New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-10-09
what We Know About the Deni-
Zens Of the Depths OF shc Sea.

What do we know about things ten miles
down in the stupendous valleys OF the ocean:
On land, here, the vegetation of the Alpine
base Is not that of its summit; the goat skips
upon the peaks of the IImalayas, but the
rhinocerOs has his lair miles below. Our
acquaintance with the mysteries Of the deep
must be absolutely aud literally superficial,
for we may assume that its mOuntaln-toU=
are alone revealed to us, and these dmlv,
and that to its valleys our senses can never
penetrate. All T." creatures that d~pnrt
themselves on or near its surface, are more
or less familiar to us-thc whales, the por-
poises, and the sharks, that come tumbling
over its unduations much in the same way
that butfaloes come Laundering over the
waves of the prairies. The countless broods
that feed on its shallow banks, and arc taken
therefrom to feed shallower mortals, are all
within our grasp, and we grasp them. On
the ledge of the iceberg sits enthroned the
walrus, and We salute him as the elephant Of
the sea, and esteem him unspeakably for the
commercial value of his ivory tusks. The
huge sea cow has no mystery for Us. We
wake the harmless creature up from its bed
OF scaweed on the isolated rock, and having
wished it good morning, we stick spears
into it, and convert it to the noble purpose
of gain. The magnificent sea- unicorn, king
OF the Arctic waters, is no stranger to US,
which IS just so much the worse for him.
We have cognizance Of all these sea-creatures
and many more, the range Of which appears
to be in the upper regions Of the deep but
what can we aver of the mystic realms that
lie far, TAR down about the bases of the great
submarine mouDta ranges-mountains COM
pared with which our highest dry land peaks
are possibly nothing but mere hillocks:
There Is sea monster known to the fish
ermen as the horned Ray, monster most
fearful in itself, but interesting as an ilustra-
ton otthat which is, and suggestion Of that
which may be-a veritable dragon Of the sea,
whose lateral fins extend like wings, and fire.
quently measure more than thirty feet from
tip to tip. This voracious fish will somc-
times make its appearance among the swim
mcrs i'll the SURF and taking one under each
arm, so to speak, descend with them to
depths unknown. Until ocean shall have
been dried up, or drained OF, no human being
can ever explore the strange grottocs into
which this hldeous man-eater glides with his
prey. The great fishes and sea beasts that
are known to us, may be creatures of the up
per depth alone, never descending below
certain depth, lest they encounter far more
hdcous and powerful monsters than them
. selves, which dwell at the bases of the mar
inc mountains leagues further down. One
can easily imagine polypus anchored there
below in some, distracting valley, Of which IL
is the lord aud tyraAt-a stupendous mass OF
bloated matter, grasping at everything within
! circumference OF half mile, and absorb
ent OF all living creatures under the size of a
| whale. In the China Sea there are bivalyes-
whether oysters or mussels | am not GER
| taln-the shells Of which are large enough TO
contain a man properly doubled up. If a
monster like this iuhabit comparative shall
/ lows, there is no limit to ones imaginings OF
the bivalvular enormites at the bottom often
miles further down. AHamfic Monthly.