2 THE OCEAN. 



atitms in Europe. Enormous Thickness of Cretaceous Rocks. Their 

 Deposit by Still Water. Enormous Periods of Geological Time this 

 Occupied. Slowness with which the Deposit of Water Accumulates. 

 Soft Mud under Pressure. Great Seaweeds of the Southern 

 Ocean. The Macrocystis Pyrifera. Sir Joseph Hooker upon Giant 

 Seaweeds. Seaweeds nearly 1000 Feet Long. Their Value to 

 Mariners as Indicating Sunken Rocks. Charles Darwin on Great 

 Seaweeds as Natural Breakwaters. Submarine Forests. Fish and Animal 

 Life in Banks of Great Seaweeds. Wonders of the Vegetable Creation. 

 Coral Reefs. Their Enormous Size and Depth. The Great Barrier 

 Reef of Australia. Atolls. The " Low " Archipelago. Enormous Area 

 enclosed by it. Charles Darwin on the Deep Channels inside the 

 Reefs. Wonders of Submarine Life. Coral-Polypes. A South-Sea 

 Island Scene of Restful Beauty. The Great Ocean Rollers. The In- 

 finitely Great and the Infinitely Small. The Ocean a Noble Study. 

 Sea Voyages. Voyages by Invalids. Sea Sickness. The Author's 

 Experience of Sea-sick Fellow- Passengers. The Briton and the Foreigner 

 as Natural Seamen. Management of Sea-sick Friends. The Sailor's 

 "Land Legs." Curious Phenomenon. The Influence of Habit on the 

 Nervous System. Hints as to Comfort at Sea. Fine Weather Voyages. 

 Voyages to the Cape. To Australia via the Canal. To Australia by 

 Long Sea via the Cape. Winds of the Great Southern Ocean. Their 

 Penetrating Nature. Selecting Cabins for Voyages. The Author's 

 Experience on this Point. " Catching Cold " on entering the Hot 

 Weather. A Tropical Night at Sea. Life on Board a Modern First- 

 class Steamer. A Floating Hotel. The Study of the Star-lit Heavens 

 at Sea recommended to Travellers. 



" All the rivers run into the sea ; 



yet the sea is not full ; unto the 



place from whence the rivers 



come, thither they return again." 



Ecclesiastes i., 7. 



THE traveller in the course of his wanderings to 

 and fro over the surface of the earth generally 

 finds that at the end of his career no inconsiderable 

 proportion of his time, and a great part of the mileage 

 of his journeyings, has been passed as an ocean-borne 

 passenger. This is specially true of the British traveller 

 going forth from his island home. 



This work would therefore appear singularly incom- 

 plete if that greatest of all wildernesses, the wilderness 

 of waters, with all its living wonders, were passed 

 over in silence; especially when we remember that 



