The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1868-01-15
The Ocean Bottom.

GoiS eihSuAoA S1SiA ASS " LIZ SsS'Sss~
lures, when making search in the
deep waters Of the ocean, He
gives some new sketches of Whist
he saw at the "Silvery Bank"
near Hayti: :
The banks of coral on which my
divings were made are about forty
miles in length, and from tea TO-
twenty in breadth: On this bank
Of coral is presented to the diver
one Of the most beautiful: and sub
lime scenes the eye ever beheld.
The water varies from ten to. ono r
hundred feet in depth, and so clear
that the diver can. SEQ from two
to three hundred feet when SUBJ
merged, with but little obstruction
to the sight. -. >~.z
The bottom oftheocean in many
places, is as. smooth as q 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 diameter.
The tops. of those more lofty sup
port a myriad of: pyramidal pen:
dants, each forming q myriad mors,
giving 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 in. the deep
winding avenues, he finds that
they ELL him with as sacred an
awe as if he were in some old c.
thedralwhich had longbeen buried
beneath- old oceans wave. Hero
and there the coral extends even
to the surface of,the water as #
the, loftier columns were towers
belonging to. those stately tenn.
pies thatsare now il ruins. - ,
There were countless varieties
Of. aininutive trees, shrubs, and
plants in every ereviee ofthe CO.
rails where water. had deposited
the earth. They were all Of .
faint hue, owing to, the pale light
they received, although of every
shade, and entirely different from
plants that I am familiar with
that vegetate upon dry land. One
in particular attracted my, atten.
ton it resembled a sea-fan, of i'm
mense size of variegated. colors,
andthe most brilliant hue. Tho
fish. which, inhabit these 'sSilser
Banks" I found, as different in
kind as the scenery was varied.
They were ofall: forms, eoaors and
Esizes-from the symmetrical goby
to the globe.hke' sunfsh !, from
the dullest hue to the changeable
dolphin from the. spots of tho
leopard to the hues Of the sun
beam from the harmless minnow.
to the voracious shark.
t. Some had heads like. squirrels,
others like cats and dogs, some of
small size resembled the bull ter
tier. Some -darted through the
water like meteors, while others
could scarcely be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain ali
the various kind Of fish / beheld
while diving on these banks would,
were l enough Of q naturalists 50.
to do, require moro than nay hm-
its allow for I am convinced that
most of the kinds Of fish which in
habit the tropical seas can be
found there. The spn fish, star
fish, white shark and blue or
shovel-nose shark were often seen.
There were also fish which re-
sen,bled plants, and remained 40
fixed in their position as shrub ;
the only power they possessed
was to open and shut when in
danger. Some Of them resembled
the rose when in full bloom, and
were Of all hucs. There were the
ribbon fish, from four or five in
ches to three feet in length their
eyes are very large, and protrude
like those Of a frog.
Another fish is spotted like .
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 hatches. l saw