THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 11 



the better of our judgment, and never to come to 

 a conclusion unless we find that, on strict and 

 logical examination of our reasoning, we have ar- 

 rived at it through fair means and firm walking, 

 not by leaping over difficulties with closed eyes, we 

 are quite as safe under water as above it, and have 

 as sure footing on the slippery surface of the sea's 

 floor, as on the grassy plain, or rocky mountain. I 

 can speak personally as to the pleasure of such 

 explorations, the more to be esteemed, since in these 

 days there are few countries so entirely new as to 

 warrant the traveller's boast, that he is the first 

 educated man to visit them, and to discover their 

 wonders. But, beneath the waves, there are many 

 dominions yet to be visited, and kingdoms to be 

 discovered ; and he who venturously brings up 

 from the abyss enough of their inhabitants to dis- 

 play the physiognomy of the country, will taste 

 that cup of delight, the sweetness of whose draught 

 those only who have made a discovery know. Well 

 do I remember the first day when I saw the dredge 

 hauled up after it had been dragging along the sea- 

 bottom, at a depth of more than one hundred 

 fathoms. Fishing-lines had now and then entangled 

 creatures at as great, and greater depths, but these 

 were few and far between, and only served to whet 

 our curiosity, without affording the information we 

 thirsted for. They were like the few stray bodies 

 of strange red men which tradition reports to have 

 been washed on the shores of the Old World, before 



