The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-12-04

denly noticed black object on the
bottom about twenty feet ahead. At
frst thoughtit was ashark or turtle,
and, charging bayonets with nv pike
or iron spear that / carried, moved
on and found that it was something
that had evidently fallen from above.
1t was completely overgrown with sea-
weed and covered with incrustating
corals, and it was nearly half an hour
before | had cleared away the sand,
during which time / had to 90 to
the surface. | took down a
shovel, however, and soon found
that my find was a cannon, and BY its
shape, OF foreign make; and so it proved,
as q 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
seraped off, the arms of Spain were
plainly seen. 1t had been captured
probably by pirates a long time ago,
and lost overheard in some way, or a
vessel had been sunk and entirely gone
to pieces.
Il was SO impressed continued the
speaker, with the wonders of this
world under the sea that began to de-
wise some method of reproducing it,
and made some attempts at photog-
raphy under water. My appliances
Were crude. and it can hardly be called
a success; but / proved that it is possi-
BILE, and haven't the slightest doubt
but that in few years a photographer
can go to the bottom and take mega
tiyes of wrecks to show the actual po-
sitions. etc. Not only this, but fishes
and all the marine animals can be re-
produced exactly. How can it be
done? Well, that is my secret, but of
course the electric lighG will be prom
inent feature of such an undertaking.
Zone of the last trips that made on
the reef was to an old wreck that had
been lying there for perhaps fifty years.
| went down to it at night, and when
| turned on the electric light / found
myself in a curious place. The hull of
the vessel was seemingly complete, but
not single part of the surface but
what was pierced with holes made by
the ship worm (teredo). l attempted
to step on the wood, and though look
ing solid, my weighted foot sank into it
like paper, and with slight push I
threw over a large portion of the old
hulk. The worms had eaten into the
wood and lined their holes with limy
secretion, so that these tubes were all
there was to hold the structure together,
the wood had disappeared In the
hold great masses of branch coral were
growing up out of pile that was once
the cargo"
"How about the fish that crawls out
on dry land?' asked some one.
''The fish," continued the naturalist.
sis little fellow that looks very much
like what we call sculpin, although
it has none of the barbels
and curious appendages that charac-
terize those fish. / first noticed
them in the Spice Islands when
l was there in 1872. l was walking
by the shore one day at low tide
where the beach was formed of dark
mud and Weed-coyered rocks, when my
companion said, pointing to some small
objects that We're hopping along shore
near the water, Isn't il rather queer
for frogs to go with salt waterP' It's
SO queer that / never heard of it be-
fore, | replied; perhaps it's some
thing new So we determined to find
out what they were, and, taking Oft our
shoes, we waded in and along the
beach so as to drive the supposed frogs
ashore. But all at once one started
right up under my eyes and gave hop
OF about foot, and to my astonish-
ment it was a fish; and so announced
to my friend who was behind. He
wouldn't t believe me; out when he came
up, there the little creature was, high
and dry, resting on stone, with its
head somewhat raised, on its promi-
nent pectoral fins. / made Jump for
it and my friend did the same, but
away it went. hopping just like a toad,
and Tor several moments there was q
race between man and fish. We soon
it in, however, and have it
n my cabinet now. The side fins are
almost arms, and are strong and pow
srful, and on them the fish rests and
Jumps. In Australia, some years ago,
some geologists found some fossil bones
5hat were pronounced to belong to a
arge fish. In 1876 some one diseoY-
cred the identical fish alive.
The way they did so is somewhat
curious. They were on hunting trip
lp the country, and one night
near small stream. In the
middle of the night one of the party
vas awakened by curious barking
sound. and, thinking it might be some
vlld animal after their horses, he
slipped on his clothes, took a rifle and
vent out. The noise came at regular
from the river below, and,
aking narrow path, he started after
t. The moon was bright, and, when
le got down to the level of the water,
le heard the bark and saw large,
,listening object, and then saw It leap
slong or founder through the grass.
Jpon this he fired, and to his amaze
nent found that he had shot fish.
Phe shot awakened the rest, and the
reatdre was brought into camp. It
vas about six feet long, had a small
lead and enormous scales, while the
'ody ended not in fin, but in point.
t was found that they breathed both
ir and water with perfect ease, and
hat when hungry the great fish, which
fas a vegetable feeder, would come to
he shore, expel the air that it held in
IS air bladder, thus making the bark
ng sound. and wander over the flats
4 search Of rood, = CiHeiisHqts En-