Colymbia/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
THE ARCHIPELAGO ON THE EQUATOR.
IT was bright day when I awoke next morning. I looked about me and found I was alone in the cavern, which I had now leisure to survey. Believing it to be the dwelling-place of the Inspector, I could not help noticing how scantily it was provided with the comforts we consider indispensable in a room. The table on which lay the writing materials and books, a few chairs, several couches of leaves similar to that I lay on, and a sort of cupboard whence my host had taken the food he set before me yesterday, were all I was able to discover. Two or three garments, similar to that he had worn, hung from pegs driven into the rock.
I had not been long risen when I saw approaching, by the path that led up from the beach, the Inspector, followed by a youth of about 17 or 18. Both were clad in the short trousers my conductors of the previous day wore, and a cloak of palm-leaves covered their shoulders. Their wet hair and skin showed me that they must have just emerged from the water, so I concluded that they had been enjoying a sea bath before breakfast, and I formed a high opinion of the decency of the inhabitants from the fact that all the bathers I had met with wore drawers, a fashion that does not yet prevail universally in England.
The Inspector greeted me with a hearty "Good morning!" hoped I had slept well, and both immediately divested themselves of their leafy covering and proceeded to array themselves in the loose dressing-gown-like garments that hung from the pegs.
The Inspector directed his attendant to set on the table some food similar to what I had partaken of the day before, and desired me to take my breakfast. On my asking him if he would not sit down and join me, he replied by a very curt negative and a gesture of what I thought contempt. So I concluded either that he had breakfasted, that he was a vegetarian, or that he, had some religious objections to eat with a person who might not be of the same creed as himself.
While I was engaged in despatching, with infinite relish, the very succulent viands placed before me, commenting on their excellence in a manner which I thought would be pleasing to my entertainer, but which only seemed to excite his disgust; he, with his countenance averted, in order, as I supposed, to avoid looking at me eating, told me that his attendant would presently conduct me to the house of the Instructor, under whose care I should be placed. This person, he informed me, would give me all the information I desired respecting the manners and customs of the people I had come among, and endeavour to make me fit for mingling with the society of the country, which, he added, I was evidently far from being at present.
I was rather nettled at this at first, and felt disposed to tell him that I was accustomed to good society in my own country and had no fear but that I should be able to conduct myself with propriety in the very best society this country had to offer. But I thought it best to swallow my indignation in silence, as I felt convinced that this was some vulgar Jack-in-office whom it was not my interest to offend.
My repast finished, the boy, who answered to the name of Billy, led me by a winding path through the forest to the abode of the Instructor.
On emerging from the comparatively cool cavern, I was struck by the oppressive heat of the outside air, and as our way lay right through the tangled depths of the thick wood, I had leisure to admire the beautiful foliage of the trees and shrubs, the gorgeous colours of the flowers, the luscious profusion of the fruit, the gay plumage of the countless birds, and to feel the annoyance of the myriads of insects that buzzed and swarmed around us as we walked along, and whose attacks I could not entirely ward off, though I used a flapper like my companion.
On my remarking to Billy that I wondered to see how fresh and rosy he and all whom I had yet seen were, in spite of the terrible heat and the constant attacks of these venomous and irrepressible insects, he replied in what appeared to me at the time an enigmatical manner:—
"Bless your soul, no one stays here longer than he can help. I shall be off as soon as I have brought you to Mr Hamlet's."
"Off!" I said, "I suppose you mean you will go back to the cave."
"Oh, dear, no! not if I know it," replied Billy; "my business there is over for the day."
"Where on earth then will you go to avoid this stifling atmosphere?" I inquired.
"Nowhere on earth—yonder," pertly replied Billy, intimating by a movement of his head the direction of the sea.
I did not care to question him further, as he was so curt and saucy in his replies, but now walked on in silence, feeling assured that the mystery would soon be explained to me by the person to whom he was leading me. Besides, I felt too much overcome by the sultriness of the air and the annoyance of the flies to pursue my inquiries further at present.
After having sweltered on for about a mile and a half as well as I could, with parched mouth and perspiration dripping from every pore in my body, the forest abruptly terminated, and I found myself on the edge of a beautiful little bay, fringed with fine white coral sand and commanding an extensive view of the inland sea and of several of the other islands enclosed in it. The water was as clear and blue as sapphire. It lay within its enclosing reef as still and motionless as glass, though I could see there was a considerable swell on the ocean outside the reef, for every now and then a column of white foam was thrown up into the air, at different points of the reef, showing where the wave had broken on the encircling barrier.
