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WONDERS OF
THE DEEP

The Story of the Williamson
Submarine Expedition

By VICTOR E. A^LLEMANDY

Author of " The Normal Reign of George III."
'■ Tlie Growth of the British Dominions," etc.

LONDON
JARROLD & SONS

H cc'

The Publishers are indebted to the Trans-Atlantic
Film Company, Ltd. for permission to reproduce
from the film the photographs which illustrate this
book, and also for permission to write the text
around the story of the Williamson Expedition.

(All rights, including those of translation, are
strictly reserved.)

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PACE

Introduction - - 7

I. The Birth of an Idea - 13

II. In the Bahamas - - 23

III. At Nassau - - 34

IV. Getting Ready - - 40
V. Taking Submarine Motion Pictures 45

VI. Denizens of the Deep - - 49

VII. Some Oddities of Fish Life - 57

VIII. Sponge Fishing - " 63

IX. The Coral Architect - 72

X. Deep-Sea Diving - - 79

XI. A Thrilling Fight with a Blue Shark 87

INTRODUCTION.

More than one hundred and fifty years ago
Thomas Gray, in his famous " Elegy Written in
a Country Churchyard," penned these lines:

" Full many a gem of purest rays serene,
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear."

Until the middle of the nineteenth century very
little was known of the immense ocean depths.
Speculation and imagination had been rife with
regard to the life and conditions below the surface
of the ocean, but little definite knowledge had as
yet been gleaned.

Towards the close of the year 1872, H.M.S.
"Challenger" sailed from Portsmouth on a voyage
round the world, which lasted for three and a
half years. The main object of this cruise was
to investigate the physical conditions and natural
history of the deep sea in various parts of the
world. The ship was equipped with special
apparatus for sounding and dredging purposes,
for obtaining specimens of sea-water and its

7

8 INTRODUCTION

inhabitants at various depths, for testing the
temperature of the ocean, and for preserving
specimens for subsequent observation and exami-
nation. This expedition accumulated a vast quantity
of facts, statistics, and specimens, and its scientific
results proved to be of incalculable value. A
great many sciences were enriched by this
accumulation of new facts. The success of the
expedition was altogether beyond the expectations
of its promoters. In fact, as an outcome of this
cruise a new science, which we call " oceanography,"
had its birth.

Glimpses were now obtained of the fascinat-
ing world below the level of the ocean, the
countless and diverse forms exhibited by animal
life and plant life; the numerous battles fought
with the greatest courage and desperation between
the different inhabitants of the ocean, sometimes
between members of the same species ; the beauties
of the flora or plant world ; the innumerable low
forms of life, invisible to the naked eye ; the
nature and composition of the floor of the ocean,
and many other things. We began to learn some-
thing of the deep and almost unfathomable secrets
of the mighty and mysterious ocean.

The trawlings and dredgings carried out by the
" Challenger " disclosed the fact that animal life
exists at all depths, and that the ocean bed itself
consists of different kinds of mud, or slime, called
ooze, which is in some places blue, in others red,
and in others green. Much of this ooze, it was

INTRODUCTION 9

afterwards discovered, is composed of the remains
of minute forms of animal life known as animalculas.
It also contains shells and the teeth and bones of
larger animals. The "Challenger" expedition dis-
covered, too, by a long series of soundings, that
the deepest part of the ocean, away in the far
Pacific, was 4,500 fathoms, or 27,000 feet. More
recent soundings, however, have given the deepest
part of the Pacific Ocean as over 32,000 feet, or
slightly more than six miles. Can we realise
what this really means ? If we could take Mount
Everest, in India, the highest mountain peak in
the world, and place it in the deepest part of
the Pacific Ocean, the peak would be three
thousand feet below the level of the ocean.

Another important fact ascertained by the
" Challenger " expedition was that the bed of the
ocean is uneven, like the surface of the land ;
there are peaks and valleys under the ocean
similar to those with which we are familiar. The
enormous collections that were brought home by
the expedition were subsequently studied and
described by well-known specialists belonging to
nearly every civilised nation. Some idea of the
importance and value of the expedition may be
gathered from the fact that the official records and
descriptions fill fifty bulky volumes.

No sunlight whatever penetrates the deepest
parts of the ocean. Probably all is dark below
two hundred fathoms, i.e., twelve hundred feet,
except the small degree of light emitted by the

10 INTRODUCTION

phosphorescent animals. Owing to the lack of
sunlight, there is an almost entire absence of
vegetable life in the deepest parts of the ocean.
Sir John Murray, the eminent oceanographer, calcu-
lates that on more than nine-tenths of the ocean
floor there are no forms of vegetation of any
kind.

Our knowledge of the ocean and the ocean
depths is still far from complete. So many
difficulties exist that progress must necessarily be
slow. These difficulties arise principally from the
fact that, in the majority of cases, the observa-
tions are necessarily indirect. At the surface of
the ocean direct observation is possible, but our
knowledge of the conditions prevailing in deep
water, and of all that is there taking place, is
almost wholly dependent on the correct working
of instruments, the action of which at the critical
moment is hidden from sight. Dredgings and
soundings, however, reveal many important details,
and divers are able, from time to time, to add to
our knowledge of marine life and conditions.

When the cinematograph first made its appear-
ance no one dreamt of its enormous and far-
reaching possibilities as a scientific instrument.
Essentially, at the outset, intended to provide a
cheap form of amusement, it was not long before
it was seen that the cinematograph could be used
not merely for purposes of entertainment, but
also for those of instruction. At the present time
we are beginning to understand a little more

INTRODUCTION 11

about the future possibilities of the cinematograph
in connection with science and education.

The remarkable and unique application of the
cinematograph to obtaining details of submarine
life, the story of which will be told in these
pages, reflects the greatest credit on the persever-
ance and ability of the Williamson brothers, who
succeeded in perfecting the apparatus for taking
submarine motion pictures — truly a wonderful
achievement. The illustrations reproduced in this
book are taken from photographs filmed by the
Williamson Submarine Expedition. They enable
us to understand the apparatus employed, and
bring before us the panorama of a marvellous
submarine journey of thirty leagues along the
floor of the ocean. We shall read about the
famous Marine Gardens which form one of the
great attractions of Nassau, in the Bahamas, and
can picture in imagination the indescribable
beauties of the deep. Nature's wonders, whether
in plant life or in animal life, in their myriad
forms are placed before us. Scenes connected with
sponge fishing and coral fishing have been photo-
graphed ; we witness a diving scene ; and, probably
the most wonderful of all, we get a pictorial
representation of a desperate life-and-death struggle
between a daring swimmer, armed only with a
knife, and a huge, blue, man-eating shark, the
terror of the Bahama waters. This is undoubtedly
one of the most thrilling scenes ever beheld by
human eyes.

12 INTRODUCTION

For the first time in the history of mankind
some of the secrets of the ocean have been
revealed, and the story of the methods by which
this has been done forms the subject-matter of
this book.

CHAPTER I.
THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA.

It is always a matter of no little interest to trace
the development of an idea in an inventor's mind
from its inception to its conclusion. Many
valuable ideas have their birth, but, unfortunately,
for one reason or another, they die a premature
death. The idea is probably found to be im-
practicable, or it may prove to have no com-
mercial value; and sometimes lack of knowledge
or finance prevents an inventor from carrying
his idea out to a practical and satisfactory con-
clusion.

Many of our greatest and most marvellous
inventions and discoveries have originated from
simple beginnings. James Watt, for example, was
led, from merely watching the movement of the
lid of a kettle of boiling water, to develop certain
ideas with regard to the application of steam
power to driving a stationary engine. Isaac
Newton, one of our most eminent scientists, one
day saw an apple drop from the tree to the
ground -an occurrence that had been witnessed by
thousands and thousands, but no one ever seems

13

14 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

to have asked himself the question : " Why does
the apple fall to the ground ? " This simple
incident set Newton's mind to work, and after
many years' thought and study resulted in the
discovery of the law of gravitation.

Sir James Simpson's discovery of the anae-
sthetic properties of chloroform, which produces an
insensibility to pain, was the result of an accident.
For some years the young physician had been
conducting experiments in this direction with
different drugs, and had obtained various results,
none of which so far had proved satisfactory. One
night he resolved to carry out an experiment
with chloroform. He and his two assistants,
sitting round the supper-table in the dining-room,
inhaled some of the fumes. Their conversation
immediately became brighter; then, after a short
while, came a silence, succeeded by the sound of
falling bodies. By and by Dr. Simpson awoke.
Anxiously looking about him, he heard one of
his coadjutors snoring hard, and saw the other
just struggling from the floor to his chair. From
the curious sensations they had experienced, the
doctors realised that they had at last discovered a
valuable ansesthetic, one that was destined to
confer an immeasurable boon on hundreds of
thousands of persons.

Hundreds of similar instances might be ad-
duced to show that wonderful inventions and
discoveries have often sprung from ordinary in-
cidents, occasionally from accidents, or have been

TMK WILLIAMSON BROTHKRS, WHO OKH^lNATKll THK IDEA OK SUIIMARINK MOTION I'ICTIJRKS

MR. WILLIAMSON IN I'lVINi; |iKK>S KXl'LORINC. Ol H WRECK I'MIF.R THB SKA.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 15

the outcome of close observation and intense
study.

What was the origin of the remarkable idea
which was carried to such a successful issue, that
it became possible for the first time in the history
of invention and discovery to take motion pictures
below the surface of the ocean ?

About the time that Commander Robert E.
Peary was engaged in an endeavour to reach the
North Pole, and Captain Robert F. Scott was seek-
ing to wrest from Nature some of the hidden
secrets of the South Polar regions, two young
men, hardly out of their teens, were labouring in
the back-yard of their home in Norfolk, Virginia,
over a peculiar invention, with the aid of which
they hoped to explore the bottom of the ocean,
and thus add to our knowledge of submarine life
at those depths. Their names were Ernest and
George Williamson, the brave and fearless sons of
Captain Charles Williamson, one of the smartest
skippers that ever sailed before the mast, and to
whom, as we shall see, they really owed their
success.

Captain Charles Williamson possessed an in-
ventive faculty, and he was never happier than
when endeavouring to work out certain sugges-
tions and ideas that presented themselves to his
mind from time to time. Several of his inven-
tions proved very successful, not only in them-
selves, but also from a financial standpoint.
During one of his trips he invented a folding

16 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

baby-carriage, which is now used by many
thousands of children all over the world, and from
which he continues to draw a royalty. On another
occasion he constructed a rotating lamp shade,
operated by the heat of the lamp acting upon a
little turbine over the chimney, and designed to
show pleasing transparencies. He also evolved an
amusing and instructive aerial golf game, which is
played on a red-and-white sheet stretched beneath
the ceiling, the balls being small balloons driven
into pockets in the sheet by means of cork-
tipped sticks. But perhaps one of his most useful
inventions was his system of code signalling be-
tween vessels at sea, by the use of certain
recognised coloured lights.

A few years ago the ship that was being
navigated by Captain Charles Williamson encoun-
tered, off Cape Hatteras, an exceptionally heavy
gale, which had the effect of straining the side
seams of the vessel near the water-line. With
every roll of the vessel the water rushed like a
torrent through the gaps that had been made, and
Captain Williamson was not slow to see that if
his ship was to be saved the seams must be closed,
and that without any further delay. Here, for-
tunately, his inventive genius came to his aid.
He had himself lowered over the side of the ship
in a long canvas bag fitted with legs, like a
breeches buoy, and sleeves, and provided with a
glass window to enable him to look through.

Nothing like this had ever been used before.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 17

but it answered very well for the purpose in hand.
The canvas tube protected the occupant from the
furious waves which dashed against the vessel, and
the sleeves secured freedom for his arms, and
enabled him to carry out the caulking of the
seams, and thus save his vessel from otherwise
certain disaster.

It seems truly remarkable that the simple and
unique contrivance which had been utilised for
caulking the gaping sides of the storm-tossed vessel
should have suggested a method of developing
that invention still further, and should have led
ultimately to the adoption of the principle for the
exploration of the bottom of the ocean. From this
crude and temporary canvas bag, then, was evolved
the Williamson deep-sea tube that has made
possible an exhaustive examination of submarine
life, and the production of a remarkable film that
is not only instructive and interesting to the
general public, but that has also proved of the
greatest value to the biologist and the zoologist.

The Williamson deep-sea tube, of which a
more detailed description will be given later, pos-
sesses three essential characteristics : namely, it is
sufficiently large to enable a man to pass up or
down inside it; it is strong enough to resist the
pressure of the water at a considerable depth ; and
it has the merit of being thoroughly pliable and
flexible.

