The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-06-05
ON THE OCEANS BED.
What the Floor of the Atlantic
Looks Like.

ONE OFTEN HEARS ABOUT THE
" hoor" of the Atlantic, says Rene
Bache in Kate Fields Washington, but
the significance OF the term so applied
can in no way be 80 wildly conveyed to
the mind as by viewing a wonderful re-
lief map that stands in the Superintend-
ens's room at the United States Coast
Survey Office. This is a big picture in
plaster OF Paris of what is called the BAY
of North America, which means the
great sweep-in of the ocean from Nova
Scotia to the West Indies, and of the
Gull OF Mexico, with all OF the United
States that lies north Of the gulf shown
also. Just as the mountains on the land
are represented in elevation, the con-
figuration of the bottom of the sea and
gulf is exhibited by the map, so that
you can see how the Atlantic and its
great arm would look if all the water
were drained away.
The first thing that you remark is that
the bottom OF this vast bay of the Allan
tic is floor almost as smooth and level
as Western prairie. save quite near the
eastern shore of the continent.
A VAST PRAIRIE.
If the water we're gone you could drive
very comfortably in carriage over
nice shell road all the way from the
Berinudas to within $50 miles OF Cape
Hatteras, which would be the nearest
point of dry land to reach. Then you
you would have TO climb, for at that dis
lance from the coast the bottom begins
TO rise from the even depth of three
miles at which you have been journey
ing, to nearly mile higher, in dis
lance about equal to that between Phila-
deiphia and New York.
From that point on yeu would be
Obliged to Gismount and do some walk
ing, ina5much as the ascent becomes
quite abrupt, rising within few miles
TO a depth OF only two or three hundred
feet. But the sor. OF travelling you would
do in mounting from the ocean floor to
get to the coast, would depend entirely
upon what point along the coast you
tried to strike, inasmuch as the contour
of the slope varies greatly. The line of
the bottom of the slope follows in gen.
eral way the trend OF the shore south
west from Cape Sable to the southern
part of Florida; but at some point it is
much farther off from the coast, its dis
lance opposite Savannah being about
300 miles, and nearly as much opposite
New York.
HOLES IN THE OCEAN.
1t would be imprudent to try the
route from the Bermudas direct to New
York, because you would be likely to
get into a remarkable hole that goes
down suddenly, just before the slope be-
gins, from the level floor three miles
deep to nearly mile deeper. But you
might go comfortably from within 200
miles of Cape Sable to very near San
Domingo and Puerto Rico in the West
Indian group, travelling in a buggy
straight south more than the length OF
the United States. You would find an
even road at little more than three
miles down below what is now the sur
face of the sea. descending trifie after
getting south of the latitude of Jackson
vile, Fla.
Then you would have to look out, be-
cause, few miles to the north OF Puerto
Rico, the ocean floor takes most as
founding dip into one of the deepest sea-
holes that can be found in the world.
Reaching its edge at about 100 miles
from Puerto Rico, you would find this
tremendous gulf suddenly descending TO
u 06Dbik vi Ihdh hSC iblACo oSiO''
what is now the surface OF the water.
1t is extraordinary how these West In
dian islands rise precipituously from the
depths, uplifting their mountains miles
high out of the sea. South OF Cuba, in
the Caribbean sea, is a hole even
more remarkable than the one just de
seribed.
1t is much bigger than the one north
Of Puerto Rico, and forms an elongated
valley nearly six miles and half in
depth. Who can guess what ocean mon
sters. pulpy, vast and formless, inhabit
these great ocean caverns lighted only
by professions OF torch-bearing fishes
What haunts, these, for the sea-serpeni
and for the gigantic creatures imagined
to be extinct since the Deluge.
MOUNTAIN ISLANDS IN SEA.
Among other surprising things at the
bottom OF the sea, you would in your
travels come across the little Bahama
east OF South .rn Florida, where hey rise
suddenly from the oceans floor with sc
little slope that, within a distance o.
thirty miles, you would have TO clint
more than three miles high 10 find your
sell In Nassau. So it appears, as had