The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1868-01-30
THE OCEAN BOTTOM.

Mr.. Green, the famous diver, tells STA
gular stories of his adventures, when ma
king search in the deep waters of the
ocean. He gives some new sketches of
what he saw at the "Silver Bank" near
Hayti: The banks of coral on which nv
divings were made are forty miles in
length, and from ten to twenty in breadth.
On this bank of coral is presented to tho
diver one of the most beautiful and SUBJ
lime scenes the eye 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 little obstruction TO the
sight.
The bottom of the ocean in some places
is as smooth as marble floor; in others
it is studded with coral columns, from ten
to one hundred feet in height, and from
one to eighty in diameter The tops of
those more lofty support myriad of py-
ramidal pendants each forming myriad
more, giving reality to the imaginary
aboce of some water nympb. In other
places the pendants form arch after arch,
and, as the diver stands on the bottom OF
winding avenues, he finds that they fill
him with as sacred an awe as if he were
in some old cathedral which has long
been buried beneath the oceans wave
Here and there the coral extends to The
surface of the water, as if the loftier col
umns were towers belonging to those
stately temples that are in ruins.
There were many varieties of diminu-
tive trees, shrubs and plants in every crevs
| ice of the coFals where water had deposits
ed the earth. They were all sf faint
hue, owing to the pale light they receive,
although of every shade, and entirely
different from plants that / ana familiar
with that vegetate upon dry land. One
in particular attracted my attention; it
| resembled sea fan of immense size, of
variegated colors, and the most brilliant
hue The fish which inhabit these s'Sil>
yer Banks l found as different in kind
as the scenery was varied. They were
of all forms colors and sizes-fonn the
symetrical globy to the god-lika sunfsh
from the dullest hue to the changable del
phin; from the spots of the leopard to
the haes of the sunbeam from the harm
less minnow to the voTacious shark.
Some had heads like squirrels, others
like cats and dogs, some of small sizes
resenbled the bull terrier Some darted
through the water like meteors, while
others could scarcely be seen to move.
To enumerate and explain all the vari,,
Gus kinds of fish l beheld while diving
on these banks. would, were I enough
of naturalist so to do, require more thar
my limits allow, for am convinced that
most of the kinds of fish which inhabit
the tropical seas can be found there The
sunfsh. stariish, white shark and blue or
shovel-nose shark were often seen.
There were also fish which resembled
| plants, and remained as fixed in, their DO
sition as shrub; the only power they
possessed was TO open and shut when in
danger Some of them resembled the
rose when in full blosm, and were of all
hues. There were the ribbon fish, from
four or five inches to three feet in length !,
their eyes are very large, aad protrude
like those of frog.
Another fish is spotted like leopard,
from three TO fen feet in length. Thev
build their houses like beavers, in which
they spawn, and the male or the fer1ale
watches the egg until it matches. I saw
many specimens # the green turtle, some
five feet long, which should think would
weigh from 400 to 800 pounds.