94 THE OCEAN 



which a round, iron ball rolls back and forth, 

 thus clanging the bell with the least motion of 

 the buoy. 



Of course all these buoys, lightships, bea- 

 cons and lighthouses require care and atten- 

 tion, for if even one buoy goes adrift, one 

 light goes out or one of these safeguards of 

 the sea should fail to operate properly there 

 might be great losses in ships and human lives. 

 In order to give all these things proper atten- 

 tion the Government maintains a large fleet of 

 lighthouse-tenders whose duty it is to visit the 

 various ships and lighthouses, carry provisions 

 and supplies to the keepers, look after the bea- 

 cons and buoys and watch over the thousand 

 and one details of the service. Buoys cannot 

 be left continually in the sea, for after a com- 

 paratively short time the iron buoys become 

 rusty, the wooden buoys worm-eaten, and both 

 iron and wooden ones are soon covered with 

 such a thick growth of seaweeds, barnacles, 

 etc., that they sink deep in the water and are 

 not easily seen. 



Moreover, during the cold, stormy, winter 

 months, the expensive iron buoys are liable 



