Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-28
UNDER THE SEA.
WATCHING FISHES IN TEEIR
OWN ELEMENT.

NATURALIST a. DANGE-A aACneee .
Fishes-HOW Fishes Swim-Their Do
nestle Life-Taking Photographs Tn
der Water-Curious sights at the Bot
tom OF the Ocean
Making a collection for the museum =
asked q Cincinnati Enquirer writer Of 8
scientific man who was Overhauling a Gu
ri0us-lOoking armOr.
Not exactly was the reply. I'm re-
pairing ny diving amor. 1 have taken
UP diving 70 study the habits Of some AMI
mails under water. I have made fishes
rather a specially, and last fall It Oc-
CURED 70 me - 1 was going South that
As the water was extremely clear
could use a divers armor 10 advantage, 50
/ got a complete OUTFIT, and had very good
results. The water there was 50 clear
that YOU can see sixty or seventy feet
without any difficulty, and for number
Of years have used boat with a glass
bottom. l bought a small slOOp that had
a well in her TO hold fish, took out the
bottom, and Inserted several panes Of
heavy glass. and there l had a perfect
window in the bottom Of the boat, 50 that
even in the toughest weather I CO. Id lie
aud look down through il and see IL,
smallest objects on the bottom. and 50
make u! collections. By this means /
made some valuable finds Of rare shells
and coraIs. and perhaps you know that
there are numbers Of small 1sh that fel
Trw boats. keeping close up under the bot
tom. These I could see and watch their
motions. Curiously enough they dld not
aunear 70 see ne and would watch their
eTerv movement, but this 0nly made ne
eager 20 get nearer yleET, and 50 began
u think Of the diver armoF. and bOu GIT
this and had the helmet altered 50 that l
could see perfectly well. and as 1 was not
going 70 visit any wrecks there was 10
danger Of breakage. and / was perfectly
safe. I made ny first experiment on tie
Florida reef.
AMONG THE FISHES.
.-Oue Of the most remarkable features
0f this life under water is the fact that
the fishes were not all afraid OF me, but
swan about when did not move, eTl-
IDENTIFY taking me for an old wreck; and
when I raised nv arm they would dart
away for few moments, then suddenly
return and were as curious as some peO-
uIe their great eyes staring, ever open.
presenting Ofrentimes a ludfcrOus specta-
Gle. 1 have even had fishes rub up against
nv armor. a. you often see them against
the bottom. probably 70 rid themselves OF
some obnoxious parasite. The way l
made my observations Of fsh and their
movements was 70 Tecline upon the bot
tom among the coral and have a supply Of
crayfsh bait that they are very fond Of,
and in this way / often had a perfect
school Of fish lowering over me, and so
could observe their every movement. Did
YOU ever watch a fish IN the waterf Take
the common sunfish. As il pOises in mid
water YOU viii see the side OF pectOral
fvzr ind AZ
the same movement that you intuitiyely
trv 10 make with your hands when you
try 70 tread water or keep yourself mo-
tiOnless: in short, the pectOral inns are
the arms Of the fish, its fOrelimbs. In the
fving fish the arm-hns are wings; IN some
Of the sculpins there are regular fingers
bv which the fish crawls over the bottom !;
in the Periapthalmus they are used to
walk on dry land
Hold on. professor" cried a listener,
we've heard Of the fish out Of the frying
pan. but draw the line on their leaving
the water"
"Irs no fish yarn" replied the scien-
list, with laugh, "but actual fact; In
deed, have observed it myself.
GAMES OF FISHES.
I'm observations Of this kind" con-
tinued the speaker, .'you notice things
that can not even be seen in a good
aquarium, as there the fish are under GER
tain restraint. While l have been lying
low, literally. with all these fishes hover
ing over me, l have seen performances
that were exactly akin 10 our games and
sports. When a lot Of young fishes were
about they were continually engaged in
games Of chase. Now one would dart,
and. followed by halt dozen others. the
pursued lodging here and there behind bits
Of coral until some other fish in turn
seemed 10 attract attention, and the en-
tire crowd would rush pell nell after.
One day l saw two fishes called smells,
approach each other in a solemn way,
omen their mouths as wide as possible I'M
til their lips met. Then they would slow
" draw or back of and then repeat the
operation. You may call it what you
like, but Judging from our standpoint l
assumed they were kissing each other.
They were certainly not fighting, as re-
peatedly saw encounters, and they, were al
ways characterized by rapidity of motion
and display Of temper natural to the &C.
casiOn.
INA CORAL CITY.
zone of the most remarkable sights that
l Observed continued the amateur diver,
"were the coral beds. From boat they
presented nothing unusual-a brown
mass of pointed stems or branches; but
one day had the boat placed on the edge
of a channel, and gradually walked down
into it until 1 attained the bottom, in
about IS OF 40 feet Of water, and L tell you
the scene was impressive. L seemed to be
in the streets of city. The bottom upon
which / stood was pure white sand, hard
and firm and perfectly free of coral; but
on either side rose a perpendicular wall
Of the branch coral nearly 20 feet high,
all the points extending directly outward
or toward me, and presenting a magnif-
cent unbrOken surface Of rich olive
brown hue.
"Hidden and only noticed when the cor
al was broken away, were myriads OF sea
eggs or Echini Of all shapes and cOlOrs.
some were jet black, with spines like
needles. Another kind had short spines,
and were albinOs, or perfectly white.
They are eaten in some parts Of Italy, and
considered great luxury; but they are
not used in Florida. They have no lob
sters there" said the naturalist, "but
their place is taken by what they call the
cray fish. Ii looks like lobster, only OF
a yellow hue, and instead of having two
large claws, has two enormous whips or
feelers. This great mass Of coral was
perfectly undermined by these creatures,
their whips projecting and waving to and
fro continually.
SPANISH GUN.
i must have walked 100 yards through
this channel, when suddenly l noticed a
black object on the bottom about 20 feet
ahead. At first / thought it was a shark
or a turtle, and, charging bayonets with
nv pike or iron spear that l carried,
moved on and found that it was some
thing that had evidently fallen from above.
1t was completely oyergrown with sea-
weed and covered with incrusting cOrals
and it was nearly half an hour before
had cleared away the sand, during which
time had to 90 to the surface. tool
down a shovel, however, and soon found
that my find was a cannon, and, by it,
shape. of foreign make; and so it proved,
as a few days later 1 took out ropes anC
a derrick on a scOw and lifted it to the
surface. We found that it was an Ole
Spanish gun, and after the coral was
scraped of the arms Of Spain were plain
" seen. 1t had been captured probably
BY pirates a long time ago, and lost over
board here in some way, or vessel had
been sunk and entirely gone 10 pieces.
PHOTOGRAPHING UNDER WATER.
Il was so impressed" continued th'
speaker, with the wonders Of this worlC
under the sea that / began to devise some
method Of reproducing it, and l made
some attempts at photography undel
water. My appliances were crude, and il
can hardly be called a success; but
proved that it is possible, and 1 have moi