Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-11-13

Mr. Green. the famous diver. .ells singular
stories of his adventures when making search
in the deep water of the ocean lie gave
some new sketches of what he saw at the
e. Silver Bank, - near Hayti The banks of
coral on which my divings were made are
about forty miles in length. On this bank Of
coral is presented to the diver one of the most
beautiful and sublime scenes the eve 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 hun, ed
feet when submerged. with but little obstruc-
tion to the sight. The bottom of the ocean
in many places isaS smooth as marble floor
in others il is studded with coral columns
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 pyr-
amidical pendants, each forming a myriad
more. giving reality to the imaginary abode
of some water-nymph. In other places rhe
pendants form arch after arch, and as the d.
yer stands on the bottom Of the ocean and
gazes through the deep winding avenues, he
finds that they fiji him with as sacred an awe
as 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 the water. as if the loftier
columns were towers belonging to those state
" temples that are now in ruins. There
were countless varieties Of diminutiye trees,
shrubs, and plants in every creyice OF the
c0rals. where are all of faint hue, owing 70
the palelight they received, although of every
shade, and entirely different from plants that
! am familiar with that vegetate upon dry
land. One in particular attracted my atten-
ton it resembled q sea fan Of immense size,
Of variegated cUlors, and the most brilliant
hue,
The fish which inhabit this "Silyer BAN" !"
| found as different in kind as the scenery
was varied. They were of all forms. colors,
and sizes-from the Insignificant goby to the
glObe-like sun-fsh from the dullest hue to
the changeable dolphin from the spots of the
leopard 10 the hues of the sunbeam from
tue harmless minnow to the voracious shark.
"a heads like squirrels. others like
cats and DOGS, some of small size resembled
the bull terrier. Some darted through the
water like meteors, while others could scarce
" be seen to move. To enumerate and ex-
plain all the various kinds of fish | beheld
while diving on these banks would. were
enough OF naturalist so to DO, require more
than my limits allow, for | am convinced that
most of the kinds of fish which inhabit the
tropical seas can be found there. The sun
fish, star-fsh. white shark, and blue or sho-
vel-nose shark were often seen. There were
also fish which resembled plants, and remain
ed as fixed in their position as a shrub the
only power they possessed was toopen and shut
when in danger. Some of them resembled
the rose when in full bloom, and were of all
hues. There were the ribbon-fsh, from four
or five inches to three feet in length their
eyes are very large, and protrude like those
Of frog. Another fish is spotted like a leo
pard, and 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 400 to 500 pounds.