds of fish l beheld while diving on
these banks, would, were l enough of a
naturalist to do so, require more space
than my limits will allow, for am convin-
ced that most of the kinds of fish which
inhabit the tropical seas can befound there.
The sun fish, saw fish, star fish, 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 shrub. The on
ly power they possessed was to open and
shut when in danger. Some of them re-
sembled the rose when in full bloom and
were of all hues.
There were the ribbon fish, from four to
five inches'to to three feet in length. Their
eyes are very large and protrude like those
of the frog. Another fish was spotted
like a leopard, from three to ten feet in
length. They build their houses like the
beaver, in which they spwan, and the male
or female watches the egg until it matches.
I saw many specimens of the green turtle,
some five feet long, which l should think
would weigh from 400 to 500.