CHAPTER V. 



TAKING SUBMARINE MOTION PICTURES. 



The Williamson party remained at Nassau through 

 the months of April and May, working daily among 

 the neighbouring islands with the " Jules Verne " 

 and the deep-sea tube, and getting good results 

 from the very start. So brilliant was the sun, so 

 crystal clear the water, that, even at depths of 

 eight or ten fathoms, the photographer down in 

 his iron chamber was able to secure marvellous 

 pictures of this strange submarine region, with its 

 vast silences, its waving sea-gardens, scarlet and 

 purple and old gold, and its millions of gorgeous- 

 coloured fishes which darted among the forests of 

 live coral. 



It must have been like an enchantment to look 

 out from the observation window over the sea 

 floor, to rise to the marine gardens and the forests 

 of living coral, and descend again to the meadows 

 of the ocean. It must have resembled a spirit 

 land, where all things were at peace. 



On favourable days they could see distinctly 

 for a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet ahead 

 of them. Beyond that objects seemed to fade away 



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