ointing to the heap
and addressing his companions. "And this, I expect, is the sort of
thing which we shall see in every depression of the ocean's bed which we
may visit. All these matters have been swept hither and thither over
the ground by the action of the tidal and other currents, until they
have happened to drift over this spot, and here they have finally
settled owing to the inability of the currents to move them up the steep
sides of the depression. Let us walk round the heap; we may see
something of interest before we have completed the circuit."

And so they did, though the interest was hardly the kind of which the
professor had been thinking when he spoke. For, whilst standing on the
opposite side of the heap, contemplating the remains of an ancient and
grass-grown wreck, they were startled by the appearance of a sharp
snake-like head with a pair of fierce gleaming eyes which was suddenly
protruded from a gap in the ship's side, and in another moment the
creature--a conger-eel of truly gigantic proportions--emerged from its
hiding-place, and, possibly attracted by the brilliancy of the electric
lights which the party carried, swam boldly toward them.

"What a horrible monster!" ejaculated the colonel, at the same moment
that Lieutenant Mildmay, struck with the savage look of the creature,
exclaimed:

"Why, I believe the brute means to attack us!"

"And, by Jove, here come some more of them!" exclaimed the baronet,
pointing to the hole from which the creature had emerged.

"Draw your daggers, gentlemen!" shouted the professor. "And be not
dismayed; they and our armour are quite sufficient for our protection."

It was perhaps just as well that the professor had sufficient presence
of mind at that moment to say what he did; for his companions, though
their courage had been proved a thousand times before, were now in a new
and strange element to which they had scarcely had time to accustom
themselves; and, moreover, the aspect of the fierce fish as they rushed
forward with open jaws, disclosing their formidable teeth, was
sufficiently weird and uncanny to at least momentarily dismay the
stoutest heart.

Lieutenant Mildmay's anticipation as to the intentions of the fish
proved quite correct. On they came, some thirty or forty in number; and
before the attacked could quite recover from their confusion they found
themselves fairly in the clutches of the snake-like creatures. The
attack was made with t