Sea-birds of all kinds were wheeling in swift and mazy flight over the inland sea, but chiefly about the surrounding reef, where I could see clouds of them rising and falling, and swaying hither and thither, like midges on a summer evening at home.
The circumference of the bay was skirted all round by the same dense tangle of forest as that I had passed through, and the contrast of the dark trees, the white line of sand, and the blue water, with the cloudless canopy of heaven above, all formed a very charming picture.
About the centre of the curve of the bay stood the house of the Instructor, to which my guide now led me. It was entirely overgrown with creeping plants, so that it was unrecognisable as a human habitation from the outside.
Separating the depending branches of a beautiful broad-leaved creeper covered with large bell-shaped mauve-coloured flowers, we entered the house or grotto of the Instructor.
As there was no one within, I had time to look about me. The house consisted of a single room, built entirely of specimens of coral of the most beautiful shapes and delicate colours. The obscurity of the interior, when we entered from the dazzling glare outside, would have prevented me seeing anything, had not Billy touched a knob projecting from the wall, whereupon a light immediately appeared in the ceiling, which, from its brilliancy, I conjectured must be owing to electricity.
The purity of the light and its excessive brightness showed off the colours of the coral-built grotto in the greatest perfection. There were no windows, and the door by which we had entered was closed by nothing but the thick curtain formed by the hanging creeper. The furniture of the room consisted of two tables and some particularly comfortable easy chairs. A large bookcase, containing many volumes, occupied the entire of the far end of the room. I had the curiosity to look what kind of books formed the library of the important official I was about to see. I was surprised and pleased to observe that they consisted of some of our most recent English works on philosophy and science, together with a fair sprinkling of French and German works on the same subjects. Natural history, natural philosophy, mechanics, chemistry, geography and history were the chief subjects. They were generally the last editions of these works, not reprints, and they seemed to be well used, for their pages bore signs of having been read and studied; and several volumes, taken from the shelves, lay with markers in them on one of the tables.
Among the books on the table were a few of a different appearance from the others. I opened one of them, and saw that its pages were made, not of paper, but of some highly-glazed material, and that they were printed in a character I had never seen before, more resembling the dots and strokes made on the paper ribbons by the telegraphic machine than the letters of any civilised language.
I was still engaged in examining this odd book, of which I could make neither head nor tail, when the leafy curtain opened, and there entered a youngish man, with a fine intellectual-looking head, the glow of health in his ruddy cheeks, and his limbs and body of extremely graceful proportions. Like the others I had seen, he seemed to have just come out of a bath, for he had nothing on but the invariable short trousers or bathing drawers, and he was dripping wet.
He took up a soft towel, gave his face and hands a good wipe, and, not troubling himself about the water that trickled down his skin, he snatched up a dressing-gown of some soft silky material that lay on a couch, and wrapped it round his dripping body.
Surveying me with some curiosity, he addressed me in a kindly voice:—
"I see, sir, you are a stranger; shipwrecked, I presume, on our protecting reef?"
I related, to him the particulars of my shipwreck, which interested him much, and he expressed his surprise that apparently I alone, of all the crew, was good enough swimmer to avail myself of the means of escape offered by the life-boat. He said that all who led a seafaring life or even went a sea voyage should be taught to be as much at home in the water as on dry land.
On my expressing doubts as to the practicability of this, he said, "Well, I think you will alter your ideas on that point before you have lived long among us."
He informed me that he was one of a staff appointed by Government to instruct strangers, who might come to their country, in all things that were requisite in order to enable them to become good and useful citizens.
The number of strangers who came hither was not great. Formerly the annual amount was something considerable, but that was in the days of sailing vessels. Since the very general introduction of steam, wrecks had been much rarer; and as these islands were not on any of the great lines of traffic, it was sometimes years before a wreck occurred.
"Do none visit you except the shipwrecked?" I inquired.
"Rarely," he replied; "and it comes to the same thing as though they had been wrecked, for we take care that their ship shall never carry them away again. All that is useful we take possession of, and then blow up the ship."
"Then do I understand," I asked in alarm, "that I am to be detained here a prisoner for life?"