As it hangs beneath a supporting vessel, the
present Williamson model reminds the onlooker of

18 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

an enlarged Chinese lantern. It has a length of
from fifty to sixty feet, and is three feet in
diameter. It sways and bends easily with the tide
or with the movements of the vessel above, and
its concentric iron rings stretch apart, or flatten
together, in the manner of a concertina or an
accordion. Without this flexibility, of course, the
invention would have been of no practical value,
for a long, rigid, and very heavy tube, dragged
through the sea by the vessel to which it was
attached, would inevitably have been torn away
from the vessel by the immense leverage of the
opposing mass of water.

Before explaining any further the construction
and operation of this deep-sea tube, it must be
mentioned that Captain Williamson had no thought
whatever, when he made his invention, of its
being ever utilised for the purpose of obtaining
submarine motion pictures. His sole object was to
provide a means of descending into the sea to
obtain sponges, pearls, coral, sunken treasure, and
anything else that might be of commercial value
or of historic interest. As a matter of fact, the
Captain saw so many possible applications of his
tube, each of which required separate patent pro-
tection, that several years passed by after the first
model had been successfully tried before any
practical results were obtained.

" Like father, like son " is a phrase we are
accustomed to hear frequently, and in this par-
ticular instance heredity also endowed the sons

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 19

with an inventive faculty, and they took up the
work where their father left off, and were thus
enabled to give the present generation a means of
probing the wonders of the depths of the ocean.

One memorable summer evening, in the year
1912, Ernest Williamson, the Captain's eldest son,
who was then engaged as a cartoonist and photo-
grapher on the " Virginia Pilot," happened to be
in a town in Yucatan. Just as the sun was
setting he was passing a tall apartment house,
and the steep side of the building, seen in a
golden haze, with long, slanting shadows over it,
looked like a mysterious fortress under the sea.
This uncommon sight immediately recalled some
motion pictures he had seen of fish taken in an
aquarium tank. Then, all of a sudden, an in-
spiration flashed through his mind. Why not
utilise his father's tube as a means of taking
photographs under the water?

No sooner had the possibility of the thing
occurred to him than he straightway placed the
proposal before the Captain, who, strange to relate,
seemed to take but little interest in the sugges-
tion, not, perhaps, at the moment realising the full
significance of the idea. At any rate, he raised
no objection to the proposed plan, and eventually
came to the conclusion that the idea might after
all be practicable. Having obtained the Captain's
permission, Ernest was not long in securing the
co-operation of his brother George, and the two,
fired with youthful enthusiasm, and realising the

20 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

enormous and valuable possibilities should the
invention prove to be practicable, proceeded with
ready industry to work out a new and unique
method of taking submarine pictures. We must
not lose sight of the fact, as the story proceeds,
that nothing of the kind had ever been attempted
before, and that in their endeavours the brothers
were pioneers, with no previous experience or
guidance on which to work. The idea was thus
quite a novel one, and, if it could be turned into
a concrete form, would become a unique invention.

With as little delay as possible, the Williamson
tube was rigged up and lowered from the barge
"Ada" to a depth of about thirty feet, but the
waters in Norfolk Harbour were so dark that it
was altogether impossible, in ordinary daylight, to
see through them for more than a distance of a
few feet. This presented the first problem that
the pioneers had to solve. Undaunted, however,
by this initial set-back, the young men decided
to employ artificial light, and after some consider-
able difficulty, they succeeded in arranging a large
battery of tungsten electric lamps in such a way
that they would continue to shine after they had
been lowered into the sea.

Having accomplished this, Ernest Williamson
climbed down through the tube into the observa-
tion chamber and took up his position, with a
camera ready, behind the heavy glass window. A
baited line was lowered, the electric lights were
turned on, and in a moment the photographer

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 21

was busily engaged in snapping photographs of
fish that swarmed in thousands about the apparatus.

The idea of adapting the invention to the
purpose of taking motion pictures below the ocean
had not yet occurred to them, but a number of
exceptionally interesting submarine snapshots were
obtained, and the success that had attended their
first efforts convinced them of the great possibili-
ties of taking pictures in deep water, many fathoms
below the surface of the sea — something that had
never been done before.

With an exposure of one-fiftieth of a second
or less, they found it possible to take perfectly
distinct pictures of various small fish — spot fish,
croakers, and other species ; and when George
Williamson dived down to a depth of thirty feet
and posed before the observation window, holding
in his hands a copy of a magazine, the under-
water picture was almost as good as if it had
been taken in the ordinary way in the daylight.

This achievement was accomplished in the
summer of 1912, and in the autumn of the same
year the Williamson brothers exhibited their sub-
marine photographs in New York City at the
first International Motion Pictures Exposition,
where, as we should naturally expect, they caused
no little sensation, and attracted the attention and
aroused the interest of scientists from all parts of
the world. The possibilities of further develop-
ment occurred to several prominent business men,
and before long the two brothers found that they

22 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

could secure financial support from a group of
solid business men, mostly Southerners, who
organised a company to develop a submarine
moving picture enterprise, and made arrangements
for the despatch of an expedition to some suitable
spot, afterwards to be selected, where they were
confident that the Williamsons would succeed in
attaining their object. The results subsequently
achieved showed, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
that the confidence placed by this small group of
business men in the two enthusiastic inventors
was not misplaced, for the expedition turned out
to be an unbounded success from every stand-
point.

CHAPTER II.

IN THE BAHAMAS.

A CONSIDERABLE time elapsed before the Williamson
Submarine Expedition was fully equipped for its
work and ready to set out for its destination.
Many preparations had to be made ; numerous
details had to be worked out ; the necessary photo-
graphic apparatus and special lenses had to be
purchased ; the members who were to comprise the
party had to be selected ; and it was essential to
decide upon a suitable locality for the operations
of the expedition.

Obviously, the selection of a convenient and
desirable spot was a matter requiring very careful
consideration, because a number of important
factors had to be taken into account. After con-
siderable deliberation, the party decided to proceed
to the Bahama Islands. Several reasons led to the
choice of this locality. One was the suitability of
the climate, for this would permit of the conduct-
ing of a series of uninterrupted operations.
Another reason was the beautiful crystal clearness
of the waters in this region. A third deciding
factor, and one which weighed greatly with the

23

24 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

members of the expedition, was the unrivalled
beauty of the coral formations, the remarkable
diversity and beauty of the submarine plant life,
and the large number of interesting forms of fish
life with which these waters abound. Then it was
also necessary to determine the best time of the
year to set out. As the wet season begins in May
and lasts until December, this fact had likewise to
be taken advantage of.

The members of the Williamson Submarine
Expedition comprised the Williamson brothers,
Keville Glennan, the historian of the expedition,
and Carl Gregory, an experienced cinematograph
operator.

Late one afternoon, on a windy day in March,
1914, the Williamson Submarine Expedition sailed
out from New York harbour, bound for Nassau,
the capital of the Bahama Islands. As the party
left the harbour they obtained a magnificent view
of the splendid bronze Statue of Liberty erected
on Bedloes Island. This statue, which is reputed
to be the largest in the world, is the work of
Bartholdi, a famous French sculptor, and was
presented to the United States of America by the
people of France — a gift from one republic to
another. Measuring over one hundred and fifty
feet from the base to the top, and standing on a
huge pedestal, the statue is designed in the form
of a female figure personifying "Liberty Enlighten-
ing the World," and holding a torch, which is
lighted at night-time by electricity.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 25

A pleasant voyage of four days brought the
expedition to the surf-beaten coral coast of the
Bahamas, which form a group of the West Indies.
The steamer was obliged to anchor some distance
outside the harbour of Nassau, as it is impossible
for steamers of any size to enter the harbour owing
to the presence of an immense sandbank at its
entrance. Passengers and freight have therefore to
be transported to the dock by means of a tender.

A few facts about this charming group of
islands will not be out of place here.

The Bahamas, appropriately described as the
"Land of the Pink Pearl," lie to the west of the
United States, and extend from Florida, in a south-
easterly direction, for about four hundred miles to
the island of Hayti. They form an archipelago of
twenty-nine islands, six hundred and sixty "cays,"
or islets, and over two thousand rocks. The area
exceeds four thousand four hundred square miles,
equivalent in size to about one-seventh the area
of Scotland. The chief island is New Providence,
on which stands the capital.

The majority of the islands forming this archi-
pelago are of coral formation, and this, as has
already been stated, formed one of the reasons for
the selection of the Bahamas by this expedition.
The coral reefs, to be described later, are covered
with a kind of sandy loam. Some of the islands,
however, are of volcanic origin, and the soil on
those islands needs only heat and moisture to
make it produce enormous crops.

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NVONDFRS OF THb OF. FT 27

a question that scientific pnfople can settle for them-
selves. It makes no difference where it came from ;
it is here, and is ver>- useful. Nearly all the houses
are built of it. Vou have only to saw down iuto
the quarries to get beautiful big bkvks of it that
make handsome and substantial houses. The blocks
harden by exposure to the air. and in this climate
soon become as durable as granite. Out of
the rock. tOv\ water-tanks are built to catch rain-
water."'

The innumerable reefs, with their warm lagoons.
are the site of important turtle and pearl fisheries.
as well as the sponge fishery, and of the salt and
ambergris industries. In the larger islands are
produced immense quantities of fruit of all kinds,
especially pine-apples, grape-fruit, oranges, pome-
granates, and bananas. Other important productions
include the sugar-cane, tobacco, ginger, coffee, and
indigo. As a matter of fact, there is hardly a
tropical fruit or product that will not grow in this
archipelago, and most of the European vegetables
can be cultivated without difficulty.

Plant life, in its myriad forms, is most luxuriant.
The mango is a fruit rarely seen out of the tropics,
but to a white person the taste is certainly an
acquired one. for certain specimens of this fruit rasce
very strongly of turpentine. Then there is the
luscious and juicy sapodilla. a kind of pear. If the
fruit falls prematurely from the tree the natives

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WONDERS OF THE DEEP :*)

historic times. It is an iadustr>- that can only he
prosecuted for a short season in the year. The
profits are a sramble: while the beautiful products,
useless in themselves, are only valuable owing to
the pride and vanity of the purchasers. Pearls.
one of the valuable products of the Bahamas, fetch
a good price, some being worth as much as eight
pounds sterling a grain. Many of the pearls are
found accidentally. A case is recorded of a man
having bought a conch, or large shell-fish, for his
morning's repast, for which he paid the equivalent
of a halfpenny, and on going home found em
bedded in the shell a magnificent pearl, which.
when sold, fetched sixty pounds.

The following stor>- of an actual incident has
been related : In a settlement on one of the
Bahama islands, a native woman one day was
busily engaged in opening some conch shells and
removing their contents. While she was thus
occupied, a wild duck seized a shell-fish in its
beak and rapidly made off with it. The woman,
anxious to recover the conch, thereupon chased
the duck. A child, who happened to be standing
by. saw a pearl drop from the conch which the
duck was carr>-ing. but the woman, being so intent
on the chase, did not notice the pearl fall to the
ground. The child naturally picked the pearl up
and took it home to her mother. Guessing that
the pearl might be a valuable one, the woman
took it to Nassau, where she sold it for forty
pounds. Some while afterwords the news of this

30 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

discovery reached the ears of the original owner,
who claimed that the money received for the pearl
really belonged to her. But the woman who had
effected the sale disputed the claim. Matters now
became rather serious, and the original owner
threatened to take the matter into Court. Dis-
cretion proving the better part of valour in this
case, the vendor agreed to pay the other woman
a third of the money for which the pearl had
been sold. It afterwards transpired that the pearl
in question was an exceedingly fine one, and was
worth about two hundred pounds.

Much of the history of these delightful islands
is "wropped in mystery." Red Leiric, a daring
navigator, is said to have visited the islands nine
hundred years ago, and spent twelve months there
with his storm-driven crew. Five hundred years
before that, so the legend runs, St. Brendan, an
Irish missionary, endeavoured to spread the princi-
ples of Christianity in this region. But these, and
other traditional accounts, must be regarded,
delightful though many of them are, as belonging
to the realms of myth and legend. It is not until
we come down to the fifteenth century that we
can feel we are on safe historic ground.

Although the Bahamas were the first part of
the New World to be discovered by Christopher
Columbus, the Genoese navigator, during his
momentous voyage towards the close of the
fifteenth century, in quest of a westward route to
India, the Spaniards, in whose name the islands

SKA FKKNS IIENDING IN 1 HE niRECIION OF THK
OCEAN CURRENTS.

