| CHAPTER I. | |
| THE GREAT ATLANTIC FERRY. | PAGE |
| The “Grand Tour” of Former Days—The only Grand Tour left—Round 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 | 1 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| OCEAN TO OCEAN—THE CONNECTING LINK. | |
| The Great Trans-Continental Railway—New York to Chicago—Niagara 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? | 14 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| THE PACIFIC FERRY—SAN FRANCISCO TO JAPAN AND CHINA. | |
| The American Steamships—A Celestial Company—Leading 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 | 31 |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| THE PACIFIC FERRY—ANOTHER ROUTE. | |
| The Hawaiian Islands—King and Parliament—Pleasant Honolulu—A 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 | 45 |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| WOMAN AT SEA. | |
| Poets’ Opinions on Early Navigation—Who was the First Female 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 | 56 |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| DAVY JONES’S LOCKER AND ITS TREASURES. | |
| Clarence’s Dream—Davy Jones’s Locker—Origin of the Term—Treasures 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 | 66 |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| DAVY JONES’S LOCKER AND THOSE WHO DIVE INTO IT. | |
| Scientific Diving—General Principles—William Phipps and the 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 | 79 |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| THE OCEAN AND SOME OF ITS PHENOMENA. | |
| The Saltness of the Sea—Its Composition—Tons of Silver in the 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 | 90 |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| DAVY JONES’S LOCKER—SUBMARINE CABLES. | |
| The First Channel Cable—Now-a-days 50,000 Miles of Submarine 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 | 98 |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| THE OCEAN AND ITS LIVING WONDERS. | |
| Perfection in Nature’s smallest Works—A Word on Scientific 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 | 111 |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| THE OCEAN AND ITS LIVING WONDERS (continued). | |
| The Madrepores—Brain, Mushroom, and Plantain Coral—The Beautiful Sea-anemones; their Organisation and Habits; their Insatiable Voracity—The Gorgons—Echinodermata—The Star-fish—Sea Urchins—Wonderful Shell and Spines—An Urchin’s Prayer—The Sea Cucumber—The Trepang, or Holothuria—Trepang Fishing—Dumont d’Urville’s Description—The Commerce in this Edible—The Molluscs—The Teredo, or Ship-worm—Their Ravages on the Holland Coast—The Retiring Razor-fish—The Edible Mussel—History of their Cultivation in France—The Bouchots—Occasional Danger of Eating Mussels—The Prince of Bivalves—The Oyster and its Organisation—Difference in Size—American Oysters—High Priced in some Cities—Quantity Consumed in London—Courteous Exchange—Roman Estimation of them—The “Breedy Creatures” brought from Britain—Vitellius and his Hundred Dozen—A Sell: Poor Tyacke—The First Man who Ate an Oyster—The Fisheries—Destructive Dredging—Lake Fusaro and the Oyster Parks—Scientific Cultivation in France—Success and Profits—The Whitstable and other Beds—System pursued | 122 |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| THE OCEAN AND ITS LIVING WONDERS (continued). | |
| The Univalves—A Higher Scale of Animal—The Gasteropoda—Limpets—Used for Basins in the Straits of Magellan—Spiral and Turret Shells—The Cowries—The Mitre Shells—The Purpuras—Tyrian Purple—The Whelk—The Marine Trumpet—The Winged-feet Molluscs—The Cephalopodous Molluscs—The Nautilus—Relic of a Noble Family—The Pearly Nautilus and its Uses—The Cuttle-fish—Michelet’s Comments—Hugo’s Actual Experiences—Gilliatt and his Combat—A Grand Description—The Devil-Fish—The Cuttle-Fish of Science—A Brute with Three Hearts—Actual Examples contrasted with the Kraken—A Monster nearly Captured—Indian Ink and Sepia—The Argonauta—The Paper Nautilus | 139 |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| THE OCEAN AND ITS LIVING WONDERS (continued). | |
