1904' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



141 



NOTES or TRAVIHc 



CATALINA ISLAND. 



Everybody said, " O Mr. RootI you must 

 not neglect going- over to Catalina Island, 

 and taking a trip in the glass- bottom boats." 



When I asked more about it they only 

 answered, " You go and see, and then 

 write it up for us." 



I told you something about the crowd of 

 seasick bee- keepers on the way over to the 

 island, on the steamer. When Dr. Miller 

 and I secured a glass-bottom boat and 

 started out to see the wonders, we were 

 both too seasick to feel very much enthusi- 

 asm, especially in regard to the scenery at 

 the bottom of the ocean. The glass- bottom 

 boat does not differ very much from ordina- 

 ry boats, only right along in the middle 

 there is a big square box, and this box has 

 a glass bottom to it. The sheet of glass is 

 down as low as the lowest part of the boat, 

 or pretty nearl}- as low. Of course, the 

 boatman has to be very careful that a rock 

 does not bump this sheet of glass, and not 

 only cost him a whole lot of money, but per- 

 haps send the whole crowd down among 

 the fishes and "scenery." The railing 

 around the box is just high enough so you 

 can sit on a seat and lean over, looking 

 down into a shallow well, as it were. When 

 the waves are still, they are like a large 

 looking-glass — there is no need of a glass 

 bottom to the boat; but this glass bottom 

 makes the surface of the water always qui- 

 et; and whenever j'ou find it necessary to 

 see clear down to the bottom of any clear 

 piece of water, such arrangement will be a 

 great help. 



When I was in Bermuda they took a com- 

 mon wooden box and puttied a pane of 

 glass over the bottom to make it water- 

 tight. By holding this over the side of the 

 boat one could see down into the water to a 

 great depth. It simply quiets the rippling 

 of the waves on the surface. With this 

 explanation I will tell you what the doctor 

 and I saw. 



All around Catalina Island there is a 

 wonderful luxuriance of seaweeds. These 

 aquatic plants that grow in the salt water 

 are not only wonderful variations of the 

 most beautiful fernlike foliage, but the col- 

 ors are as gorgeous as the most lovely flow- 

 ers; and some of these seaweeds are, I 

 think, fully as large as ordinary apple- 

 trees. Imag^ine yourself sailing right over 

 the top of an apple-orchard in full bloom in 

 May or June, and then anon imagine hun- 

 dreds of other varieties of beautiful exotic 

 plants waving in the breeze, with all the 

 spaces between the plants filled with birds 

 of the most georgeous plumage, and you 

 have something a little like it. Instead of a 

 breeze, however, through the tree- tops, it 

 is currents of water that sway the branches 



more gracefully than the wind ever did; 

 and instead of the birds it is fishes of won- 

 derful brilliancy, of all colors of the rain- 

 bow. There are gold and silver fish; there 

 are sea-urchins and sea-reptiles; there are 

 things you never dreamed of, and all seem 

 to be in harmony. The fishes glide among 

 the branches, and come right up close to 

 the glass bottom. There are tiny fishes not 

 larger than cucumber seeds; and there are 

 some monsters which, if not exactly large 

 enough to swallow you whole, frighten you 

 with their cool indifference to your nearness. 

 Some of you have, perhaps, looked over 

 the pressed specimens of the wonderful sea- 

 weeds gathered out of the salt water along 

 Catalina Island. When we got ashore we 

 had time, before the steamer left, to go 

 through hurriedly a wonderful salt-water 

 aquarium. This contains specimens of all 

 the strange monsters we saw through the 

 bottom of the boat, and a guide stood ready 

 to answer all questions an inquisitive Yan- 

 kee could ask him; and I tell you there are 

 some wonderful things for us to learn about 

 the fishes that live and move away down 

 at the bottom of the sea. There are queer 

 creatures that seem to live and thrive on the 

 line that divides plant from animal life; 

 and there are creatures so hideous that the 

 memory of them might give you the night- 

 mare — that is, if you are in the habit of 

 having nightmare dreams. 



Before taking the trip back, the doctor 

 and I decided we would try some dinner, as 

 it was long past the regular dinner time. 

 And here again we were agreeably sur- 

 prised by having served to us a delicious 

 fish like some we had seen through that 

 glass-bottom boat; and in my case, at least, 

 that dinner of fish " hit the spot " exactly, 

 in spite of the seasickness that had been 

 hanging around. Yes, I think it cured it 

 for the time being. 



On the way back our experience was va- 

 ried by a wonderful treat in the shape of 

 fishes that not only skimmed the water be- 

 low the surface, but, just for the fun of it, 

 they occasionally skimmed the air above it. 

 Several times they came so near the steam- 

 er that one could almost catch the expres- 

 sion of their eyes. So far as I could learn, 

 these fish never flap their glossy wings 

 while in the air. The passengers I ques- 

 tioned thought the fish acquired sufficient 

 momentum while in the water to get out 

 into the air and sail about in most graceful 

 curves, sometimes for almost or quite a min- 

 ute at a time. This seems to me almost in- 

 credible, for they often take a curve and go 

 up a rod or mire above the surf ice, and 

 then sail about like a hawk with its wings 

 motionless. The brilliant crystal wings 

 sparkle in the sunlight like mirrors; and 

 while I enjoyed the sight so much I won- 

 dered that more had not been written about 

 them. 



We saw porpoises in abundance, and I 

 think something that scmebody said was a 

 shark; and it was my fortune once to see a 

 whale blow his fountain of water; and I 