I'LACING IN POSrnON THE HUGE CIRCULAR <;LASS
I'l.ATE WHICH FORMED THE WINDOW OF TMK
OrERATINC, CHAMBER.

A GLIMISK OK LIFE AT TIIF BOTIOM OF THE OCEAN.

A DENI/FN OF THE DEEP.

AN E.XAMl'LE OF THK WONDERFUL VAKIl'.lV OF
FORMS AI IIIB BOTTOM OF THC OCEAN.

NAinK DIVER TVINO AN ANCHOR ROI'K AT THE
BOIIOM OF IHK OCEAN.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 31

were claimed by the discoverer, made no attempt
to occupy them permanently, but carried away
almost the whole of the native population to San
Domingo to work in the mines or dive for pearls,
and for more than a hundred years these islands
became verdant deserts. As many as forty thou-
sand natives are said to have been deported. It
was not until the seventeenth century that the
Bahamas were frequented by vessels from the
Bermudas, situated about six hundred miles from
the eastern coast of the United States, which came
to obtain large quantities of salt. During the
seventeenth century a Captain Sayle was wrecked
on one of the islands, and the favourable account
that he gave of them caused the proprietors of
Carolina to petition King Charles II. of England
to grant them possession of the islands. Captain
Sayle had named the island on which he was
shipwrecked " New Providence," and it is on this
island that the capital, Nassau, is situated.

The Bahamas have passed through many vicis-
situdes, having been plundered at various times,
first by the French and then by the Spaniards,
who, at each plundering expedition, carried off a
number of the negroes. Early in the eighteenth
century the island of New Providence became a
favourite and notorious rendezvous for pirates.
Some ten years later, as an outcome of an appeal
of the merchants of London and Bristol to the
Crown, to take stringent and effective measures to
restore order in the island and root out the

32 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

pirates, Captain Woodes Rogers was sent to the
island with a force sufficiently strong to destroy
the nest of pirates infesting the shores, a service
which was promptly effected by that old buccaneer.
During the War of American Independence (1776-
1783) the islands frequently changed hands.

The abolition of slavery in the West Indies
and in all other tropical possessions within the
British Empire, in the year 1807, which was the
outcome of the political agitation organised by
William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson. and other
social reformers against slavery in any of the
countries under the British Crown, caused many
of the extensive cotton and sugar-cane plantations
to be abandoned because many of the natives, now
that they were free, refused to work at all, pre-
ferring to devote themselves to the cultivation of
small patches of maize, yams, and other tropical
produce.

Blockade-runners made good use of Nassau
during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. This
occurred as the result of the closing of the
southern ports of America by the Federals. While
the blockade-running lasted, the island enjoyed an
unexampled prosperity, the value of the trade
having risen from about a quarter of a million to
nearly five and a half millions.

When Columbus passed through the islands he
was struck with admiration at the character and
fine bearing of the natives, and in one of his
letters to King Ferdinand of Spain and Queen

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 33

Isabella, the patrons of his expedition, he wrote :
"This country excels all others as far as the day
surpasses the night in splendour; the natives love
their neighbours as themselves ; their conversation
is the sweetest imaginable ; their faces are always
smiling ; and so gentle are they and affectionate
that I swear to Your Highness there is not a
better people in the world."

For a long time there was a dispute regarding the
exact landing-place of Columbus and his gallant crew,
on the occasion of his remarkable discovery of the
New World. Various spots were declared to have
been the actual landing-place of the intrepid navigator.
Careful historical research and close examination of
the different spots eventually showed that Watling
Island, called by the natives" Guanahani," but named
by the explorer " San Salvador," was the place where
Columbus first set foot, after his momentous and
daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, on October
12th, 1492, and planted there the banner of His Most
Catholic Majesty of Spain. On this spot has been
erected a crude monument in commemoration of that
memorable event. As one gazes at the lonely wooded
beach, one can almost mentally picture the inquisitive
and startled Indians emerging from behind the trees,
and, with hesitating steps, gradually make their way
down to the beach to welcome the white strangers as
they waded ashore from their small boats, as soon
as they intuitively felt sure that they were not hostile
visitors.

CHAPTER III.

AT NASSAU.

From the sea the view of Nassau, the capital of
the Bahamas and the seat of the Government, is
very striking, especially to anyone who is not
familiar with tropical scenery and grandeur. At
the entrance to the harbour stands a lighthouse ;
this is rendered necessary as a safeguard to shipping,
owing to the presence of the immense sandbank
previously referred to. About five hundred feet
from the harbour runs a slope which reaches a
height of ninety feet, and along which the town
of Nassau has been constructed. Flowers of every
description and colour abound with tropical pro-
fusion, and it is the presence of these, together
with the beautiful tints of the sky and the water,
that make the place appear to be a veritable garden
of enchantment.

As soon as a vessel nears the harbour a group
of native boys collect on the shore by the side of
the dock. The visitors encourage them to do this
by throwing coins down into the water for them
to pick up. When the coin has been located, the
native boy places it in his mouth, which, in his

34

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 35

case, is the only place of safety. Some of the
youngsters are clever enough to catch the coin as
it sinks through the water. Most of the natives,
as will have been gathered, are as much at home
in the water as they are on the land. A few of
the more daring of these young divers can stay
below the surface of the water for a space of three
minutes! In time, however, this practice tells upon
their health, for the constant retention in the lungs
of air mixed with water gives rise, when they
grow older, to serious bronchial trouble.

Probably the greatest attraction of Nassau is
the beautiful Marine Gardens, exhibiting an extra-
ordinarily wonderful development of marine
organisms. The colours of the flora and the fauna
are absolutely beyond description, and the kaleido-
scopic masses of vivid purples, blues, reds, greens,
and yellows are simply bewildering.

One who was for several years a resident at
Nassau gives the following picturesque account of
Nassau's natural Marine Gardens: "These Marine
Gardens are made up of the most exquisite sub-
merged coral bowers and grottoes, rivalling the
choicest productions of the vegetable world in form
and colour. One can hardly believe one's eyes
when all their unexpected beauties are revealed for
the first time. The madrepora, or branching coral,
is very abundant, as are also the astraea, or brain
coral, alcyonoid polyps (delicate coral shrubs), and
algiE, all of which are of fairy form and attractive
in colour. Gorgoaias and sea-fans, much diversified

36 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

in size and colour, and clusters of purple sea-
feathers, wave gracefully in the clear water, like
flowering shrubs in the wind.

" It would be impossible to imagine any situa-
tion better for the thorough examination of a sea
garden than that in which we found ourselves on
this particular morning. Our vessel was not going
fast enough to interfere with the most minute
investigation of every object on the sea bottom,
and yet just moving sufficiently to enable us to
see fresh forms of coral beauty every minute, each
more lovely than its predecessor. Into deep alcoves
and recesses, under delving masses of coral, did we
peer with wondering eyes, almost looking for some
Lurline or sea-nymph basking in the sunlight that
seemed to penetrate right down into this glorious
submerged coral world. The fish that dart about
or lie sleeping in these coral caves harmonise well
with the general beauty of the scene, for their
colouring is gorgeous, and their motions extremely
graceful. Some are yellow, some are a rich scarlet;
some silver and satin, others ringed, striped, fringed,
tipped, or spotted with all the colours of the rain-
bow. Sponges abound in every direction, clinging
to the coral rock."*

Nassau, on account of its beauty and genial
climate, has not been inaptly compared to Mentone.
It has become quite a fashionable health-resort for
American visitors, who flock here, especially during

• "The Land of the Pink Pearl." By L. D. Powles. Sampson Low,
Marston & Co.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 37

the months of February and March, when the climate
is at its best. In the winter months, from November
to May, the temperature varies from 60deg. to 75 deg.,
and during the rest of the year, constituting the warm
season, from 75 deg. to 85 deg. During the latter
season occur the heavy tropical summer rains. The
sea bathing here is described as excellent. For those
seeking rest and recreation, Nassau may be regarded
as an ideal spot. Those who suffer from any form of
lung complaint benefit by the curative effect of the
climate. It is not an uncommon sight to see walking
about persons who ten or fourteen days previously
were so ill that they had to be carried ashore from the
steamer. The town, it has been remarked, is one of
the cleanest in the world, the streets and roads being
scrupulously swept and cleaned down every morning.
There are many up-to-date buildings, including a
well-equipped colonial hotel and well-planned golf-
links. One of the interesting features is the old forts,
which date from the middle and close of the eighteenth
century.

On the occasion of the visit of the Williamson
Submarine Expedition, the Governor of the islands,
Mr. Hadden Smith, entertained the members of the
expedition on a gala day. They were shown the
interesting, and sometimes comical, sights of the little
town, including the sponge industry, which is the
principal business of the island. In honour of the
event, the Governor ordered a parade of all the civic
and military bodies of the island.

With the exception of the officials, their families,

38 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

and a sprinkling of residents, the entire population is
native. The Union Jack, which flies from the
Governor's residence, is a quiet reminder of the vast-
ness of the British Empire. The town, in addition to
the native constabulary and native troops, can boast
of several divisions of Boy Scouts.

The present Governor, Mr. W, L. Allardyce,
C.M.G., we may note in passing, raised three native
contingents for service with the troops fighting in the
life-and-death world-struggle for right against might,
and for freedom against military tyranny.

Nassau, besides its unrivalled Marine Gardens,
can boast of several other attractive features. There
is, for example, the famous " Queen's Staircase," con-
sisting of nearly three hundred steps hewn out of the
solid rock by Spanish convicts three centuries ago,
when Spain was in possession of the Bahamas.

At Nassau can be seen one of the finest examples
in the tropical world of the silk cotton-tree. This
tree possesses enormous wide-spreading roots, over
one hundred ind fifty feet in circumference, and these
will afford convenient shelter during a storm for no
fewer than sixty people. According to the native
religious beliefs the silk cotton-tree is regarded as
being the dwelling-place of spirits.

In Nassau the native pig, which is small but very
spry and energetic, is as ubiquitous as its brother in
Ireland. It is quite a family pet, and is at liberty
to run about wherever it pleases, but it is not allowed
in the house.

Unquestionably, the physique of the Bahama

IHIS I>IAGR.\M SHOWS THE METHOn BV WHICH THK
WILLIAMSON SUKMAKINK I'lCTOKES WKKK TAKEN.

IHK OPKKAIINC CIIAMIIRR KKAHY rOK LOWERING
INin THK WATIK.

lOWKRINC. THE OrEkAlINi; i KAMllKK INIcl HIE SKA

throii;h the wei l ok niK hakce.

THE CAMEKA IU'EKAIOK AT WORK IN IHi; OIKRAIlNi;
CHAMHER. '

THE GOVERNOR OF THE BAHAMA ISI.ANT'- ,

INC. THE WILLI \MSON St'DMARINE TlliK.

A CLOSE vmw oe the otekating chamber.

"lU ■■"b !:■ :-'.-. AT XXSAA,

A cust^SF. oi rm. flora avu fapna a thk wes":

\ti\t HO* •

«(1k1i^t. IH-*1 i*iL»i,i*.\« "-Oil*-* *■#.■••* i*i^ .*.*!«% i.k.*'.

EN ROUTE FOR THE BAHAMA ISLANDS.

Ji I : ■ ■;■■.■*,

A NATIVE WOMAN.

lafsauL 'mf:-:asx^f

A OROUP OF NATIVE BOVs

A >i K' ; Ml.:, 'ji 1 m. \\\' 'i '.:■ r - i

SILK-COITON TKEK

SI'ONGE-FlSIIINr,. THE NATIVE ON THE RIGHT IS

LOOKINC IIIROUCH A IH'CKET \\TTH A CLASS

HOTTO.M .

AN ANXIOUS MOMENT.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 39

natives is very fine, particularly that of the men.
The natives— the term " negro " applied to the black
people of the West Indies is strongly resented by
them — are exceedingly industrious. Early dawn will
find them hard at work in their fields, where
they will labour steadily during the whole of the
day. They are extremely fond of endearing ex-
pressions. For instance, no black woman will wish
anyone "Good morning" without attaching the
words " my dear." Another interesting character-
istic of the natives is their fondness for singing.
It does not matter what work they may be en-
gaged in, one or more of them will be singing
away right heartily. Sometimes a ditty is impro-
vised by one of the workers, the alternate lines
being sung by the others, with a swinging rhythmic
chorus at the end. It has been said that they
have wonderfully true ears, and are very fond
of harmony. The sound of the choruses at a
little distance has a most charming effect.

CHAPTER IV.

GETTING READY.

