The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-04-29

1
Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells
singular stories OF his adventures.
When making search in the deep wat.
rs Of the ocean. He gives some new
sketches of what he saw at the "Sil.
'cr Banks" near Hayti;
"Thc banks OF the coral on which
NY divings were made, are about for.
" feet in length, and from ten TO
twenty in breadth On this bank Of
coral is presented to the diver one Of
he moat beautiful and sublime scenes
| the eve ever beheld. The water var
90 from ten to one hundred feet in
depth, al d is 90 clear that the diver
;Qq ser, lrnP ltwaufRetAWe hrHfga}
little Obstruction to the sight. The
lotion Of the ocean. in many places,
| is as smooth as n marble floor In 9th
prs it ia studded with coral columns,
from ten to one hundred feet in hight;
aud from one to cightf feet il dian.
rtcr. The tops of those more lofty
support a myriad more giving thy re.
nifty to the imaginary abode Of some
water nymph. In other places are
seen innumerable pendants from arch
after arch; and rs the diver stands on
1.-The bottom Of the ocean, and gazes
! THROUGH these in the deep winding nv.
cnue, he ilds that they fill him with
rs sacred an awe "a If he were in some
old cathedral. which had long been
buried beneath 'old oceans wave
Here and there, the coral extends even
To the surface Of tho water, as IL those
Iloftcr columns we're towers belonging
to those stately temples that are now
/ in ruins. There were countless van-
cites Of diminulve trees, shrubs and
|pllnts, In every crcvice Of the coraIs,
where the water had deposited the
least earth They were all Of faint
OWING to the pale light they received.
although ofevcrv shade, and entirely
different trom plants | am familiar
with, that vegctate upon dry land -
One in particular attracted my attcn.
ton; IL rpsemhlcl 4 sea fan OF i'm.
manse size. of varicrateh colOr.. and
the most brilliant hnp The fish
which inhabited these Silver Banks
I found as different in kind as the seen
cry was varie !. They were Of all
forms, colnrs aud siLps-from the
symmetrical gohy, to the globelike
sun fish: from those OF the dullest hue
to the chanacnhle dolphin: from the
spots Of the leopard to the huos OF
tho sunbeam, from the harmless min
had lelds Ike TsGiiffcld," 0rllersS 1TE5
.cgts md doys; one of small size re-
senhlcd the hull terrier Some dart.
through the water Ike meteors. while
Others couli scarcely be seen to move.
10 cnumcrate aud explain all the W.
rious kinds OF fish bcheld while div.
ing on these banks, would, were ]
enough Of naturalist go 10 do.rCquirC
NOR than my limits will allow, for
lam convinced tha, most Of the kinds
OF fish which inhahit the tropical sens,
can he found there. The sunfish,
sawilsh. starfish, white shark, aud
blue or shovel-nose shark, were often
seen. There were also fish which re
scmhlel plants. and remained ~ fix
ed in their position as shrub; The
only powers they possessed was tc
open and shut when in danger SomC
of them resemble the rose when IL,
full bloom, and were Of all hucs.-
There were the ribbon fish, from tom
inches to three feet in length; thci
eyes are very large, aud protrnde lili'
those Of the frog. Another fish wa'
spotted like the leopard, from three t.
ten feet in length. They build thci
pouses like beavers, in which they
! spawn. and the male or female watch
! cs the egg until il matches. | saw
many specimens ol the green turtle
1 some five feet lcng, which l shonl,
, think would weigh from 400 to 900
! pounds.