56 WALKS AND TALKS. 



X. A \VALK: UNDER THE SEA. 



WHAT GOES ON IN THE OCEAN DEPTHS. 



"THE sea! the sea!" shouted the companions of Balboa, 

 as they caught the first glimpse of the Pacific from the heights 

 of the American Isthmus. The sea has always inspired the 

 wonder often the veneration of mankind. Its vastness and 

 power overwhelm the imagination. Its permanence, its an- 

 tiquity, form a bewildering conception. The same ''far- 

 sounding sea " roared in the hearing of the mariners of the 

 remotest past. The same ocean floated the ships of the Tyri- 

 ans and Carthaginians. Its mysterious depths aroused the 

 superstitions of the ancients as they excite the intelligent 

 curiosity of modern science. A "glorious mirror," as Byron 

 conceived it, 



" Where the Almighty's form 

 Glasses itself in tempests. * * * * 



Boundless, endless, and sublime, 

 The image of eternity the throne 

 Of the invisible." 



Let us stand on some bold headland and look out over the 

 Atlantic. Let us plant ourselves on Sankaty Head, the east- 

 ern promontory of Nantucket, itself the "ultima Thule" of 

 New England. The breakers roar along the beach. Across 

 the billowy blue thought wanders to the European shore. 

 Underneath the ruffled surface imagination pictures a world 

 of curious and wonderful existences. There lie the skeletons 

 of noble ships there moulder the dead sailors of all nations 

 there rot invaluable cargoes there sleep the mysteries of 

 steamers which sailed out of sight of land and never returned 

 there swarm the sharks that desecrate the sacred forms of 

 humanity which sink into their silent empire. Shall we ven- 

 ture among the dangers of the under-world ? Yes, we invoke 

 the magic protection which has made warriors invulnerable, 

 and shielded adventurers upon the waters of Styx, and the 

 fiery waves of Phlegethon. 