Upon reaching Nassau, the party immediately set
to work to build a suitable barge. The construc-
tion of the barge, which was forty feet in length
and sixteen feet in width, occupied a month. Amid-
ships it contained a well measuring six feet l^y ten
feet, through which the deep-sea tube was ^o be
lowered into the sea. The well was boarded round
with heavy, water-tight planks.

When the craft was finished, the party christened
it "Jules Verne," in honour of the esteemed French
imaginative writer, whose book, " Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea," has charmed thousands of
adventurous school-boys, and has delighted many a
stolid adult reader who loves to read a romance
that is based on scientific facts. To tow the "Jules
Verne," the Williamson brothers secured a big gaso-
line power boat from a native, who also happened,
curiously enough, to be an ardent admirer of the
charming French writer, and had named his boat
the "Nautilus." So, here was the enterprise now
fairly started on its way in the real adventurous
spirit of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
Sea."

40

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 41

The Williamsons had brought with them two
immense glass discs, made in France, each one five
feet in diameter and one and a half inches thick,
for the observation window. They had also pro-
vided themselves with a battery of nine Cooper-
Hewitt lights, arranged in a gridiron, each light
having two thousand four hundred candle-power,
these to be lowered for extra submarine illumina-
tion, should that be necessary. These artificial
lights, however, were seldom used, owing to the
wonderful clearness of the West Indian seas even
at considerable depths.

The Williamson submarine deep-sea tube, it
will be remembered, was described as possessing
the dual advantages of strength and flexibility.
These were obtained by the use of hundreds of
overlapping steel scales or plates, hinged together
between annular rings of malleable iron about a
foot apart, that form the skeleton of the tube. Over
this metallic structure was securely fastened a
waterproof fabric of canvas and rubber, the result
being a permanently open air-shaft down into the
sea, a vertical passage-way into which a man may
step from the deck of a steamer, and down which
he may climb, exactly as one climbs down a ladder,
to a depth of hundreds of feet below the
surface.

There is no discomfort from breathing com-
pressed air, since there is no necessity to use
compressed air. The top of the tube remains open
at the deck level like the top of a well, the sides

42 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

and the bottom being strong enough to resist the
pressure of the water of the ocean.

At its lower end the tube expands into a
spherical observation chamber five feet in diameter,
one side of which is provided with a large funnel-
shaped window. This observation chamber is made
of; cast-iron and weighs four tons. In submarine
photographic work two persons usually occupy this
observation chamber at the same time, one to take
the pictures through the heavy glass window, the
other to act as look-out and to give orders to the
deck crew overhead. A simple ventilating device
freshens the air, so that one may remain below
for an indefinite period quite comfortably.

The raising and lowering of the observation
chamber is controlled by two chains that are attached
to the chamber, and run to chain hoists on the deck,
which alter the position of the chamber according to
the instructions of the observer below. As the tube
is lengthened for deeper and deeper lowering into the
ocean, its bottom folds are more and more squeezed
together under the increasing water pressure, until,
at considerable depths, a section of the tube, that
would be eleven feet long when fully extended and
would weigh a ton, is compressed into about three feet
and still weighs a ton. In other words, through this
contraction a given length of tube becomes heavier as
it sinks deeper, and this automatic adjustment ensures
the proper balancing of the tube in the sea.

The apparatus used by the Williamson Submarine
Expedition may appear rather simple in construction,

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 43

but when it is taken into consideration that it had
been perfected only after years of study and experi-
ment, often hampered by difficulties that would have
discouraged many, one may get a fair idea of what
it meant to the inventor when he discovered that
his invention was practical. It had been tested before
it was taken to Nassau, but the supreme test of the
tube, the chamber, and all the other paraphernalia,
came when they took it to strange waters, with the
currents of which they were altogether unfamiliar.

It took three or four days for the party to prepare
everything for the submarine trip. The first thing
that had to be done was to place the observation
chamber in position in the shaft, and this was a rather
slow process, as the chamber is heavy, and has to
be lifted with big steel cranes. Next came the fitting
of the heavy glass. This is in one piece, and had to
be handled very carefully indeed while it was being
fitted to the window. When it was in position, a
heavy iron band had to be adjusted over its edge and
fastened to the steel grooves on the rim of the
chamber, so as to make it absolutely waterproof.

Then came the fitting of the tube, which is made
in sections, and is securely fastened together in cork-
screw fashion. When everything was in place, one of
the members of the expedition went down the tube
and saw that all was in readiness in the operating
chamber for the camera man and the observer. The
camera was next placed in position, and the operator
and his companion descended the tube, one at a time,
with ropes fastened round their waists to guide their

44 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

descent, and to save them Ln case their feet should
make a false step.

As soon as the signal was given to the deck crew
by the observer below, the ship began her journey,
moving exceedingly slow in order to give the
camera man an opportunity of taking pictures of
the scenes just in front of him on the bed of the ocean.

CHAPTER V.

TAKING SUBMARINE MOTION PICTURES.

The Williamson party remained at Nassau through
the months of April and May, working daily among
the neighbouring islands with the " Jules Verne "
and the deep-sea tube, and getting good results
from the very start. So brilliant was the sun, so
crystal clear the water, that, even at depths of
eight or ten fathoms, the photographer down in
his iron chamber was able to secure marvellous
pictures of this strange submarine region, with its
vast silences, its waving sea-gardens, scarlet and
purple and old gold, and its millions of gorgeous-
coloured fishes which darted among the forests of
live coral.

It must have been like an enchantment to look
out from the observation window over the sea
floor, to rise to the marine gardens and the forests
of living coral, and descend again to the meadows
of the ocean. It must have resembled a spirit
land, where all things were at peace.

On favourable days they could see distinctly
for a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet ahead
of them. Beyond that objects seemed to fade away

45

46 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

into palest sapphire mist. What a wonderful thing
it must have been to look upwards and see the
surface waves from below, undulating smoothly
with no broken crests. When the sun fell upon
the surface its shafts were broken into silver rain
that came down to them like fireworks.

Describing the sensation, Ernest Williamson said
that he felt as safe down there in the observation
chamber as if he had been riding in the luxurious
suite of an ocean liner. There was no danger of their
five-foot observation chamber being broken by the
water pressure, because the pressure of the air on
the inner side of the glass is, by means of an air-
pump, kept exactly the same as the water pressure
outside the glass. An air-gauge and a water-gauge near
the funnel show at all times what these pressures are.

The submarine work was carried out as follows :
George Williamson and Carl Gregory would usually
be in the chamber, down, say, at a depth of fifty
feet, George watching the objects and Gregory
taking the pictures. Ernest Williamson remained
upon deck, leaning over the open tube, listening
for orders. It is very easy to talk up and down the
tube, in fact, it is just like talking up and down
a chimney. George would call out : " Stand by,"
"Forward," "Aft," "Let her swing," "Slack off,"
"Now hold on," or whatever he wanted done, and
Ernest would repeat these orders to Joe Bethel on
the "Nautilus," which was towing them. If George
said "Raise her," or "Lower her," Ernest would
give word to the men at the chain hoists, and they

MiU.SK.HI i llorOC.kAI'HY. NATIVE DIVER SWIMMING INDEK IIIK 1 OUKKl Ul , MUKCURY VAI'DUR LAMPS.

\ VIEW OK THK WONtlKRFUL FLORA ON TIIR BKD OF THE WF.ST INDIAN SEAS.

TlIF, " STAKS- \Nl)-SrRlPEi " FISH WHlrU liRARS A RESKM HI. ANTE TO TIIIL AMERICAN FI.Ac;.

BAHY TUKll.b,S NEVVI.Y HATCHEP.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 47

would raise or lower the chamber until George gave
the word to stop. Sometimes the party would drift
along with the tide, and photograph whatever came
within range of the camera.

Some idea may be obtained of the powerful rays
of the tropical sun from the fact that they were able
to photograph objects under the sea at a distance
from the camera of one hundred and fifty feet. In
this way the party secured some extraordinary sub-
marine pictures, which amounted to about twenty
thousand feet of film. They took native boys diving
for pennies and scrambling for them at the bottom
of the deep. They took a photograph of George
Williamson in his diving suit, searching for treasure
near a wreck, while a column of bubbles boiled up
from his helmet. They also took a picture of a
native diver swimming through a sea forest of palms
and ferns, then seated on the bottom of the ocean fan-
ning himself with a purple sea-fan.

Then, just to add the final touch to their
adventures beneath the sea, they took pictures at
midnight with the aid of their Cooper-Hewitt, which
were hung over the side of the ship and lowered
down below the surface of the water. They obtained
by this means some splendid pictures. One film
was of a diver moving among myriads of small
fish that swarmed about him, attracted like moths
by the electric light. They discovered that a tap-
ping sound on the observation glass would attract
the fish, and they could see them turn and listen
and then come swimming towards them.

48 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

While the expedition was at Nassau the greatest
interest was shown in their submarine investiga-
tions by scientists and others, and several distin-
guished persons, including His Excellency the
Governor of the Bahama Islands and his wife,
gratified their curiosity by paying the Americans
a visit and descending the tube to the observation
chamber. They were amazed, and marvelled at the
remarkable sights that they saw from the observa-
tion chamber, and declared that the Williamsons
were without doubt the pioneers of a project which
would startle the entire world with its wondrous
possibilities, and which would one day be worked
out to the benefit of the universe.

CHAPTER VI.
DENIZENS OF THE DEEP.

All those who have made a study of the denizens
of the deep have been struck with the indescribable
diversity and beauty of ocean life. The innumer-
able specimens that adorn our museums afford some
idea, however limited in range, of the colour, form,
size, and variety of the creatures that exist in the sea,
but hitherto no one has been in a position to study
oceanic life in its actual environment, to observe the
different creatures seeking for their food, or to watch
them fighting their grim battles below the surface of
the water

It is almost impossible to imagine the varieties
of form and colour that exist. The brilliant hues
which we associate with equatorial bird life seem to
have been transmitted to the West India fishes. Here
are a few of the many variegated colours : sky blue,
deep indigo blue, yellow, blue and black bars, scarlet
and crimson, red. plain, dull, and drab colours, dark
hued and almost black stripes, recalling the zebra's
coat, zig-zag bars and stripes, and spots of all shades.
In fact, it is practically impossible to think of any
colour or any combination of colours that are not to

49

50 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

be found exhibited by one form of ocean life or
another.

"The ocean in its profoundest depths— its plains,
Its mountains, its valleys, its precipices — is animated
and beautified by the presence of innumerable organ-
ised beings," writes Louis Figuier. "Among these
we find the Algge, solitary or social, erect or droop-
ing, spreading into prairies, grouped in patches, or
forming vast forests in the ocean valleys. These sub-
marine forests protect and nourish millions of animals
which creep, which run, which swim among them;
others, again, sink into the sands, attach themselves
to rocks, or lodge themselves in their crevices ; these
construct dwellings for themselves ; they seek or fly
from each other; they pursue or fight, caress each
other lovingly, or devour each other without pit>'.
Charles Darwin truly remarks somewhere that our
terrestrial forests do not maintain nearly so many
living beings as those which swarm in the bosom of
the sea. The ocean, which for man is the region of
asphyxia and death, is for millions of animals the
region of life and health ; there is enjoyment for
myriads in its waters; there is happiness on its
banks."

The majority of the deep-sea animals live by
eating the mud, clay, or ooze, or by catching the
minute particles of organic matter that fall from the
surface. Many of the mud-eating species are of
gigantic size when compared with their allies living
in the coastal waters, and they themselves become in
turn the prey of numerous rapacious animals armed

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 51

with prehensile and tactile organs. Some fishes are
blind, while others are endowed with very large eyes.

Phosphorescent light plays a most important part
in the deep sea, and is correlated with the prevailing
red and brown colours of deep-sea organisms. Phos-
phorescent organs appear sometimes to act as a bull's-
eye lantern to enable particles of food to be picked up,
and at other times as a lure or a warning. All
these peculiar adaptations indicate that the struggle
for life may not be much less severe in the deep
sea than it is in the shallower waters of the ocean.

Let us now proceed to study in detail some of the
wondrous and peculiar creatures observed by the
Williamson Submarine Expedition. Certain of these
creatures have now been seen and photographed in
their native haunts for the first time. Over a hundred
little-known fish were photographed, and these have
aroused the keenest interest in scientific and photo-
graphic circles. Mr. Charles Townsend, the curator
of the Aquarium in New York, has spent many hours
over the photographs taken by the Williamson
brothers, and has found one or two specimens which
have never been seen or photographed before. Included
among the strangest, the ugliest, and the most beauti-
ful fish, are the cow fish, moon fish, parrot fish, angel
fish, butterfly fish, fool fish, scorpion fish, jolt heads,
trigger fish, trunk fish, doctor fish, shark suckers, sea
horses, squirrel fish, bog fish, and a host of others.

