232 THE BO L TOM OF THE SEA. 



treasures in its secret bosom. How could the faintest 

 hope exist that the mighty ships laden with rich 

 merchandise, which have sunk beneath the surface, 

 could ever again be recovered ? What man so daring 

 as to attempt their extraction, piece by piece, from 

 the ocean which hides them with such jealous care ? 



Every such enterprise was for long considered 

 merely chimerical. Even now, any attempt of the 

 kind is, in most cases, impracticable ; and in those 

 rare instances where some hope of success may fairly 

 be indulged, it is only by great sacrifices, and by the 

 exercise of much ingenuity, that our expectations are 

 adequately realised. 



In presence of the vast ness of the sea, man is in- 

 voluntarily impressed with mingled respect and 

 terror. He may sail about on its surface boldly 

 enough, but he penetrates its depths with hesitation. 

 In his pursuit of a marine monster, he liarasses it so 

 long as it imprudently remains near the surface of 

 its vast empire. No sooner, however, does the 

 monster feel the power of his enemy, and the danger 

 of remaining within his reach, than he sinks, though 

 only a few yards, down into the abyss of waters, and 

 man's power of pursuit immediately ceases. 



If nature had gone so far as to endow man with a 

 large reservoir, where, like the whale and other sea- 

 monstersj he could store up ^ sufficient Yolurae of 



