CHAPTER XXVII 



THE GLASS-BOTTOMED BOAT 



THE old tar who described his ship, the None 

 Such, to a landsman as having three decks 

 and no bottom, would doubtless be sur- 

 prised to see how near modem invention has copied 

 his description, as the glass-bottomed boat in its evolu- 

 tion has two or three decks and almost no bottom, in 

 place of which are great panes of glass or windows 

 down through which the bold navigator looks and 

 sees the wonders of the deep. 



Many years ago I used a glass-bottomed box on the 

 Florida Reef for collecting rare corals, and when some- 

 thing was seen in fifteen or twenty feet of water we 

 dived down and brought it up. In this way I had 

 delightful experiences and came in a few years to 

 know the great reef about Garden Key like a book, 

 all from these submarine excursions, soon being able 

 to remain under water a minute, a short time com- 

 pared to the Japanese or Hawaiian divers. 



When I first visited the Channel Islands of Southern 

 California, some twenty-two years ago, I was impressed 

 with the beauty of the kelp beds and the marine fauna. 

 I had a large glass-bottomed box made, and also 

 planned a glass-bottomed boat and described it to a 

 boatman. From this, and doubtless the suggestions 

 of others as well, has grown an extraordinary vocation, 

 that of the glass-bottomed boat. The capital invested 



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