Of course, it will be altogether impossible to
describe within the compass of a book of this size
all the various animals that were seen and filmed ; we

52 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

can but select a few of the most interesting and the
most peculiar, in order to give our readers some idea,
if only a meagre one, of the beauty and diversity
of ocean life.

An examination of the foundation of the dock
walls, which were constructed some twenty years ago,
was made. Much of the foundation was found to be
little the worse for its long immersion. But other
portions were discovered to have been eaten away
to an alarming extent, and it is believed that the
destruction of the piles is the work of an extremely
small creature called the cobra worm.

The saw fish lives in tropical and semi-tropical
waters. The snout, which is exceedingly hard, pro-
jects out for several feet. It is flat on both sides,
and has along the two edges a number of strong
teeth that are sharp in front and flat behind. It
provides the fish with a formidable means of defence,
for with this weapon it can tear pieces of flesh off
its victim, or, if it chooses, rip its prey open. One
specimen has been obtained having a saw six feet
long and one foot broad at the base. Armed with
such a dangerous weapon, the saw fish even dares
to measure its strength with a whale, and fisher-
men who visit the seas where these two ocean
potentates encounter each other assert that the
meeting is always followed by a combat of the
most singular kind, in which the activity of the
saw fish is a match for the ponderous strength of
the whale. Occasionally the saw fish dashes itself
with such force against the side of a ship that its

WONDERS OF THE DEEP S3

saw is broken in the timber. In the Natural
History Museum, at South Kensington, may be
seen the blade of a saw fish embedded in the timber
of a vessel. From the length of the saw, it will
be gathered that some of the saw fish grow to a
large size.

To capture a saw fish is no easy matter. The
natives have to be exceedingly wary in the way in
which they handle this creature when they have
dragged it to the side of the boat, after having
harpooned it. With one sudden and unexpected
convulsive movement of its formidable weapon it
can lop off a man's arm or inflict a very danger-
ous wound, which, in most cases, is likely to prove
septic.

Then, too, there is the sword fish, which is an
occasional visitor to the Bahama waters. The sword
fish attains a length varying from twelve feet to
fifteen feet. Its main characteristic is the possession
of a great development of the upper jaw, which
resembles a huge, tapering, sword-like weapon, the
under surface of which is covered with numerous
small teeth. This is a powerful weapon, and the
sword fish. like the saw fish, will not hesitate to
attack a whale, killing it by repeated thrusts of its
sword-like projection. Sometimes, like Don Quixote
of old, the sword fish will tilt at large vessels, but this
encounter is generally disastrous for the sword fish,
the weapon being invariably left behind. Frank
Buckland. the naturalist, relates that in the Museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, there

54 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

is a section of the bow of a whaler impaled by one
of these swords. "At one single blow," he says,
"the fish had plunged his sword through and com-
pletely transfixed thirteen and a half inches of solid
timber."

Turtles and tortoises belong to the same family,
but the latter name is usually applied to those that live
on the land. Belonging to the reptile class of animals,
their chief and characteristic feature is the possession
of a very strong, bony shell, or carapace, which en-
cases the body, and into which both head and limbs
can, in many cases, be completely retracted. Tortoises
have normal walking legs, and these fit them for
walking on the land or burrowing into the earth. In
the True Turtles these limbs assume the form of
flattened paddles, and in no instance are more than
two of the toes provided with claws. Some of the
two hundred known species are adapted for an am-
phibious life, that is to say, they can live either on
the land or in the water. Some, on the other hand,
rarely leave the water during the whole of their
existence.

Turtles are hatched from eggs, the external
covering of which differs from that of a bird's egg
in being soft and leathery. A hollow is excavated,
usually in a sandbank, and in this the egg is deposited,
covered up, and left to hatch with the heat of the sun.
As soon as the eggs are hatched the young turtles
emerge from the sand and instinctively make for the
water. The journey down to the water's edge is
fraught with many perils to the young turtle, for fish-

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 55

hawks and sea birds of every description are lying in
wait to pounce upon it as soon as it makes its appear-
ance. It is said that very few out of eighty or a
hundred newly-hatched turtles safely pass through
this trying ordeal. Even when they reach the shore
their dangers are not over, for here shoals of sharks
and various kinds of predatory fish are prowling
round in search of the very toothsome morsel which
the young turtle will provide.

Certain species of marine turtles attain a remark-
able size. Some specimens have measured nearly
eight feet in length, and weigh over sixteen hundred
pounds.

Tarpon fishing is a delightful sport for American
and West Indian anglers. In fact, the tarpon is to
them what salmon and trout are to English and Scot-
tish anglers. The tarpon is a fish found near the
coast in warm American seas. It attains a length of
seven feet and weighs about two hundred pounds.
It is angled for with a rod and line. When caught,
it makes a desperate attempt to rid itself of the hook,
and has been known to leap right over the side of a
small boat.

Crocodiles frequent these waters. When hunting
the crocodile, the natives lasso the snout and then
dive into the water and capture the creature. This,
as one can readily imagine, requires a good nerve
and exceptional dexterity.

Schools of porpoises disporting themselves are a
common sight in these regions. Porpoises are generally
harpooned. The harpoon can either be tired from a

56 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

gun, which is the modern method, or thrown by hand,
but great skill is necessary to do this properly. The
porpoise, which possesses a flat tail, is an extremely
powerful fish, and when caught will draw a small
boat and its occupants through the water for a con-
siderable distance. It is quite an innocent fish, al-
though it does a great deal of damage to the nets of
the fishermen, for it follows the herring shoals, gets
into the net, and destroys it.

CHAPTER VII.

SOME ODDITIES OF FISH LIFE.

One of the most peculiar creatures to be found on
the bed of the ocean is the sea urchin. In some
respects, particularly in the possession of spines, the
sea urchin resembles the hedgehog, but the move-
ment of the spines is different. Whereas the hedge-
hog, on the appearance of danger, rolls itself up
into a ball and forms a defence with its spines, the
sea urchin is able to move its spines about in
different directions. Some of the sea urchins bore
holes into the hard rocks and remain immovably
attached to them. They are frequently attacked by
many varieties of fish on account of the ripe
bunches of sea urchin's eggs, which are regarded
by them as a special delicacy. In their attempts
to seize the eggs they are frequently badly wounded,
and sometimes blinded by the quills. The sting
caused by the spines is very much like that caused
by the bee, only it is more painful. In olden times
the spines of the echinus — for that is the scientific
name of the sea urchin — were powdered and then
taken as a remedy for various diseases.

Swarms of snappers were seen by the party.

57

58 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

These varied in colour, the chief being blue, red,
and grey. In appearance they somewhat resemble
the English mackerel. Off the coast of Florida, in
the United States, they are caught in large numbers
and are highly esteemed. Snappers display con-
siderable activity in their search for food.

Here is a fish with a curious snout, a glance
at which immediately recalls the homely parrot's
beak. The teeth of the jaws are joined together in
such a way as to form a sharp-edged beak, which
gives such a close resemblance to the parrot's beak.
This peculiar formation of the beak enables the
parrot fish to bite or scrape off those parts of the
coral stocks, that contain the polyp, or to cut off the
branches of the tough seaweed which constitutes
the diet of some of the species. Over a hundred
different kinds of parrot fish have been recognised
by scientists. Being a tropical fish, they display a
most beautiful colouration. Some of the parrot fish
attain a length of three feet. Many of the species
are eatable, and some are highly esteemed; but
there are several kinds that are dangerously
poisonous.

A curious small fish found swimming about in
these waters is the grunt, which has been so named
because, when taken out of the water, it makes a
strange grunting noise something like that of a pig.
Hence they are also known by the names of "pig
fish " and " growler."

One oceanic creature possesses a head that bears
a close resemblance to that of the horse; hence its

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 59

name, sea horse. It can coil up a portion of its
tail and firmly attach itself by it to the stem of a
seaweed or to some other object. In length, sea horses
vary from two to twelve inches, and their colour
changes with the general hue of their environment
of seaweed.

Occasionally, painted eels, remarkable for their
bright spotted and mottled colouration and their size,
which ranges from six to eight feet in length, are
met with. They are armed with formidable teeth,
and are held in no little fear both by fishermen
and bathers.

Cat fishes, another species of inhabitants in these
and the surrounding waters, are armed with powerful
spines which are capable of inflicting serious wounds,
either by setting up septic poisoning or causing a vio-
lent inflammation of the part of the body that has
been lacerated. One of their peculiarities is the
absence of scales, their bodies being either entirely
naked or armed with bony swellings or overlapping
plates. Another characteristic of this species is the
presence of sensitive barbels, or feelers, round the
mouth, by means of which they procure their food in
muddy water.

Scorpion fish are remarkable for their ugliness.
They have skinny appendages projecting from their
bodies, which resemble pieces of seaweed rather than
parts of fish. By means of the wavy motion of these
appendages the scorpion fish can either attract other
fish, or it can, owing to its likeness to the surrounding
seaweed, seek concealment, if attacked. Certain

60 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

species of scorpion fish are provided with fin-spines,
which are veritable poison organs.

The drum fish are also an interesting species.
They are so called because of the extraordinary
noise they make. "These sounds," Dr. Gunther
writes, "can better be expressed by the word drum-
ming than any other. They appear to be very
frequently heard by persons in vessels lying at
anchor off the coast of the United States, where
these fishes are very common. The precise method
by which these sounds are produced is not known.
Since they are accompanied by a tremulous motion
of the vessel, it seems more probable that they are
due to the beating of the tails of the fish against
the bottom of the ship to get rid of the parasite
with which that part of their body is infested."
These fish attain a length of more than four feet
and a weight of over a hundred pounds.

A well-known inhabitant of these waters is the
sucker, or sucking fish. This species possesses a
sucker-like arrangement, placed on the top of the
head and extending backwards over the shoulders.
By means of the sucker they can attach themselves
to sharks, turtles, and any other fish swimming in
the sea. Their hold is so strong that it is impossible
to dislodge them without exercising a great degree
of physical force. They grow to a length of from
two to three feet, and usually weigh about eight
pounds. The sucking fish are nearly always found
in close attendance on sharks.

Barracudas are large voracious fishes inhabiting

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 61

tropical and sub-tropical waters, and preferring the
coastal waters rather than the open sea- They
reach a length of eight feet, and their maximum
weight is about forty pounds. Their presence ren-
ders the water dangerous to bathers. In the West
Indies the barracuda is eaten as food, but this
practice is sometimes attended with danger, for, as
the barracuda frequently feeds on smaller poisonous
fishes, its own flesh may thus be rendered poisonous.

The trigger fish is so called on account of the
possession of an armature of spines on the top of
the back. These spines are three in number, and
the first one resembles the surface of a file. Hence
this fish is sometimes known as the file fish. The
trigger fish has the power of raising and lowering
these spines at will ; hence the appropriateness of
the name. Their teeth are so powerful that they
can easily break off pieces of hard coral, which
forms a large part of their diet. They do a con-
siderable amount of destruction amongst shell fish
and pearl oysters. As they frequently eat poisonous
coral or jelly fish or decomposing substances, their
flesh, too, becomes poisonous.

In these tropical waters are to be found zebra fish,
so named on account of their curious black stripes,
which give it the appearance of a zebra's coat; angel
or monk fish, which possess a broad flat head, and
attain a length of five feet ; the Hanna fish, a light
blue fish, named after Hanna, a scientist; the convict
fish, whose scales bear peculiar marks, reminding one
of a convict's dress ; the butterfly fish, which bears

*i

62 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

a close resemblance, in the markings on their skin,
to the butterfly; and the swallow-tail fish, whose tail,
as its name implies, resembles that of the swallow.

One species of fish discovered was unique in its
way. The markings on the skin resemble the Stars
and Stripes of the United States flag. No native has
ever been able to capture this fish, and scientists at
Washington have, ever since the Williamson Sub-
marine Expedition, been puzzling over the pedigree
of this wonderful creature, for no one had ever seen
such a fish before. The expedition nicknamed it
" Old Glory." When " Old Glory " was being photo-
graphed under the water, it was noticed that all the
other fish gave it a very wide berth. The reason for
this strange procedure is at present unknown.

Shell fish of all kinds abound in these waters,
as one would naturally expect. Huge conches, or
shells, containing about five pounds of delicious
and nutritious food, are obtained without much
difficulty.

A lOKPOISK r.Mri'KKI) IIY THK EXIKDIIION.

A CROCODILES HKAli,

I ilNi; A SAU-K[^H.

