The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1861-09-27
Bottom OF the Ocean.

Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells singu-
lar stories Of his adventures, when making
searches ir the deep waters of the ocean. He
gives some sketches of what he saw on the
the Silver Banks near Hayti:
The banks Of coral on which my divlngs
were made, ere about forty miles in leugth,
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 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 die
ameter. The tops OF those more lofty sup
port myriad OF pyramidal pendents, each
forming 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 avenues, he feels
that they fill him with as sacred an ave as
If he were in some old cathedral, which had
long been buried beneath old oceans
ave." Here and there, the coral extends
even to the surface Of the water, as II those
l0ftier columns were towers belonging to
those stately temples now in ruins.
There were countless varieties OF diminu
tive trees, shrubs and plants, in every
crevice of the corals where the water had
deposited the least earth They were all OF
a faint hue, owing to the pale light they re
ceived, although OF every shade, and entirely
different from plants am familiar with
that vegetate upon dry land. One in par
tcular attracted my attention /; it resem>
bled sea-ian OF immense size, OF variegated
cOlors, and Of the 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 goby
to the elobe-like sunfish from those OF the
duest hue, to the changeable dolphin
from the spots OF the leopard to the hues
of the sunbeam from the harmless minnow
TO the hOidClOuS SuuIA. COuIc udu utdue
like squirrels, others like cats and dogs
ole OF small size resembled bull terrier
Some darted through the water like me.
teors, while others could scarcely be seen tC
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
will allow, tor am convinced that most o.
the kinds Of fish which inhabit the tropica
seas can be found there. The sun fish, saw
1 fish, star fish, white shark, ground shark
+ blue or shovel nose sharks, were often seen
There were also fish which resembleC
( plants, and remained as fixed in their posi-
/ lion as shrub The only power they
possessed was TO open and shut when il
danger. Some Of them resembled the rOs
in full bloom, and were OF all hues. There
were bb0n fish, from four to five inches t
three feet in length. Tn ir eyes are yer,
large, aud protrude like those of the frog
Another fish was spotted like the leopard
from three to ten feet long. They built
their houses like the beaver, in which the,
spawn, and the male or female watches th
0va till it matches. | saw many specimens
of the green turtle, some five feet long, which
| should think would weigh from four t,
five hundred pounds.