Chapter I: Front Matter

THE SEA:

_Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism._

BY

F. WHYMPER,
AUTHOR OF “TRAVELS IN ALASKA,” ETC.

_ILLUSTRATED._

* * * *

CASSELL, PETTER, GALPIN & CO.: _LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK_. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE GREAT ATLANTIC FERRY. PAGE The “Grand Tour” of Former Days—The only Grand Tour left—Round 1 the World in Eighty Days—Fresh‐water Sailors and Nautical Ladies—Modern Steamships and their Speed—The _Orient_—Rivals—Routes round the Globe—Sir John Mandeville on the Subject—Difficulties in some Directions—The Great Atlantic Ferry—Dickens’s Experiences—Sea Sickness—Night at Sea—The Ship Rights—And then Wrongs—A Ridiculous Situation—Modern First‐class Accommodation—The Woes of the Steerage—Mark Tapley—Immense Emigration of Third‐class Passengers—Discomfort and Misery—Efforts to Improve the Steerage—“Intermediate”—Castle Garden, New York—Voyage Safer than by the Bay of Biscay—The _Chimborazo_ in a Hurricane CHAPTER II. OCEAN TO OCEAN—THE CONNECTING LINK. The Great Trans‐Continental Railway—New York to Chicago—Niagara 14 in Winter—A Lady’s Impressions—A Pullman Dining Car—Omaha—“The Great Muddy”—Episodes of Railway Travel—Rough Roads—Indian attempts at catching Trains—Ride on a Snow Plough—Sherman—Female Vanity in the Rocky Mountains—Soaped Rails—The Great Plains—Summer and Winter—The Prairie on Fire—A Remarkable Bridge—Coal Discoveries—The “Buttes”—The City Gates of Mormondom—Echo and Weber Cañons—The Devil’s Gate—Salt Lake—Ride in a “Mud Waggon”—The City of the Saints—Mormon Industry—A Tragedy of Former Days—Mountain Meadow Massacre—The “Great Egg‐ shell”—Theatre—The Silver State—“Dead Heads”—Up in the Sierra Nevada—Alpine Scenery—The Highest Newspaper Office in the World—“Snowed‐up”—Cape Horn—Down to the Fruitful Plains—Sunny California—Sacramento—Oakland and the Golden City—Recent Opinions of Travellers—San Francisco as a Port—Whither Away? CHAPTER III. THE PACIFIC FERRY—SAN FRANCISCO TO JAPAN AND CHINA. The American Steamships—A Celestial Company—Leading 31 Cargoes—Corpses and Coffins—Monotony of the Voyage—Emotions Caused by the Sea—Amusements on board—“Chalked”—Cricket at Sea—Balls Overboard—A Six Days’ Walking Match—Theatricals—Waxworks—The Officers on Board—Engineer’s Life—The Chief Waiter—“Inspection”—Meeting the _America_—Excitement—Her subsequent Fate—A Cyclone—At Yokohama—Fairyland—The Bazaars—Japanese Houses—A Dinner _menu_—Music and Dancing—Hong Kong, the Gibraltar of China—Charming Victoria—Busy Shanghai—English Enterprise CHAPTER IV. THE PACIFIC FERRY—ANOTHER ROUTE. The Hawaiian Islands—King and Parliament—Pleasant Honolulu—A 45 Government Hotel—Honeysuckle‐covered Theatre—Productions of the Islands—Grand Volcanoes—Ravages of Lava Streams and Earthquakes—Off to Fiji—A rapidly Christianised People—A Native Hut—Dinner—Kandavu—The Bush—Fruit‐laden Canoes—Strange Ideas of Value—New Zealand—Its Features—Intense English Feeling—The New Zealand Company and its Iniquities—The Maories—Trollope’s Testimony—Facts about Cannibalism—A Chief on Bagpipes—Australia—Beauty of Sydney Harbour—Its Fortifications—Volunteers—Its War‐fleet of One—Handsome Melbourne—Absence of Squalor—No Workhouses Required—The Benevolent Asylums—Splendid Place for Working Men—Cheapness of Meat, &c.—Wages in Town and Country—Life in the Bush—“Knocking Down One’s Cheque”—Gold, Coal, and Iron CHAPTER V. WOMAN AT SEA. Poets’ Opinions on Early Navigation—Who was the First Female 56 Navigator?—Noah’s Voyage—A Thrilling Tale—A Strained Vessel—A Furious Gale—A Birth at Sea—The Ship Doomed—Ladies and Children in an Open Boat—Drunken Sailors—Semi‐starvation, Cold, and Wet—Exposed to the Tropical Sun—Death of a Poor Baby—Sharks about—A Thievish Sailor—Proposed Cannibalism—A Sail!