CAITURING A SllAKK 1;V ItAllED HOOK.

N\ii\i Willi \ ■ArirKKii I'KILi:

ilA' IIM. A ri'Kr'l|>K ON f.llAKP

A NATIVE TVINi; AN ANCIIOK ON THE liKD OF ITIE OCEAN.

CHAPTER VIII.

SPONGE FISHING.

Practically everybody is fafiiiliar with the common
sponge, as there are few families or individuals, living
in civilised countries, who do not use it on various
occasions. So very useful has this ordinary every-
day article become that we should experience no little
inconvenience if for any reason we were unable to
obtain it. What would the surgeon, for example, do
without it when he is performing an operation .''
What would the housekeeper do? How much less
should we enjoy our bath if the sponge were not
available ! And yet, despite the fact that a sponge is
to be found in almost every household, how many
people know what a sponge really is?

It has become so much an article of everyday use
that we never trouble to ask ourselves concerning its
origin, its pedigree, or its home. If you were to ask
anyone this question: "What is a sponge?" you
would be met with a blank look of amazement, be-
cause very few people have ever read anything about
the sponge. Some would probably be able to state
that sponges are obtained from the bed of the sea or
ocean, and their knowledge would, no doubt, be
limited to that single fact.

6J

64 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

What is a sponge ? For a great many years this
question puzzled scientists, and for a long time the
sponge was regarded as being a form of plant life.
There appeared to be good reasons for classifying it
with the vegetable world, because, in form, the sponge
is in many ways like a plant, and also because it is
fixed to a particular spot just as an ordinary plant is
kept in a certain position in the soil by means of the
root.

It was not until the year 1829 that a scientist,
named Grant, carried out a number of careful obser-
vations of the habits of these remarkable creatures,
and discovered their method of feeding. His investi-
gations of sponge life led him to assert that sponges,
although fixed to one spot, really belong to the animal
and not to the vegetable kingdom. Since then, further
scientific observations have been made and their struc-
ture has been closely examined, so that nowadays
scientists are fully agreed that sponges must be classi-
fied with the lower forms of animal life.

One end of the sponge is fixed to the bed of the
sea, while the other end is open. This opening is
known as the osculum. The walls of the sponge are
penetrated by innumerable small canals. Currents of
water, passing through the smaller pores and out at
the larger openings, contain a variety of still lower
forms of life on which the sponge makes its meal.

In its natural state, on the floor of the sea or ocean,
the sponge is a living thing, but the sponge that is
sold as a commercial commodity is but the framework
or skeleton of the original living creature. When

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 65

the sponge is alive the skeleton is coated with a sticky
kind of matter of a gelatinous nature, and before the
sponge can be of any marketable value this soft,
sticky portion must be entirely removed. There are
various ways of doing this, according to the locality in
which the sponge is found. In the Bahamas, for
instance, the soft animal matter is beaten out by the
natives with flat pieces of wood that resemble small
paddles.

There are now known to be no fewer than one
hundred and fifty different kinds of sponges. These,
however, may be grouped into two main classes,
namely, the common sponges, which are rounded or
flat in shape; and the finer sponges, which are con-
cave or cup-like in form.

Sponges assume all kinds of shapes. Some are
like a beautiful vase, others are semi-cylindrical, while
others, again, are nearly flat, like an open fan. In
some cases the shape of the sponge bears a likeness to
an open hand; these are known as glove sponges.
Sponges are found very abundantly in tropical or
semi-tropical waters, the most noted sponge centres
being certain parts of Australia, the Mediterranean
Sea. the Red Sea, the West Indies, and the Bahamas.
Certain kinds of sponges, but not many, grow at an
extremely rapid rate. These have been known to
reach a diameter of a foot in so short a period as five
months. Others, on the contrary, grow exceedingly
slowly. Many sponges attain an enormous size. The
Williamson Submarine Expedition obtained several
photographs of the monster tub sponge, which grows

66 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

to a height of nearly ten feet. As these sponges have
no commercial value they are invariably left growing
undisturbed.

In the Bahamas the sponge fisheries are carried on
entirely by the natives. The sponge fleet consists of
a variety of small vessels, and will often sail a distance
of ninety miles from the islands. Each boat has on
board a peculiar type of cooking box, in which the
food for the crew is prepared, and these cooking boxes,
it is strange to say, are exactly the same as those used
by the sailors of Columbus' time, over four hundred
years ago. They are filled with sand, on which a fire
is constructed. From twenty to thirty men, women,
and children make their homes on one of these boats
during the sponge season. A sponge fishing trip
usually lasts about six weeks.

The native fishermen are each provided with a
bucket having a glass bottom, and a thirty-foot
grappling-pole containing a set of strong iron hooks
at the end. The position of the sponge is located
through the bucket, and then the fisherman seizes
it by means of his grappling-pole. Sometimes the
roots of the sponge run through the bed of the
sea for some distance, and then the native has the
greatest difficulty in tearing away a portion of
the sponge. While this is being done a number of
different kinds of fish gather round the spot,
anxiously waiting to seize any food that they can
find as soon as the sponge has been torn away.

In some parts of the sponge beds the divers
descend to the ocean floor and tear the sponges off.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 67

As one would naturally expect, this work frequently
entails considerable danger to the native diver.

Some of the finest qualities of sponge are to
be found in the Bahama Islands, the principal depot
being at Nassau. But others, possessing a greater
degree of coarseness, are also found, and as these
are cheaper than European sponges, the process of
preparation of the coarser qualities is not so careful.
Sponge fishing in the Bahamas, which gives employ-
ment to six or seven hundred vessels and about
five thousand men, is carried on in the enormous
beds that lie to the east, west, and south of the
island of New Providence. Although often far from
the shore, and at a depth varying from twenty to
sixty feet, the sponging ground can be descried
quite easily through the transparent waters on the
clear, sandy bottom, from which the sponges are
raked or grappled up. From William's Cay and
Andros Island the finest qualities of sponge are
obtained. The superior kinds of sponge are
most serviceable for surgical purposes, and when
prepared are generally despatched to America.

The cleaning of the sponge is quite a simple
operation. The sponge is kept on the deck of the
boat until it is dead, and then it is thrown into a
"crawl," which is an enclosure of wattle specially
made for the purpose. Here the sponges are left
to soak for four to six days, during which time
they are repeatedly washed by the tide. After this
thev are taken out of the " crawl," and, as we have
already said, beaten with flat pieces of wood re-

68 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

sembling paddles. At one time it was customary
to bury the sponge in the sand for nearly three
weeks to enable the insects to eat away the soft
gelatinous matter. But the modern method is pre-
ferable, for it is quicker, more simple, and cleans
the sponge better.

Now the sponges are taken ashore, and here
men and boys sort them out according to size and
quality, but the natives, it may be mentioned in
passing, are not very good judges of the quality
of the sponge. When this has been done, the next
operation consists of cutting the sponges into various
shapes and removing all the irregularities. Much
of this work is performed by native girls and
women, and it is most amusing to see the women
puffing away at an old, short, clay pipe and to
hear them singing hymns. The next step is to
pack the sponges into bales for shipment. As soon
as this is done, a specimen sponge is fastened out-
side the bale as an indication of the quality and
size of the contents.

But even after all this has been done, the
sponges are not yet ready for sale. Before they can
be placed on the market they are pressed and washed
a great many times in salt and fresh water until
every trace of the soft animal matter has disappeared.
When these processes have been accomplished the
sponges are passed through boiling water with the object
of ridding them of the peculiar smell inseparable from
the presence of animal matter. At some centres
the sponges are bleached by steeping them in a

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 69

dilute solution of sulphuric acid, in which they are
allowed to remain for five or six days, care being
taken to press them from time to time. This pro-
cess certainly imparts a better colour to the sponge,
but it considerably impairs its durability. Very
often sponges are " loaded " by the addition of
such substances as rock-salt, molasses, gravel, and
sand, in order to increase their weight. Of course,
this is done only by unscrupulous merchants and
sponge dealers.

The following vivid and descriptive account of
sponge fishing in the Bahamas, and the sponge
industry to which it gives rise, written by an eye
witness, Mr. Henry A. Blake, at one time Governor
of the Bahama Islands, is worth reproducing here: —

" From October to July the sponging season is
in full swing. There are over five thousand men and
boys engaged in the fishery, each schooner carrying
a crew of five to seven. The sponges are found all
over the banks, which vary in depth from two to four
fathoms. The fishing is managed on the share system,
the crew being thus directly interested in the success
of the voyage, which lasts about six weeks. Arrived
on the ground, the small boats, of which each schooner
carries two or three, put off, manned each by two
men, one of whom sculls, while the other, armed with
a thirty-foot pole, bearing at the end a double hook,
lies extended over the bow, and examines the bottom
through a " sponge glass," or bucket with a glass
bottom. Laying this upon the surface, everything
below is seen as clearly as if no water intervened.

70 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

Even in fifteen and twenty fathoms the bottom can
be clearly seen and examined. The sponges, when
found, are hooked up by the armed pole, and as soon
as the schooner's deck is filled she sails away to a
" ranche," where she deposits her now evil-smelling
load in a " crawl," or enclosure of wattles in shallow
water, where it remains for a fortnight, during which
the crew are fishing for a fresh cargo. On their return
all hands enter the " crawl " and beat out the now
rotted fleshy part of the sponge, which, when first
gathered, presents the appearance of around mass of
dark india-rubber freely perforated. When the fleshy
part has been thoroughly removed and the marketable
skeleton washed, the heap is laid on shore in a secluded
spot, while the lot that has taken its place remains
on the "crawl," and the schooner starts again
for the sponge banks. At length, enough has been
gathered and cleaned to load the vessel, when the
sponges are sorted by the crew into glove, reef, lamb's
wool, grass, etc., and each kind separately strung in
rings of from one to two dozen. In this way they
are sold by auction in the sponge exchange, when the
first step of the preparation for the consumer is carried
out by the sponge merchants. The sponges are ex-
posed to the sun to improve the colour. They are
then clipped of all irregularities, and pieces of shell
or rock removed by the clipper, and once out of his
hands they are, so far as the Bahama sponge merchant
is concerned, ready to be pressed into bales and
exported."

Bahama sponges are classified into eleven different

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 71

kinds. The bath sponge — the fine, large lamb's wool
or honeycomb sponge — is found in certain localities.
This is very valuable and finds a ready market.
Other kinds of sponge include the reef, the boat, the
velvet, the yellow, the hard head, the grass, and the
common or glove sponge. With the exception of the
velvet sponge, none of these kinds is of much value
from a commercial point of view. Some of the
coarser kinds of sponge find their way into the
stables.

Very seldom are new sponge grounds searched
for. Sponge fishermen seem to prefer the old and
familiar beds, and consequently these, after a time,
become worked out. Undoubtedly, in these waters
may be discovered vast new sponging beds, which
may prove to be valuable sources of future wealth
to the islands.

Most people are under the impression that the use
of sponges is confined to toilet and surgical purposes.
This, however, is far from being the case. Many
of the coarser qualities are gradually being utilised
in other ways. In America, for instance, sponges
have been ised for stuffing beds and furniture.
Probably, in the near future, the cheaper kinds of
sponge will be utilised for a variety of purposes little
dreamt of now.

CHAPTER IX.
THE CORAL ARCHITECT.

At one time or another most people have seen
a piece of coral, either in the form of a child's
pretty plaything, or a girl's trinket, or as an attrac-
tive curiosity in a museum. From remote times
coral has been valued as bracelets, chains, and
brooches, as a personal ornament, or for decorative
purposes- In bygone ages it was regarded as en-
dowed with certain mystic and sacred properties,
and for this reason became exceedingly popular with
many classes as a potent charm against evil spirits,
and accidents, serious illnesses, or misfortunes of
any kind. The Romans, it is recorded, used to
hang beads of red coral on the cradles and round
the necks of infants to "preserve and fasten their
teeth," and also to save them from the "falling
sickness." In China, a special kind of coral always
commands a high price, because this is in great
demand for buttons of office worn by mandarins.
There, too, coral is powdered and used as a medicine
and also as a cure for inflammation of the eye.

Coral is, after pearls, the handsomest and most
valuable of all the products obtained from the sea.

72

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 73

It will polish with the brilliancy of a gem and
shine like garnet. It is very durable. Some of the
larger branches of coral are used for carving, and
from the workshops of Naples, Genoa, and Leghorn,
in Italy, comes the finest and most artistic work
in carved coral.

Worm-eaten coral beads find special favour with
the natives of India, owing to a superstitions
belief that gods dwell in the little recesses or
cavities.