"Well, not exactly," he replied, "because, though, until quite recently, we have never allowed departures from our island, a more liberal policy now prevails. Last year our legislature passed an act permitting strangers to leave the country, if they so wished and an opportunity should offer. Most improbable contingencies," he added, "for, once used to our life here, all other modes of living seem intolerable; and, as for opportunities for leaving the country, they are very unlikely to occur, as vessels that get on our reef speedily become total wrecks, even without our assistance. Moreover, as I told you, we are out of the way of any direct packet-lines—you know it was only owing to the eccentric course pursued by your theoretical captain that you had the chance of being thrown ashore here—so you see you will have to make up your mind to become a citizen of our state, and to adapt yourself to your new circumstances as well as you can. And," he added, "I believe you to be of sufficient intelligence to learn our ways rapidly, and, once you have mastered them, I venture to say you will not be disposed to return to the habits of your native land."
"Indeed, sir," I said, "you make me extremely desirous to commence those studies which I am to go through in order to qualify myself for citizenship in your community. Everything I have observed since I first approached these islands has struck me with the most profound surprise. The tethered barking seals, the aquatic policemen speaking English which seems to be the language of the country, the beauty of your forests, with their gigantic fruit-laden trees, and their magnificent flowering shrubs, the gorgeous colours and varieties of your birds, are to me strange and novel; but the broiling, stifling heat and the plague of flies would soon render a residence in this land intolerable."
"On the land, I grant you," interrupted the Instructor, "but we do not live on the land, but in the water."
"You astonish me more and more," I exclaimed; "how is it possible for human beings to live in the water? Their shape and muscular development are but ill-adapted for swimming, and though some of us have overcome the disadvantages of nature and can swim as well as dogs, still, the inconveniences of always remaining in the water and the fearful heat the head must be exposed to from the burning rays of the sun in this hottest region of the world, would suffice to prevent a long sojourn in such a situation."
"Doubtless," he replied, "if we kept our heads above the water, we should suffer, as you have rightly stated, from the heat of the sun, but we are exempt from this inconvenience, for we live under the water."
"That crowns all the wonderful things I have seen and heard since coming here," I exclaimed. "But how can human beings live beneath the water like fishes? They cannot transform their lungs into gills; their eyes are so constructed that contact with water destroys all useful vision. Then their bodies are of such specific gravity, that, unless they use considerable exertion, they must rise perpetually to the surface. In short," I added, rather petulantly, "I cannot regard what you have told me otherwise than as an attempt to hoax me, and, excuse me, but I think you do no credit to the office you hold under your Government, if you attempt to palm off such sorry jokes on those confided to your care."
He smiled good-humouredly, and replied,—"I am neither surprised nor offended that you refuse credence to what I have said, for it is all so contrary to your previous experience and knowledge that it must be difficult for a man of intelligence and education, which I perceive you are" [here I became somewhat mollified and bowed], "to regard what I have told you otherwise than as a bad joke. However, you shall shortly be convinced that by the ingenuity of man these seemingly insuperable difficulties are capable of being overcome, and that, when driven out of the air by the stifling heat and vermin you have noticed, he can adapt himself to an aquatic life, and prove therein as much superior to the proper denizens of the watery element, as he is, under other circumstances, to the inhabitants of the dry land."
He spoke with so much sincerity and candour, and was so courteous withal, that I begged him to forgive my outburst of petulance, and promised implicit belief to all he was so kind as to inform me of; "for," I said, "what I have already seen is so surprising and incredible that I am not justified in refusing credence to what a gentleman of your courtesy tells me, however opposed it seems to my previous experience."
Our intercourse having been thus put on a pleasant footing, I was fairly installed as his disciple, and he immediately, in reply to my inquiries, began to give me an account of the mysterious country where fate had cast me, and its strange inhabitants. I shall give the substance of our numerous conversations in my Instructor's words, as nearly as I can remember them.
"Some suppose," he said, "that these islands were originally peopled by a shipwrecked crew of men and women emigrating to some other part of the world. But our most learned pundits cite many circumstances that militate against this idea, and refer our origin to a much more remote time and quite a different race of men. And this latter idea is borne out by the fact that, scattered throughout the islands, are many monuments which could never have been constructed by an English race, and these monuments are covered with hieroglyphical inscriptions which have been read by the learned and refer to quite other manners and customs than ever obtained among men of European or, at least, Anglo-Saxon blood.
