14 THE OCEAN'S TALE : 



there are many chapters in that wonderful story. 

 The sea has much to say; far more than could 

 possibly be comprehended in one volume, however 

 large. It tells us of the doings "of man on its 

 broad bosom, from the day in which he first 

 ventured to paddle along shore in the hollow trunk 

 of a tree, to the day when he launched his great 

 iron ship of 20,000 tons, and rushed out to sea, 

 against wind and tide, under an impulse equal to 

 the united strength of 11,500 horses. No small 

 portion of the ocean's tale this, comprising many 

 chapters of deeds of daring, blood, villany, hero- 

 ism, and enterprise. But with this poi^ion of its 

 story we have nothing to do just now. It tells us, 

 also, of God's myriad and multiform creatures that 

 dwell in its depths, from the vast whale, whose speed 

 is so great, that it might, if it chose, circle round 

 the world in a few days, to the languid zoophyte, 

 which clings to the rock, and bears more re- 

 semblance to a plant than to a living animal. 



The sea has secrets, too, some of which it will 

 not divulge until that day when its Creator shall 

 command it to give up its dead ; while others it is 

 willing to part with to those who question it 

 closely, patiently, and with intelligence. 



Among the former kind of secrets are those foul 

 deeds that have been perpetrated, in all ages, by 

 abandoned men ; when no human ears listened to 

 the stifled shriek, or the gurgling plunge ; when 

 no human eyes beheld the murderous acts, the 