What is coral ? Little was known for a long
time about the habits of the coral, its classification,
and its method of growth. But now that the coral
has been closely studied, we are in possession of a
number of scientific facts. The coral that you see
exhibited on a shelf in a museum, or forming a
charming necklace or other ornament, is merely the
skeleton of a once-living animal. This skeleton is as
hard and brittle as stone, and is the part of the
coral that is used for commercial purposes. In the
natural state, the skeleton is covered with a soft
substance that, when fresh, can be scraped off quite
easily with the nails of one's fingers. There are
holes in the soft portion of the coral, out of which
protrude little flower-like arrangements, which have
been compared to sea nettles. The coral polyp, as
it has been called, is not a flower, but a small
animal. Food is conveyed to it by means of the
currents which pass through the pores or small
openings.

The structure of these little creatures is thus

74 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

very simple ; they present the appearance of a
pocket or open purse, the mouth being surrounded
with tiny tentacles, or feelers, and conducting to
the central portion of the polyp the food that is
carried by the current that enters it.

So peculiar and fantastic is the coral scenery on
the sea bed, that one fancies oneself in a land of fairy
enchantment. Here is a description of some fairy
grottoes which will help you to form a mental picture
of the delightful scenery on the bed of the ocean.
" You look down, and see a steep, irregular wall, ex-
tending deeper into the ocean than the eye can follow,
and broken into lovely grottoes and holes and canals,
through which the resplendent fishes of the brightest
blue or gold flit fitfully between the lumps of coral.
The sides of the natural grottoes are entirely
covered with endless forms of tender-coloured
coral, but all beautiful, and all more or less of
the fingery or branching species, known as mad-
repores. It is really impossible to draw or describe
the sight."

There are various kinds of coral, as well as nearly
every variety of colour. The fan coral is so called
because of its resemblance to that article formerly in
great favour with ladies. Sometimes this specimen of
branch coral looks like a dwarf tree on the top of a
hill. Some corals take the form of palms, which bend
to the current as it sweeps onwards ; others are some-
thing like a whip in shape. Brain coral is to be seen
in the West Indian seas ; this kind has been so named
because in shape it bears a wonderful resemblance to

1

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 75

the human skull. Then there are stags' horn corals,
which remind one of the arrangement of the antlers
on a stag's head. Another kind is the star coral, whose
name is self-explanatory. The organ pipe coral takes
its name from the regular arrangement of its cylin-
drical dark crimson tubes side by side.

Coral may be red, white, pink, black, pale yellow,
purple, green, or brown. Red coral is found exten-
sively in the Mediterranean Sea, and is exported to
India and China, where it is largely used for orna-
mental purposes. From the commercial point of view
the most valuable coral is the rose-pink. This quality
of coral will be sold for as much as £100 or £120 a
pound, whereas the same quantity of ordinary red
coral will fetch only about £2. Black coral is found
principally in the great Barrier Reef of Australia. At
Jedda, in Arabia, there is a black coral fishery which
extends fifty miles north and south.

The word "coral " carries our thoughts "far from
home to fair isles in tropical seas — isles connected
in our memories with tales of shipwrecked mariners
and hair-breadth escapes, of dashing waves and
peaceful lagoons, of bread-fruit trees and waving
palms, of perpetual sunshine and endless holidays,
of Robinson Crusoe adventures and interesting
islanders, of poisoned arrows and ferocious
sharks."

Coral is found all over the world : in the Mediter-
ranean Sea, in the West Indies, in the Fiji and
other Pacific Islands, out in the Atlantic, and off
the north-eastern shores of Australia.

76 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

Have you ever wondered how the beautiful coral
reefs, of which you may have heard, have been
constructed ? The way in which they have been
formed is not at all difficult to understand. The
coral, while it is alive, secretes a substance called
carbonate of lime, and has the power of depositing
this chemical compound in solid masses. Now, the
coral polyp, instead of living inside this mass, as one
would expect it to do, after the manner of shell fish,
prefers to live outside, clothing the hard substance
with a kind of soft, transparent jelly. The co-opera-
tive principle underlies all the actions of the coral
polyp : they live and work together in communities,
and as time goes on the amount of carbonate of lime
secreted accumulates, and, while doing this, assumes
different forms, often, indeed, branching out in
various directions, as a tree does when it is
growing.

After a time the coral polyp, having lived its
full term of existence, dies, and presently the soft
portion of the animal decomposes and is washed
away by the moving water, leaving behind the hard,
stony skeleton. Parts of this skeleton mass are
broken off from time to time by the currents, or
the waves, and the loose blocks of coral are fre-
quently flung with considerable force against the
mass, breaking off other portions, and gradually
grinding a great deal of this into fine coral sand,
which eventually fills the numerous holes and
crevices. In the course of a long period the whole
mass thus becomes cemented into hard reef rock,

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 77

and in this way a kind of island is formed down
on the ocean bed.

This is always going on, and thus the low island
gradually rises through the addition of further rock
material brought to it by the ocean waves and
currents, until at last the reef has grown as high
as the surface of the water.

Before long the reef becomes covered with a
layer of soil, which is washed on to it by the
waves. The seeds which this soil may contain, and
those which may be dropped on t® it by the birds,
germinate, and not very long after varied forms
of tropical and sub-tropical plant life begin to
make their appearance, and in this way the coral
island, originally quite bare, is clothed with a most
luxuriant vegetation. In some instances the original
island has completely sunk below the level of the
water, leaving the fringe of a reef surrounding a
central lagoon. Charles Darwin, one of the most
eminent scientists of the nineteenth century, made
a special study of the structure and distribution
of coral reefs. He has described the lagoon islands,
or atolls, as they are called, as " vast rings of
coral rock, often many leagues in diameter, here
and there surmounted by a low, verdant island,
with dazzling white shores, bathed on the outside
by the foaming breakers of the ocean ; and on the
inside surrounding a calm expanse of water,
which, from reflection, is of a bright but pale
green colour." He further adds: "The naturalist
will feel a deeper astonishment after having

78 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

examined the soft and almost gelatinous bodies of
these apparently insignificant creatures, and when
he knows that the solid reef increases only on
thfe outer edge, which day and night is lashed
by the breakers of an ocean never at rest."

CHAPTER X.

DEEP-SEA DIVING.

Diving, whether in shallow water or in the deep sea,
is ever a fascinating occupation, and the latter prob-
ably more so than the former. Not only has diving
an element of fascination, but it also has the merit of
antiquity. In the " Iliad," one of the world's oldest
literary masterpieces, diving for oysters is mentioned,
and Thucydides, the Greek historian, alludes in his
writings to the work performed by the divers who,
during the siege of Syracuse, sawed down the barriers
that had been constructed below the surface of the
water by the enemy with the object of wrecking any
Greek war vessel attempting to force an entrance
into the harbour. In ancient Rome divers were
frequently employed to salvage sunken property, and
in some cases they were allowed, as a kind of per-
quisite, a definite proportion of the value of the wreck
salvaged, the amount paid varying according to the
depth of the sunken vessel and the risks incurred
during the salvage operations.

In many parts of the world the primitive method
of diving is still in vogue, as, for example, in the

79

80 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

Ceylon pearl fishing grounds, in the Mediterranean
sponge fisheries, and in the Bahama waters.

Deep-sea diving is, as one would expect, exceed-
ingly exhausting and trying work. Sometimes the
strain on the diver is so severe that blood oozes from
the nose, the ears, and the mouth, and when this hap-
pens the diver is not infrequently dragged back to the
boat in an insensible condition. Slight men of
muscular build, with good circulation, sound hearts,
steady nerves, and temperate habits, make the best
divers. " How long can a diver remain under
water?" is a question often asked. Well, this, of
course, depends on each individual diver, some
divers being able to stand a greater strain on their
system than others. So far as authentic records
are available, the longest time that a diver has
been known to remain below the surface of the
water is three minutes.

Many different expedients for diving have been
tried or adopted at various times ; in fact, the history
of deep-sea diving is intensely interesting. One
method commonly employed in connection with
pearl fishing and sponge fishing is for the diver's
body to be well rubbed with oil, and the ears
protected by the insertion of a plug of wool
saturated with oil.

The number of times that the Ceylon pearl
divers will descend into the water in a single
day is not more than thirty or forty. The means
taken to descend is to lay hold of a rope with
one hand, and to insert a foot in a loop

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 81

made in another rope to which a heavy stone
is attached, with which the diver sinks to the
bottom.

The idea of supplying the diver with air while
he is under the water dates back to the sixteenth
century. In an old book written during that
period there is an engraving representing a diver
wearing a light-fitting helmet, to which is attached
a long leather pipe leading to the surface of the
water. By the use of a bladder the open end of
the tube was kept above the level of the water.
It is thought that this idea was suggested to the
inventor by the action of the elephant in keeping
its trunk above the water when it is crossing a
river.

About a century later an apparatus was evolved
in which air was forced down to the diver by means
of a large pair of bellows. This possibly suggested
the air-pump, that was afterwards employed for
supplying the diver with air, and which is still the
method adopted in the majority of instances.

Early in the nineteenth century, a Devonshire
man, John Lethbridge by name, invented a " water-
tight leather case for enclosing the person," and this
invention of a simple diving suit was the prototype of
the modern diver's dress. Made of leather, and con-
taining an ample supply of air, the diver could, by the
use of this suit, freely move his arms and legs, and
walk along the bottom of the sea. Lethbridge, it is
believed, made a considerable sum of money out of
his clever invention.

82 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

A modern diving suit is a model of ingenuity
and skill, every device and precaution being taken to
ensure the safety of the occupant. The diver puts on
the lower part of his elastic, water-proof, rubberised
suit like he does a pair of trousers. A highly-
planished copper shoulder-piece fixes tightly to the
shoulders, and thus forms a firm base for the helmet.
When this has been donned, the helmet is adjusted
very carefully to the breast-plate, to which it is fast-
ened by means of metal screws. After the diver's
boots, each of which, by the way, has a lead or gun-
metal sole, and weighs from fourteen to sixteen
pounds, have been buckled on, the diver is in an
air-tight suit, which envelops his body from the neck
to the toes. The sleeves, it may be added, are made
in such a way that they form a water-tight joint at
the diver's wrists.

The helmet, which is the last part of the diving
suit to be adjusted, is provided with a flexible air tube,
through which air from above is pumped to the
diver by means of a pumping machine, usually worked
by hand. It also contains an arrangement by which
the foul air breathed out by the diver can escape, and
when the diver is under water this can be seen issuing
in the form of a series of bubbles. These bubbles are
very anxiously watched by those on board, for their
regular appearance affords an indication that all is
well with the diver. Should they, from any cause,
cease to appear, this shows that something has hap-
pened, and the diver must be raised to the surface at
once. The helmet is generally provided with three

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 83

eye-holes in front, covered with glass, and protected
by strong guards made of brass wire-

A diver is further supplied with a life-line, as
it is called, made of stout manilla rope, which he
always holds in his hands. With this line he can
signal to those on deck, in accordance with a pre-
arranged code. The life-line has also the advantage
of serving to guide the diver in returning to the
ladder by which he descends and ascends. Modern
diving suits, it may be interesting to note, are
supplied with a telephone apparatus, and this enables
the diver to keep in close telephonic communication
with the men on board.

The above is a simple description of the diving
suit in common use. Of course, there are different
kinds of diving suits, each having certain modifi-
cations and improvements. One type of diving suit,
for example, contains an arrangement that enables
the diver to obtain his own supply of fresh air,
and thus avoids the necessity of his depending on
the air supplied to him by the air-pump. The
cost of a modern diving suit varies from £75 to
£200.

Before the diver is ready to descend into the
water a number of weights are adjusted across his
chest and back in such a manner that they cannot
possibly become detached. These are necessary to
enable him to descend with facility to the depths
of the ocean and walk about the floor of the ocean,
and also to permit him to maintain his equilibrium
while he is below. Every diver wears a heavy

84 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

waist-belt, in which he carries a strong knife in a
metal case for emergency purposes, and sometimes
any other small tools that may be essential for the
particular task he has in hand.

The greatest depth to which any diver has
been known to descend is one hundred and eighty-
two feet. Those engaged in the Mediterranean
sponge fisheries frequently descend to a depth of
one hundred and fifty feet, while the pearl
divers of Australia go down a hundred and twenty
feet.

For special kinds of work, such as laying the
foundations for bridges, breakwaters, etc., the diving
bell is employed. This consists of a cast-iron box
without a bottom, and weighs about five tons.
The top of the diving bell is supplied with stout
glass windows, so as to admit the light, and also
with a connection into which the air supply pipe,
which is connected to a force pump, is screwed.
Inside, the bell is fitted with two seats and a sus-
pending chain, to which immense stones or concrete
blocks can be attached. The bell is suspended from
a barge, or platform, by chains attached to the
top, and is used in from thirty to thirty-five feet
of water.