"That English was not always the language of the inhabitants is evident, not only from these monuments, but from numerous ancient documents preserved in our museums, and also from the presence in our spoken language of many words and forms of speech which were never derived from the English tongue.
"It is believed that the general habit of speaking and writing English dates from only a few centuries back, and is chiefly owing to the great number of English-speaking men and women who have from time to time been added to our community by means of shipwrecks; and as, until a very recent period, men of English race formed the vast majority of the seamen and travellers of the world, this predominance of the English language among us is hardly to be wondered at. An additional reason for the adoption of this language is that it is a much more convenient vehicle for thought than the ancient language of the island could ever have been, and that our literature is chiefly derived from the libraries that came into our possession from the shipwrecked British and American vessels.
"French and German are by no means unknown among us, and we have at various times received the crews and passengers of vessels from other countries than England. But, for the reasons I have given, English has come to be the only language spoken by us; and our knowledge of all the changes that from time to time take place in the English language is derived from the continued accessions of men and books the wrecks on our reef bring us.
"It is probable that the aboriginal inhabitants were a thick-skinned race who could stand the heat and could bear with impunity the assaults of the insects, for we find throughout the islands many traces of their dwellings and monuments, which; show that at one time the land was occupied by human beings.
"It is not known at what precise period the habits of the people underwent such a change as to lead them to forsake entirely the land, except for certain necessary operations which you will learn hereafter and to betake themselves to an aquatic life.
"It is probable that this change took place gradually. It is supposed that, as the Anglo-Saxon infusion increased, the race became less and less able to withstand the heat and other annoyances of a land-life; that they found immersion in the sea-water spared them many of the discomforts they experienced in the air; and that gradually, by little and little, the genius of our engineers and chemists succeeded in rendering a permanent or quasi-permanent abode under the water not only possible but absolutely preferable to a residence on the land.
"This faculty we found ourselves to possess of adapting ourselves to a subaqueous life, early drew the attention of our philosophers to the probable evolution of the human race from some aquatic ancestor; and although all the missing links have not been discovered, it is considered highly probable that an animal allied to the seal-tribe was our not very remote progenitor. Some of our philosophers pretend, from the presence in man of certain rudimentary parts, to trace our origin to a fish; and a few go still farther, and affect to believe his parentage can be traced back to a mollusc."
"Ah," I interrupted, "our own philosophers go quite as far as yours. From noticing the monthly phases of some of our normal and morbid actions, they pretend to deduce the origin of man from a littoral ascidian mollusc that must have been powerfully affected by spring-tides to account for these phenomena of monthly periodicity in its descendants."
"But," he replied, rather testily—as he evidently did not like to be interrupted, or perhaps he was unwilling to admit that the speculations of our philosophers were worthy to be ranked with those of his countrymen,—"as spring-tides happen fortnightly, I don't see what they could have to do with phases of a monthly character."
"But you are aware," I rejoined, "that fortnightly periodicity has a tendency to become monthly; thus, our Fortnightly Review now only appears once a month."
"Bosh!" he exclaimed, raising his left elbow as high as his shoulder, which I afterwards learned was the gesture employed in this part of the world to denote contempt.
I begged pardon for interrupting him, and he went on:—
"There can be no doubt that we have solved the problem of life below the water, and whether this be a return to the habits of a remote ancestor, or a totally new faculty we have acquired, is of much less importance than the fact itself.
"It is believed that the first great requisite for our subaqueous life was the invention of a corrective of that defect of vision produced by the contact of the eye with the water. The cause of this defective vision is the optical structure of the eye itself, the refractive power of whose humours differs but slightly from that of water; consequently, when it is immersed in water, the rays of light are not deflected sufficiently to allow the images of external objects, to be accurately focussed on the retina; hence only a very imperfect vision is possible for the unaided eye below the water.
"Our opticians discovered that perfect vision could be restored under water by means of a lens of considerable power. Spectacles were constructed with such lenses, and the first step was made towards rendering life below water practicable.
"At first, we, like yourselves, constructed our lenses of solid glass; but as the refractive power of glass is not very much greater than that of water, there was an enormous difference between the power of a lens used in air and in water. Hence our opticians early adopted the plan of making lenses of all descriptions for use below water, of air. Air being the less refractive medium, our air lenses are of precisely the opposite shape to that of your glass lenses. Our ordinary method of making these air lenses is to have sections of thin glass globes of certain diameters fixed in a ring of metal or bone, with their concavities looking outwards. They thus enclose a concave lens-shaped portion of air, which effects the required refraction. In the better kind of lenses the two surfaces of the glass are ground so that both shall be of exactly the same radius of curvature.
