The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-11-08
LIFE UNDER THE SEA.


A Naturalist Watching Fishes in Their
own EIemeDt-The Domestic Life of
the DenZens of the Ocean-Their
Sports and Habits Photographs
Taken Under Water-Fishes That
Walk on Land.
81 have taken up diving to study the
habits of some animals under water, -
said an enthusiastic man to an En-
qairer reporter. Il have made fishes
rather a specially, and for a number of
years | have used a boat with glass
bottom. | 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 | had per-
feet window in the bottom of the 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 50 make my collections. But
this only made me eager to get q
nearer view, and 50 began to think of
the divers armor. | bought this and
had the helmet altered so that | could
see perfectly well, and as | was not 60
ing to visit any wrecks there was no
danger of breakage and was perfectly
safe. l made my first experiment on
the Florida reef.
Zone 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 lu-
dicrous spectacle. | have had fishes
rub up against my armor, as you often
see them against the bottom, probably
to rid themselves of sCme obnoxious
parasite. The way I made my obser-
vations of fish and their movements
was to recline upon the bottom among
the coral and have supply of cray-tish
bait that they are very fond of, and in
this way | often had perfect school of
fish lowering over me, and so could OBJ
serve their every movement. Did you
ever watch fish in the water? Take
the common sunfish. As it poses in
midwater you will see the side or pee
toral fins moving in 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-
tionless; in short, the pectoral fins are
the arms of the fish, its fore limbs. In
the flying-lish the arm fins are wings;
in some OF the sculpins 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 that can
not even be seen in 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 orr games and
sports. When a lot of young fishes
were about they were continually en-
gagged in games of chase. Now one
would dart, and, followed by half
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
| saw two fishes, called smeltS, APP
proach each other in 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 | assumed they were kiss
ing each other. They were certainly
not fighting, as l 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 sights
that / Observed" continued the
amateur diver, were the coral beds.
From a boat they present nothing I'M
usual-a brown mass of pointed stems
or branches; but one day | had the
boat placed on the edge of y channel,
and gradually walked down intoit until
l attained the bottom, in about thirty
five or forty feet of water, and | tell
you the scene was impressive. | seemed
to be in the streets of city. The
bottom upon which | stood was a pure
white sand, hard and firm, and per-
fectly free of coral; but on either side
rose a perpendicular wall of the branch
coral nearly forty feet high, all the
points extending directly outward or
toward me, and presenting a magnif-
cent unbroken surface of a rich olive
brown hue.
81 must have walked one hundred
yards through this channel when sud
denly noticed black object on the
bottom about twenty feet ahead. At
first | thoughtit was ashark or a turtle,
and, charging bayonets with my pike