can be imagined; groves of
coral, beautiful caverns, with floors of silver sand, spiral caves winding
down, down, down, covered with beautiful, delicate plants, and leading to
beds of smooth, hard sand, which shine like gold. Feathery ferns turn
silver and crimson beneath your hand, and beautiful fish glide around you,
or rest in the water, with no motion save the gentle pulsation of their
gills as they breathe.

"I have stood upon the bottom of the ocean, and gazed up, awe-stricken and
bewildered, at the wonderful masses of coral above my head, resembling
forests of monstrous trees, with gnarled and twisted branches intertwined;
and when I have considered that it was all the work of insects so tiny
that millions of them were working at my feet, and I could not see them, I
have compared my own littleness in the universe with the wonderful work of
the least of them, and have felt my own insignificance.

"And curious things have happened, too. I was once examining an old wreck
off South America. It was an old Spanish frigate, supposed to have
valuable jewels and a large amount of money aboard.

"I was walking over the wreck one day, and, being disappointed in not
finding any treasure, was about returning, when I observed a curious heap
of shells, close to one of the stanchions. I picked off a handful from the
top of the heap, which was about two feet high, and regularly piled in a
conical form, and seeing the shells were of a most beautiful pink color,
and very delicate, I filled my pockets with them, and then, touching the
life-lines, was pulled up.

"The divers in my employ were delighted with them, and as they were just
the right size for buttons, one of the boys went down, with a large bag,
to bring off the rest.

"I told him just where to find them; but when he came up, he declared
there were none to be seen anywhere.

"I was sure he had not followed my directions; so I went down again; and
judge my surprise when I found he had spoken truly. _There was not one to
be seen._ The little wretches, disgusted with the disturbance I created,
had all crawled away."

"How curious!" exclaimed Eric. "Could you not find any of them?"

"Not a vestige of them."

"It was singular--wasn't it?"

"Yes. I have learned many singular things since I have gone under the sea.
For instance, water is a very powerful conductor of sound, much more so
than air. We often blast rocks under the water--"

"How can you?" interrupted Eric