Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-07-13
Bottom of the Ocean.

Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells singular
| stories of his adventures, when making search
| in the deep waters~-ef the ocean. He gives
some sketches of-what he saw on the Silver
Banks. near Hayti:
The banks of coral which my divings, mar
rated in the previous chapter, were made, are
about fcrty miles in length, and from ten 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 is 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
these banks. is smooth as marble floor in
others it is studded with coral columns. from
ten 10 one hundred feet in height. and from
one to eighty feet in diameter. The tops of
the more lofty support myriad of pyramidal
pesiants each forming myraid more Civ
ing the reality TO the imaginary abode of some
wat II ssynpl. In other places, the pendants
foTsl arch after arch, and as the diver stands
on the bot tom of the oeean,and gazes through
these into the deep winding avenue, he feels
that they will fll him with as sa cred an awe
if he were in some old cathedral, which had
long been buried beneath "old oceans wave"
Here ard there, the coral extends even to the
surface of the water. as if those loftier col
umns were towers belonging to those stately
temples now in ruins.
There were countless varieties of dininu-
tive trees shrubs and plants, in every crevice
of the corals where the water has deposited
the least earth. They were all of a faint hue,
owing to the pale light they received, although
of every shade, and entirely different from
plants 1 am familiar with that vegetate up
on dry land One in particular attracted my
attention it resembled sea fan of immense
size and colors, aud of most brilliant hue.
The fish which inhabited those Silver Banks
found as different in kind as the scenery was
varied. They were of all forms, colors and
sizes-from the symmetrical gcby, to the
glotelike sun fish from those of the dullest
hre to the changeable dolphin from the
spots of the leopard, to the hues of the sun
beam from the harmless minnow, to the vo-
racions shark. Some had heads like squirrels,
others like cats and dogs; one of small size
re ;emb!ed bull terrier. Some darted through
the like meteors, while others could scarcely
be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain all the various
kinds OF fish / belleld while diving on these
Banks, would were enough OF a naturalist
so TO do, require more space than my limits
will allow, for l am convinced that most of
the kinds of fish which inhabit the tropical
seas, can be found there. The sun-fsh, saw
fish, star fish, white-shark, ground-sharll, blue
or shovel-nose sharks, Tere often seen. There
were also fish which resembIed plants, and re-
manned as fixed in their position as a shrub
The only power they possessed was 10 open
and shut when in danger. Some OF them re-
semblcd the rose in full bloom. and we're of all
hues. There were ribbon-fsh, from four 10
FIVE inches to three feet in length Their eyes
are very large, and protrude like those Of a
freq. Another fish was spotted ike the leop-
asa, from three to ten feet long. They build
their houses like the beaver, in which they
spawn, and the male or female watches the
ova until it matches. I saw many specimens
of the green turtle some FIVE feet long, which
should think would weigh from four to five
hundred pounds.