Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-01-02
miscellaneous Artitles.
THE OCEAN BOTTOM.

THE OCEAN BOTTOM. ...
MIR. Green, the famous diver, tells singu-
lar 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 ssSilver Bank" near Hayti:
"The banks of coral on which my divings
were made are about forty miles in length,
and are about ten to twenty in breadtih 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 so
clear that the diver can see from two to
three hundred feet when submerged, with
but little obstruction to the sight.
The bottom of the ocean in many places
is as smooth as a 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 support a myriad pyramldal
pendants, each forming a myriad more,
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 ca
thedral which had long been buried beneath
old oceans wave. Here and there the cor
al extends even to the surface of the water,
as if the loftiest columns were towers be-
longing to those stately temples that are
now in ruins.
There were countless varieties of trees,
shrubs and plants in every crevice of the
corals where water had deposited the earth.
They were all ola faint hue, owing to the
pale light 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
attention it resembled sea fan of i'm
mense size, of variegated colors and the
most brilliant hue. The fish which inhabit
the 'sSilver Banks" found as different in
kind as the scenery was varied. They were
Fof all forms, colors and sizes-from the SYM
metrical goby to the globe-like sunfsh
from the dullest hue to the changeable dol
phin from the spots of the leopard to the
hues of the sunbeam: from the harmless
minnow to the voracious shark.
Some had 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
scarcely be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain all the various
kinds of fish I beheld while diving on these
banks would, were enough of q naturalist
so to do, require more than my limits al
low, for I am convinced that most of the
kinds of fish which inhabit the tropical seas
can be found there. The sun fish, the star
fish, white shark and blue or shovel nose
shark were often seen.
There were also fish which resembled
plants, and remained as fixed in their posi-
ton as q shrub: the only power they pos
sessed was to open and shut when in dan
ger. Some of them rcsembled the rose
when in full bloom, and were of all hues.
These were the ribbon fish, 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 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 till it matches. I saw many spe-
cimens of the green turtle, some five feet
long, which I should think would weigh
from 400 to 500 pounds"