Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1864-05-26
Curiosities Of the Ocean Bottom.


very singular stories of his adventures,
when making search in the deep waters
of the ocean. He gives some new
sketches of what he saw at the "Silver
Banks, lately, near Hayti:
The banks of coral on which my di-
wings were made, arc about forty miles
in length, and about ten or twenty in
breadth. On this bank of coral is pre-
sented to the diver one of the most beau.
| tiful and sublime scenes the eye ever
J 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 he is sub
merged, with but little obstruction to
the sight.
The bottom Of the ocean, in many
places, is as smooth as marble floor;
in others it is studded with coral col
ums, from ten to one hundred feet in
height, and from one to eighty feet in
diameter. The tops of those more lofty
support a myriad of pryamidal pend
ants, each forming myriad more; CIV
ing the reality to the imaginary abode
Of some water nymphs. In other places
the pendants form arch after arch and
as the diver stands on the bottom of the
ocean, and gazes through these in the
deep winding avenue, he finds that they
fill him with as sacred awe as if he were
in some old cathedral, which had been.
buried beneath cold oceans wave" ;"
Here and there the coral extends even
to the surface Of the water, as if those
loftier columns were towers belonging
to those stately temples that are now in
ruins. There were countless varieties
Of diminutive 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 entirely different from
plants [ am familiar with, that vege-
tate upon dry land. One in particular
attracted my attention; it resembled a
sea fan of an immense size and variega-
ted colors, and the most brilliant hues.
The fish which inhabit those "Silver
Banks" [ have found as different in
kind as the scenery is varied. They
were of all forms, colors and sizes
from the symmetrical body of the globe
like sun fish 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 min
now to the voracious shark.
Some had heads like squirrels, others
like cats and dogs one Of the small
size resembled the bull terrier Some
darted through the water like meteors
while others could be scarcely seen to
move. 70 enumerate and explain all
the various kinds of fish beheld, while
diving on these banks, would, were [
enough Of a naturalist so to do, require
more than my limits will allow, for am
convinced that most of the kinds of fish
which inhabit the tropical seas can be
found there. The sunfsh, saw6sh, white
shark, blue or shovel-nose shark, were
often seen. There were often fish which
resembled plants, and remained as fixed
in their positions as shrub the only
powers they possessed was to 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 to FIVE
inches to three feet in length their
eyes are large, and protrude like those
of a frog. Another fish was spotted
like a leopard, from three to ten feet in
length. They build their houses like
beavers, 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,
| should think, would weigh from four
to five hundred pounds.