Life in the Open 



marine scenery and watch the myriads of strange ani- 

 mals seen there. The channel islands of Southern 

 California are the tops of offshore Sierras, rising out of 

 the sea ; and could we see them divested of the ocean 

 they would look like gigantic needles rising from the 

 bottom. All have a peculiar beard or protecting growth 

 of weed that constitutes a forest about them, a gigantic 

 sea plant rising from water sixty or more feet in depth 

 and forming a natural wave-break and a home for count- 

 less marine animals. The vines are often one hundred 

 feet in length, vast cables with broad crimpled leaves of 

 a rich dark olive hue, which assume graceful shapes in 

 the tide, and when one peers down into the blue water 

 the scene is often a revelation ; a new world is opened 

 up, and the real beauty of oceanic or submarine scenery 

 is appreciated. The great leaves are carried by the fitful 

 currents that sweep these islands in every direction. 

 Sometimes they are extended at full length and appear 

 like a horde of green snakes ; again they lie at the sur- 

 face, listless and drooping, forming myriads of halls, 

 parterres, nooks and corners of much beauty, the real 

 dark, unfathomed cave of the ocean. 



So attractive are these kelpian forests, so fascinating 

 to investigate, that the glass-bottom-boat voyages to 

 them have become a pastime so well defined that thou- 

 sands indulge in it, and the fleet with windows in the 

 bottom cruises up and down the smooth waters, by the 

 sea-lion rookeries, affording one of the most pleasing 

 and novel experiences to be enjoyed on the Pacific Coast. 



