A Window of the Sea 319 



At Avalon there are no hackmen; it is a sort of 

 mountain Venice, where carriages are at a discount, 

 except for mountain climbing. One takes a sea auto- 

 mobile, numbers of which lie in the bay, and the captains 

 of the glass-bottom boats replace the hackmen of the 

 mainland and cry the merits of their strange craft, each 

 of which claims to the knowledge of some especially 

 beautiful sea meadow or glade which he will take you 

 over for the small sum of two bits. 



These crafts are of all sizes and are significant of the 

 attractions of the gardens of the sea, and doubtless the 

 study of marine zoology never had more patrons than at 

 this isle of summer where thousands of persons yearly 

 make the safe and picturesque voyage. 



The glass window in the boat is set in a few inches 

 from the bottom so that when the boat grounds the glass 

 does not. A large oblong well is built in the boat, its 

 edges being padded ; and about this from one to fifty 

 observers can sit and gaze down at the passing throng 

 a succession of ejaculations expressing the delight and 

 satisfaction of the voyagers. The skipper of the craft 

 discourses learnedly and always picturesquely on the 

 strange creatures that pass in view. The captain of the 

 glass-bottom boat is generally a character : amiable, 

 courteous to a degree, replete with a marvellous, some- 

 times fearsome store of facts relating to the wonders of 

 the deep, which he shares with his guests, affording a 

 most interesting divertisement. 



The voyager when the glass-bottom boat starts 



