296 THE UNKNOWN. 



even the smallest shells, appeared at that great depth 

 conspicuous to the eye ; and the water seemed, in some 

 measure, to have the effect of a magnifier, by enlarging 

 the objects like a telescope, and bringing them seemingly 

 nearer. Now, creeping along, we saw, far beneath, the 

 rugged sides of a mountain rising towards our boat, the 

 base of which, perhaps, was hidden some miles in the great 

 deep below. Though moving on a level surface, it seemed 

 almost as if we were ascending the height under us ; and 

 when we passed over its summit, which rose in appearance 

 to within a few feet of our boat, and came again to the 

 descent, which on this side was suddenly perpendicular, 

 and overlooking a watery gulf, as we pushed gently over 

 the last point of it, it seemed as if we had thrown ourselves 

 down this precipice ; the illusion, from the crystal clear- 

 ness of the deep, actually producing a start. Now we 

 came again to a plain, and passed slowly over the sub- 

 marine forests and meadows, which appeared in the 

 expanse below ; inhabited, doubtless, by thousands of 

 animals, to which they afford both food and shelter 

 animals unknown to man ; and I could sometimes observe 

 large fishes of singular shape gliding softly through the 

 watery thickets, unconscious of what was moving above 

 them. As we proceeded, the bottom became no longer" 

 visible ; its fairy scenes gradually faded to the view, and 

 were lost in the dark green depths of the ocean/'* 



* Travels in Norway, p. 195. 



