The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-11-06
LIFE UNDER THE SEA.

LIFE UNDER THE SEA. Ht.l-
A Naturalist Watching Fishes In Their
own EIement-The Domestic Life of
the Denizens of the Oceaa--Taeir
Sports and Habits Photographs
Taken Under Water-FIshes That
walk on Land. ,.s -..
81 have taken up diving to study the
habits OF some animals under water, :"
said an enthusiastic man to an En-
Qatirer reporter. 81 have made fishes
rather specially, and for number of
years | have used a boat with q glass
bottom. bought small slcop that
had a well in her to hold fish, took out
the bottom and inserted several panes
of heavy glass, and there had a per-
feet window in the bottom of TIE boat,
so that even in the toughest weather |
could lie and look down through it,
and see the smallest objects on the bot
tom. and so make my collections. But
this only made me eager to get a
nearer view, and so began to think of
the divers armOr | bought this and
had the helmet altered so that | could
L
ing to visit any wrecks there was no
danger of breaka... and was perfectly
safe. made my first experiment on
the Florida reef.
lone of the most remarkable features
of this life under water is the fact that
the fishes were not at all afraid of me,
but swan about when | did not move,
evidently taking me for an old wreck.
When | raised my arm they would dart
away for few moments and then sud
denly return. They were as curious
as some people, their great eyes staring,
ever open, presenting oftentimes a lu-
dicrOus spectacle. / have had fishes
rub up against my armor, as you often
see them against the bottom, probably
TO rid themselves of some obnoxious
parasite. The way l made my obser-
vations of fish and their movements
was to recline upon the bottom among
the coral and have supply of cray-ish
bait that thew are very fond of, and in
this way often had a perfect school of
fish lowering over me, and so could OBJ
serve their every movement. Did YOU
ever watch a fish in the water? Take
the common sunfsh. As it poises in
midwater yea will see the side or pee
toral fins moving in a kind of side mo-
ton, just the same movement
that you intuitively try to make
with your hands when you try
TO ''tread'' water or keep yourself mo-
tiopleSs; in short, the pectoral fins are
the arms of the fish, its fore limbs. In
the f1ying-6sh the arm-fins are wings
in some of the scqlpins there are regu-
lar fingers by which the fish crawls
over the bottom; in the Periapthaimus
they are used to walk on dry land In
observations of this kind, continued
the speaker, you notice things thatscan
not even be seen in a good aquarium,
as there the fish are under certain re-
straint. While ! have been lying low.
literally, with all these fishes lowering
over me, have seen performances that
were exactly akin to oIU games and
sports. When q lot of young fishes
were about they were continually en-
gagged in games of chase. Now one
would dart, and, followed by half a
dozen others, the pursued lodging here
and there behind bits of coral until
some other fish in turn seemed to at
tract attention, and the entire crowd
would rush pell-mell after it. One day
l saw two fishes, called smelts. apt
proaeh each other in a solemn way,
open their mouths as wide as possible
until their lips met. Then they would
slowly draw or back off and then re-
peat the operation. You may call it
what you like, but Judging from our
standpoint l assumed they were kiss
ing each other. They were certainly
not fighting, as | repeatedly saw en-
counters, and they were always char
acterized by rapidity of motion and
display of temper natural to the occa-
sion.
Zone of the most remarkable siohts
that Observed" continued the
amateur diver, were The coral beds,
From boat they present nothing I'M
usual-a brown mass of pointed stems
or branches; but one day 1 had the
boat placed on the edge of channel,
and gradually walked down into it until
attained the bottom, in about thirty
five or forty feet of water and l tell
you the scene was impressive. 7 seemed
to be in the streets of a CITY. The
bottom upon which stood was pure
white sand. hard and firm, and per-
fectly free of coral but on either side
rose perpendicular wall of the branch
coral nearly forty feet high, all the
points extending directly outward or
toward me. and presenting a magniii
cent unbroken surface of a rich olive
brown hue. ~ - 3 \
II must have walked one hundred
yards through this channel when sud-
denly L noticed black object on the
bottom about twenty feet ahead. At
hrst thoughtit was asbark or a turtle.
and, charging bayoHets with nv pike
or iron spear that carried, 1 moved
on and found that it was something
that had evidently fallen from above
1t was completely oyergrown with sea-
weed and covered with incrustatinr
corals, and it was nearly half an hour
before had cleared away the sand.
during which time / had to GO to
the surface. took down
shovel, however. and soon found
that my find was a cannon, and by its
Shape, offoreign make; aud SO it proved.
as few days later | took out ropes and
derrick on scow and lifted It to the
surface. We found that it was an old
Spanish gun, and after the coral was