Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1860-08-09
Bottom to the Ocean.

Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells sineu.
lar stories Of his adventures when making
search in the deep water of the oceen. HI
gives some sketches of what he saw on thu
Silver Banks near Hayti.
The banks Of coral on which my diving.
narrated in the previous chapter, were
made, are about forty miles in length and
from ten to twenty in breadth.
On this bank OF coral is presented tC
The diver ono of the most beautiful and sub
lime scenes the eye ever beheld. The wa
Ger varies from len 10 one hundred feet in
depth, and so clear that the diver can see
from two to three hundred feet, when sub.
merged, with little obstruction TO the sight
The bottom of the ocean, in many pla-
ces on these banks, is as smooth as mar
bic floor; in others it is studded with coral
columns, from ten to one hundred feet in
height, and from one to eighty feet in d.
ameser. The tops of those more lofty sup
port a myriad of pyramidal pendants, each
forming myriad more, giving the reality
10 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 deep ocean, and gazes
through these into the deep winding ave-
nue., he feels that they fill him with as sa-
cred an awe as if he were in some old ca
thedral, which had long been buried be-
meath sold oceans wave" Here and there
the coral extends even to the surface Of
the water, as if those letter columns were
towers belonging 10 those stately temples
now in ruins.
There were countless varieties OF diminu-
tive trees, shrubs and plants IN every crew
ice OF the corals where The water deposit
ted The least earth They were all of faint
hue, owing TO the pale light they received;
although Of every shade, and entirely differ
eRt from plants am familiar with that
vsgetate upon dry land. One in particu-
lar attracted my attention, il resembled a
see fan OF immense size, of variegated col
ors, and of the most brilliant hue.
The fish which inhabited these Silver
Banks found as different in kind as the
scene varied. They were of all forms, col
ors and sizes-from the symmetrical glory
10 the globe-like sun fish; from those of the
dullest hue to the changeable dolphin; from
The spots of the leopard 10 the hues of the
sunbeam; from the harmless minnow TO the
voracious shark. Some had heads like
squirrels, 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 beheld while diving on
these banks. would, were l enough of a
naturalist SO to do, require more space than
my limits will allow, Tor | am convinced
that most of the kinds of fish which inhabit
the tropical seas can be found there. The
sun fish. saw fish, white shark, ground
shark, blue or shovel nose shark, were
often seen. There were also fish which
resemblel plants, and remained as fixed in
their position as shrub. The only pow
er they possessed was 10 open and shut
when in danger. Some OF them resembled
the rose in full bloom, and were Of all hues.
There were the ribbon fish, from four or
five inches TO three fee. in length. Their
eyes are very large and protrude like those
OF the frog. Another fish was spotted like
The 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 specimens of the green turtle, some
five feet long, which l should think would
weigh from four TO five hundred pounds.