| The Crustaceans, a Crusty Set—Young Crabs and their Peculiarities—Shells and no Shells—Powers of Renewal—The Biter Bit—Cocoa-nut-eating Crabs—Do Crabs like Boiling?—The Land Crab and his Migrations—Nigger Excitement—The King Crab—The Hut Crab—A True Yarn—The Hermit or Soldier Crab—Pugnaciousness—Crab War and Human War—Prolific Crustaceans—Raising Lobster-pots—Technical Differences—How do Lobsters shed their Shells?—Fishermen’s Ideas—Habits of the Lobster—Its Fecundity—The Supply for Billingsgate—The Season—“Lobster Frolics” in British North America—Eel-grass—Cray-fish, Prawns, and Shrimps | 150 |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| OCEAN LIFE—THE HARVEST OF THE SEA. | |
| Fishes and their Swimming Apparatus—The Bladder—Scientific Classification—Cartilaginous Fish—The Torpedo—A Living Galvanic Battery—The Shark—His Love for Man in a Gastronomic Sense—Stories of their Prowess—Catching a Shark—Their Interference with Whaling—The Tiger-Shark—African Worship of the Monster—The Dog-fish—The Sturgeon—Enormous Fecundity—Caviare—The Bony Fishes—The Flying Fish: its Feats; its Enemies—Youth of a Salmon—The Parr, the Smolt, and the Grilse—Flourishes in the See—The Ponds at Stormontfield—The Salmon’s Enemies—The Ettrick Shepherd—Canned Salmon, and where it comes from—The Fish a drug in N. W. America—Canoes impeded by them—The Fisheries of the Columbia River—The Fishing Season—Modes of Catching Salmon—The Factories and Processes employed | 159 |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| OCEAN LIFE—THE HARVEST OF THE SEA (concluded). | |
| The ClupedÆ—The Herring—Its Cabalistic Marks—A Warning to Royalty—The “Great Fishery”—Modes of Fishing—A Night with the Wick Fishermen—Suicidal Fish—The Value of Deep-sea Fisheries—Report of the Commissioners—Fecundity of the Herring—No fear of Fish Famine—The Shad—The Sprat—The Cornish Pilchard Fisheries—The “Huer”—Raising the “Tuck”—A Grand Harvest—Gigantic Holibut—Newfoundland Cod Fisheries—Brutalities of Tunny Fishing—The Mackerel—Its Courage, and Love of Man—Garum Sauce—The formidable Sword-fish—Fishing by Torchlight—Sword through a Ship’s side—General Remarks on Fish—Fish Life—Conversation—Musical Fish—Pleasures and Excitements—Do Fish sleep? | 168 |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| MONSTERS OF THE DEEP. | |
| Mark Twain on Whales—A New Version of an Old Story—Whale as Food—Whaling in 1670—The Great Mammal’s Enemy the “Killer”—The Animal’s Home—The so-called Fisheries—The Sperm Whale—Spermaceti—The Chase—The Capture—A Mythical Monster—The Great Sea Serpent—Yarns from Norway—An Archdeacon’s Testimony—Stories from America—From Greenland—Mahone Bay—A Tropical Sea Serpent—What is the Animal?—Seen on a Voyage to India—Off the Coast of Africa—Other Accounts—Professor Owen on the Subject—Other Theories | 178 |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| BY THE SEA-SHORE. | |
| English Appreciation of the Sea-side—Its Variety and Interest—Heavy Weather—The Green Waves—On the Cliffs—The Sea from there—Madame de Gasparin’s Reveries—Description of a Tempest—The Voice of God—Calm—A Great Medusa off the Coast—Night on the Sea—Boating Excursion—In a Cavern—Colonies of Sea-anemones—Rock Pools—Southey’s Description—Treasures for the Aquarium—A Rat Story—Rapid Influx of Tide and its Dangers—Melancholy Fate of a Family—Life under Water | 190 |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| BY THE SEA-SHORE (continued). | |
| A Submerged Forest—Grandeur of Devonshire Cliffs—Castellated Walls—A Natural Palace—Collection of Sea-weeds—The Title a Miserable Misnomer—The Bladder Wrack—Practical Uses—The Harvest-time for Collectors—The Huge Laminaria—Good for Knife-handles—Marine Rope—The Red-Seeded Group—Munchausen’s Gin Tree Beaten—The Coralline a Vegetable—Beautiful Varieties—Irish Moss—The Green Seeds—Hints on Preserving Sea-weeds—The Boring Pholas—How they Drill—Sometimes through each other—The Spinous Cockle—The “Red-noses”—Hundreds of Peasantry Saved from Starvation—“Rubbish,” and the difficulty of obtaining it—Results of a Basketful—The Contents of a Shrimper’s Net—Miniature Fish of the Shore | 199 |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| SKETCHES OF OUR COASTS—CORNWALL. | |
| The Land’s End—Cornwall and her Contributions to the Navy—The Great Botallack Mine—Curious Sight Outwardly—Plugging Out the Atlantic Ocean—Th
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