086 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



Though rp to this time, the attempts which have been maae 

 to do this have not met with perfect success, yet the results 

 already gained, show that with further experience, persever 

 ance will attain its desired end. 



Sponges are also fished for in the Red Sea. On the Bahama 

 Banks, and in the Gulf of Mexico, sponges are taken by Mex- 

 icans, Spaniards, and Americans, in shallow water. A mast 

 is sunk at the side of the boat, and the diver descends this ; 

 gathering the sponges found near the bottom of the pole. 



Next in order of fishing in deep sea, comes coral fishing. 

 The ancients believed that the coral was a plant, but it is now 

 known that the coral is constructed by a family of polyps liv- 

 ing together, and constituting a polypidom. It abounds in the 

 waters of the Mediterranean where upon rocky beds like a sub- 

 marine forest, the red coral, the most brilliant and celebrated 

 of all coral, grows at various depths, rarely less than five fath- 

 oms, or more than one hundred. Each polypidom resembles a 

 red leafless shrub, bearing delicate little star-shaped white 

 flowers. The branches and trunk of this little tree, are the 

 parts common to the family, the flowers are the individual 

 polyps. The branches show a soft, reticulated crust, or 

 bark, full of small holes, which are the cells of the polyps 

 and they are permeated by a milky juice. Beneath the crust 

 is the coral, hard as marble, and remarkable for its striped sur- 

 face, its red color, and the fine polish it will take. The fishing 

 is chiefly carried on by sailors from Genoa, Leghorn, and Na- 

 ples, and is a very laborious occupation. The barks engaged 

 in it are small, ranging from ten to fifteen tons. The coral is 

 fished with an apparatus called an engine, consisting of cross 

 bars of wood tied and bolted together at the centre. Below 

 this is a large stone with nets or bags attached. Each engine 

 has a number of these nets, and when let down into the sea, 

 they spread out. The coral grows on the tops of the rocka, 

 %nd the object is to scrape it off into these bags. By expert- 