In addition to its scientific and photographic
value, the Williamson deep-sea tube has many other
practical applications. One has only to read the
list of treasure ships which foundered in fairly
shallow water to realise what a fascinating field of
profit is here. Millions upon millions of pounds

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 85

in coins, gold and silver bars, ivory and precious
stones, and valuable jewels, have gone to the
bottom of the ocean by the foundering of treasure-
ships. Most of this treasure has been given up as
lost for ever to the world, but the Williamson
apparatus is a hint that much of it may one day
be recovered.

During their exploration of the sea bottom, the
Williamson brothers located an old wreck, which it
was afterwards ascertained was that of one of the
vessels engaged in blockade-running during the
American Civil War. Mr. George Williamson ar-
ranged to descend for a closer examination and in-
spection of the submerged wooden vessel. This was
by no means an easy task, for while he was exploring
the ship, on which he had great difficulty to maintain
his equilibrium, he was working under the pressure
of two atmospheres. This means that there was a
pressure of about thirty pounds on every square inch
of his diving suit. After some trouble, he managed
to wrench off the ship's bell, which, after examination,
was found to contain a Spanish inscription, and then,
with his hatchet, chopped off a piece of the wreck to
keep as a souvenir of his exploit.

At the present time the Williamson brothers are
at work on an expedition to salvage the " Mereda,"
wrecked off the Virginian coast a few years ago, with
a large quantity of silver ingots and jewellery. The
majority of the great wrecks of history are to be
found in water much shallower than the extreme
length of the present tube, because shipwrecks nearly

86 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

always occur near the shore. Among the many
famous wrecks to be salvaged, apart from those lost
during the war, there are the " John Grant," which
went down in fourteen fathoms of water off Orkland
Island, with a quarter of a million in gold on board:
the " Lizard," sunk near Cornwall, with fourteen
million pounds in gold; the "San Pedro," sunk off
the Central American coast with a large cargo of gold
and precious stones, valued at about thirty millions.
And then there is that famous fleet of Spanish
galleons sunk in Vigo Harbour, in which twenty
million pounds in gold and silver were lost. Not one
per cent, of this and much other treasure has ever
been recovered, and there are thus enough wrecks at
a depth to which a man can descend at present to
keep divers and treasure-seekers busy for a hundred
years to come.

The great feature of this invention is that the
tube will allow the bottom of the sea to be surveyed
where the depths are not too great, and for the diver
to stay down, there comfortably breathing good air.
The adaptation of the apparatus to any moderate
depth is merely a matter of engineering detail, which
can be worked out without any difficulty. From one
of the illustrations accompanying this chapter it will
be seen that the apparatus includes a device enabling
objects to be picked up from the ocean bed. Utilising
this, how easy it would be, for example, to load sponges
and pearls into lowered baskets, if you had the sponges
and the pearls right before your eyes. And the same
thing applies to bars of silver and chests of gold.

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TO MAKE A DIVE

AllACKING A SHARK.

MR, ERNEST WILLIAMSON RKAIlY lO MAKE A DIVE.

A CLOSR VIEW OF A SHARKS HEAD.

CHAPTER XI.

A THRILLING FIGHT WITH A BLUE SHARK.

The large blue shark that infests the waters sur-
rounding the West Indies is the most dreaded of
all the monsters of the deep. Its length varies
from twelve to fourteen feet, and its weight from four
hundred to five hundred pounds. The mouth of the
shark is provided with a series of sharp, triangular
teeth, which bend inwards, so that the victim, once
caught between the shark's jaws, has no possible
chance of escape. As soon as the shark rises to
take the bait, the skilful harpoonist throws his
weapon, which penetrates the flesh of the shark just
as it is about to make off with the bait. In order
to try to get rid of the harpoon, the blue shark
follows the curious practice of turning over and
over in the water very rapidly, but, unfortunately
for the victim, instead of this ridding it of the
weapon, its body becomes scored by the rope with
which it entwines itself.

"These Ishmaels of the deep," writes one who
knows the Bahamas well, but is anxious to clear
the shark of the unenviable reputation it has
acquired, " have such a villainous reputation that
it would be useless to attempt to change it, but I

87

88 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

must confess that, as far as our experience went,
they were 'not so black as they are painted.' It
may be that even sharks acknowledge the mild
influence of the climate, and that the benignant
atmosphere of the land of eternal afternoon has,
like music, 'charms to soothe the savage beast';
for certainly in the Bahamas the shark appears to
be a cowardly fish, and unless impelled by hunger
rarely assails a human being, except first attacked.
Instances of their devouring the bodies of people
who have been drowned are frequent, but we did
not hear of any case in which any living person
had been taken by a shark. Personally, we found
the sharks really forbearing creatures. On one
occasion some members of our party, including two
little boys, who would have been toothsome morsels
for a shark, were bathing in the harbour close to
the barracks. A soldier was observed shouting and
gesticulating, but my husband failed to catch what
the man said. On leaving the water, he learnt that
the soldier had been trying to caution him about
the vicinity of a large shark. The small boys had
heard the man cry 'A shark! A shark!' but had
maintained a judicious silence about it, as they
were afraid of being made to leave the water
sooner than usual. This shark was killed a couple
of days afterwards, and measured fifteen feet in
length.

" One of the most singular instances of the
voracity of the shark was related to us by a gentleman
on whose testimony reliance may be placed. At a

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 89

little distance froin the town of Nassau there is good
sport catching ' Black Fish,' as they are locally termed.
These fish are found in deep water, so that it is
necessary to play out sixty fathoms or so of line;
on hauling up, it is often tantalising to find that a
shark has been beforehand and taken the prize off
the hook. On one occasion this happened so
frequently that, in order to secure some fish and
get rid of the robber, the men let go a shark hook
and soon captured a large shark. They cut the
unhappy creature open, extracted the liver (which
contains a considerable quantity of oil), and flung
the carcase overboard. In another few minutes
there was a tug at the hook, and to the no small
surprise of the fishermen, they brought up the very
shark they had just thrown away as dead."

Certain kinds of sharks are eaten as food by some
of the poorer classes of the people. Sharks are useful
for many purposes. They supply an inferior kind of
oil, and their skin, under the name of "shagreen" is
made extensive use of by cabinet-makers for smooth-
ing and polishing wood. In some parts of the world
the dried fins of the shark form an important article of
trade, the Chinese, for instance, preparing gelatine
from them.

One of the strong desires of the Williamsons was
to take motion pictures of a shark in its native haunts
in some exciting situations, fighting with a man, if
possible, or with another shark. They were deter-
mined to secure such a picture, as with these scenes
recorded on their films they could be sure that they

90 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

had added the vital thrill so necessary for popular
appeal. There were some obstacles in the way, how-
ever. They would need the necessary bait to draw
the monster of the deep near enough to the obser-
vation window to ensure a good picture. They were
successful in securing the carcase of a horse, and
after considerable red tape opposition by the local
authorities, they had it towed out to the barge.

The barge and the bait were taken outside
Nassau Harbour the next morning, and allowed to
drift along the edge of the ocean where sharks are
always lurking, big ugly fellows with dark-blue
backs and white bellies. The horse had been floating
here for scarcely fifteen minutes, when a long,
shadowy form was seen gliding, snake-like, past
the side of the barge. This shark presently went
away, and in half an hour came back with another.
Then these two went away, and returned soon after-
wards with two more, and so the hungry company
grew until a dozen sharks were circling round the
carcase of the horse. But they seemed to be shy
and suspicious of the strange swaying tube which
hung below the vessel, and they would not come up
to the horse, swinging there temptingly in range of
the motion picture machine.

All that day and the next day the two young men
waited patiently and watched, but the sharks kept
at a distance, their fears stronger than their
hunger. On the third day, however, at about eleven
in the morning, one of the ravenous crew darted
forward and closed his jaws on the horse's flank.

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 91

Then the other sharks drew nearer, and for two
hours there was a score of them within striking
distance. The time had come for the sensational
picture.

Meantime, half crouching on the deck of the
barge stood a native, his black, oil-smeared body
glistening in the sun, his white teeth shut on a
wicked-looking knife. At a word he was ready to
dive into the sea and take his chances with one
of the brutes below, trusting to his quickness and
skill to save him. This man was the best diver
in Nassau; it was said that he had once gone
down to a depth of eighty feet, and he boasted
that he was not afraid of any shark that inhabits
the deep.

With fascinated interest, the Americans watched
the native while he watched the sharks. The
native's task was to time his spring so cunningly
that he would shoot down into the sea just in
time to meet one of those big fellows in its hungry
rush, at a point within range of the moving pic-
ture machine, the angle of which is only twenty
degrees, and within this angle he must have his
death struggle with the beast and kill it. This
was the native's commission, a very tempting piece
of work for any man.

They waited. A shark circled closer to the bait,
then swerved away sharply, and then — suddenly the
native lifted his hands and leaped head first into the
transparent waters, straight out for the murderous
fellow who was making direct for the carcase of the

92 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

horse. Those on the deck of the vessel gathered
anxiously near the top of the tube to hear the ver-
dict from the observer in the observation chamber.
Ernest Williamson awaited signals from his brother
in the tube, v/hile George leaned forward and waited
for the battle scene to start in front of the observa-
tion window. The camera man, in the meanwhile,
was all in readiness, waiting with anxious breath
for the critical moment. "Start!" called Ernest
Williamson down the tube, and the motion pic-
ture man immediately began turning for the big
and eventful scene.

There was a quick movement of arms and legs
as the man and the shark clashed. The man was
underneath. The shark struck violently with his
tail, half turning, then straightened, stiffened, and
slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean. The knife
had found his heart. A moment later the native rose
to the surface, with victory written all over his
ugly countenance. But while it was a personal
victory for the native over the shark, it was defeat
as far as the moving picture camera was concerned,
for all this had taken place out of the range of
the motion picture camera. This meant that it all
had to be done over again.

Here was the crisis in the expedition.

This shark's picture must be taken. But how?
That is the question which puzzled the Williamsons,
for they knew that while the wonderful pictures of
sea forests and ocean meadows would be certain to
interest, yet to give the needed thrill they must

WONDERS OF THE DEEP 93

have this battle between a man and a shark. It must
be real, and there must not be any fake about it.

Whatever was to be done must be done
quickly, for the natives explained that now that
one of their number had been killed, the entire
school of sharks might suddenly leave as quickly
as they had appeared, and once they deserted the
carcase of the horse it would take days of coax-
ing and patient waiting to get them to come
within range of the camera again. Moreover, they
might be so scared at the mysterious-looking
apparatus which had entered their haunts and
killed one of their family, that they would never
approach it again for months.

But Ernest Williamson was obdurate. They
could not miss this splendid opportunity, and the
only way to get the thing done properly for the
camera was to do it themselves.

"What! kill a shark?" inquired the others.

" Exactly. It is not a difficult trick. I have
been watching that native, and I believe I can go
down and do it precisely the way he did, and
within the range of the camera, too ! Come on.
We'll try it." And Ernest Williamson prepared to
make his descent into the waters of Nassau Harbour.

He stripped off his clothes, while the crew
smeared his body with porpoise oil, native fashion,
and, taking the keen-edged knife between his teeth,
he leaped overboard into the sea. He made for a
big shark, which had seen him and was making
for him with mouth wide open, showing his six

94 WONDERS OF THE DEEP

sets of vicious-looking teeth. At that moment he
was right within the range of the camera, but he
missed his stroke and came back to the barge.
He dived again, and finally obtained what he
wanted. He urged the big fellow right up to within
a few feet of the glass window of the observation
chamber, and drove his knife into the belly of
the shark, as Gregory, thrilling as he looked,
ground out his film.

Those who watch this exciting battle in the
submarine picture may well know that here was an
example of daring which has never been approached
in the history of film production.

" I wasn't so much afraid of the shark as I was
of a miserable fish about a yard long and shaped
like a pike, that they call a barracuda. Before I
made my dive," said Williamson, " I made certain
there were none of those devils present, and I
scouted around underneath the barge to see if I
could see any of them. When they are hungry
their bodies are covered with stripes. The natives
call them hunger stripes. Their lips curl back like
a snarling dog's, over big strong teeth."

This thrilling incident brings to a close the
wonderful story of how the sea has given up its
secrets, and has at last bowed to the restless genius
of man.

Printed by Jarrold & Sons, Ltd., Norwich, England.

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