—The Ship passes by—Despair—Saved at Last—Experiences of a Yachtswoman—Nearly Swamped and Carried Away—An Abandoned Ship—The _Sunbeam_ of Service—Ship on Fire!—Dangers of a Coal Cargo—The Crew taken off—Noble Lady Passengers—Two Modern Heroines and their Deeds—The Story of Grace Darling—The Longstone Light and Wreck of the _Forfarshire_—To the Rescue!—Death of Grace Darling CHAPTER VI. DAVY JONES’S LOCKER AND ITS TREASURES. Clarence’s Dream—Davy Jones’s Locker—Origin of the Term—Treasures 66 of the Ocean—Pearl Fishing—Mother o’ Pearl—Formation of Pearls—Art and Nature combined—The Fisheries—The Divers and their _modus operandi_—Dangers of the Trade—Gambling with Oysters—Noted Pearls—Cleopatra’s Costly Draught—Scottish Pearls very Valuable—Coral—Its Place in Nature—The Fisheries—Hard Work and Poor Pay—The Apparatus Used—Coral Atolls—Darwin’s Investigations—Theories and Facts—Characteristics of the Reefs—Beauty of the Submarine Forests—Victorious Polyps—The Sponge a Marine Animal—The Fisheries—Harpooning and Diving—Value of Sponges CHAPTER VII. DAVY JONES’S LOCKER AND THOSE WHO DIVE INTO IT. Scientific Diving—General Principles—William Phipps and the 79 Treasure Ship—Founder of the House of Mulgrave—Halley’s Wooden Diving‐Bell and Air Barrels—Smeaton’s Improvements—Spalding’s Death—Operations at Plymouth Breakwater—The Diver’s Life—“Lower away!”—The Diving‐_Belle_ and her Letter from Below—Operations at the Bottom—Brunel and the Thames Tunnel—The Diving Dress—Suffocation—Remarkable Case of Salvage—The “Submarine Hydrostat”—John Gann of Whitstable—Dollar Row—Various Anecdotes—Combat at the Bottom of the Sea—A Mermaid Story—Run down by the _Queen of Scotland_ CHAPTER VIII. THE OCEAN AND SOME OF ITS PHENOMENA. The Saltness of the Sea—Its Composition—Tons of Silver in the 90 Ocean—Currents and their Causes—The Great Gulf Stream—Its Characteristics—A Triumph of Science—The Tides—The Highest Known Tides and Waves—Whirlpools—The Maelström—A Norwegian Description—Edgar Allan Poe and his Story—Rescued from the Vortex—The “Souffleur” at the Mauritius—The Colour of the Sea—Its Causes—The Phosphorescence of the Ocean—Fields of Silver—Principally Caused by Animal Life CHAPTER IX. DAVY JONES’S LOCKER—SUBMARINE CABLES. The First Channel Cable—Now‐a‐days 50,000 Miles of Submarine 98 Wire—A Noble New Englander—The First Idea of the Atlantic Cable—Its Practicability admitted—Maury’s Notes on the Atlantic Bottom—Deep Sea Soundings—Ooze formed of Myriads of Shells—English Co‐operation with Field—The First Cable of 1857—Paying Out—2,000 Fathoms Down—The Cable Parted—Bitter Disappointment—The Cable Laid and Working—Another Failure—The Employment of the _Great Eastern_—Stowing Away the Great Wire Rope—Departure—Another Accident—A Traitor on Board—Cable Fished up from the Bottom—Failure—Inauguration of the 1866 Expedition—Prayer for Success—A _Lucky_ Friday—Splicing to the Shore Cable—The Start—Each Day’s Run—Approaching Trinity Bay—Success at Last—The Old and the New World bound together CHAPTER X. THE OCEAN AND ITS LIVING WONDERS. Perfection in Nature’s smallest Works—A Word on Scientific 111 Classification—Protozoa—Blind Life—Rhizopoda—Foraminifera—A Robbery Traced by Science—Microscopic Workers—Paris Chalk—Infusoria—The “Sixth Sense of Man”—Fathers of Nations—Milne‐Edwards—Submarine Explorations—The Salt‐water Aquarium—The Compensating Balance required—Brighton and Sydenham—Practical Uses of the Aquarium—Medusæ: their Beauty—A Poet’s Description—Their General Characteristics—Battalions of “Jelly‐fish”—Polyps—A Floating Colony—A Marvellous Organism—The Graceful Agalma—Swimming Apparatus—Natural Fishing Lines—The “Portuguese Man‐of‐War”—Stinging Powers of the Physalia—An Enemy to the Cuttle‐fish