"All the lenses of our optical instruments for subaqueous use, microscopes, telescopes, &c., are made in this way. For spectacles these lenses are especially convenient, for while they are lenses of the required power under water, they have no refractive power in air, and consequently may be worn both in and out of the water; in the former case causing, in the latter not preventing, perfect vision.
"The next question that seems to have occupied the attention of the pioneers of our submarine life was that of obtaining the needful supply of air below the water; for it was extremely awkward, and indeed quite fatal to anything like residence under the water, to be obliged to come to the surface every minute or so, to get a chestful of air.
"This difficulty was overcome by the distribution of air-pipes throughout the area occupied.
"At first, as you may imagine, this was done on a very small scale. It was originally not expected that it would ever be possible to remain permanently below the water, but only for a few hours during the extreme heat of the day.
"But as time went on, the ingenuity of our engineers and mechanicians who kept themselves well posted in all the improvements in their arts that were made in Europe—for works on mechanical science formed a considerable proportion of the books rescued from the wrecks that were more frequent formerly than now,—overcame all difficulties; and as the area of inhabited space yearly extended, the net-work of air-pipes gradually spread over every portion of the vast inland sea enclosed by our coral reefs, which includes many hundreds of square miles.
"At the same time the air-supply through these pipes was so improved that the air in the pipes, by mechanical contrivances, was kept at a considerable pressure; and by means of valves and stopcocks, the act of breathing below water is performed as easily as in the atmosphere; and there is no need to come to the surface at all for purposes of respiration. The breathing apparatus is so constructed that every mouthpiece is connected with two sets of tubes, one of which receives and carries off the expired air, whilst the other supplies the fresh air to be breathed. In this way the awkward and unsightly gurgling of the expired air is prevented.
"The quality of the air for breathing has also been much improved by the admixture of a considerable proportion of oxygen with the air supplied, so that one respiration of this oxygenated air is only required where many respirations of non-oxygenated air would be needed.
"Thus you will find that it is not necessary to breathe oftener than once in four or five minutes when you are used to this mode of breathing.
"When we make excursions beyond the reef into the ocean we carry with us metal bottles of condensed oxygenated air, whereby we are enabled to remain many hours away from the air-pipes of the enclosed sea without inconvenience."
After this explanation, my Instructor proposed that I should accompany him on a short excursion below the water, in order that I might learn practically something of the mode of life and qualify myself for citizenship in this singular community.
So having taken off my clothes, I donned the costume which is de rigueur in the water, namely a pair of spectacles, bathing-drawers and weight-belt.
This last piece of dress is worn for the purpose of counteracting that tendency to rise to the surface of the water which the smaller specific gravity of our bodies produces. It is a broad belt with pieces of lead or other heavy metal let into it. In order to provide me with a weight-belt precisely adapted to my requirements, my Instructor first ascertained my specific gravity by means of a simple apparatus, he then calculated the cubic contents of my body, and finally referred to a printed table to determine the weight of the belt I would require. Having found this, he took from the cupboard, where a number of these belts were kept, one of the precise weight required by me with which I at once girded myself.
I should add that these belts are provided with india-rubber cells which can be inflated at pleasure by the wearer so as to counteract the weight of the pieces of lead, and so restore the buoyancy of the body. This inflation is resorted to when the wearer wishes to bring his head above the surface of the water.
We sallied forth from the coral grotto and walked down the sloping beach of snow-white sand which the fierce rays of the sun had made uncomfortably warm for the naked feet.
The clear blue water felt deliciously cool, coming out of the sultry air, though I was told that its temperature was not much below eighty degrees.
Diving down into the pellucid depths, I marvelled at the extreme beauty of the scene. Corals of the most exquisite shape and colour, branching out into every variety of fantastic and elegant form; here, like the branches of trees as we see them in winter silvered over with hoar-frost; there, in great fan-shaped masses, white, red, purple and violet, large round madrepores, sponges of all shapes and sizes, and beautiful seaweeds of the brightest hues and most exquisite foliage, Shoals of brilliantly coloured fishes, bright scarlet, blue and orange, or party-coloured with alternate black and yellow or black and scarlet bands, darted hither and thither among the corals and sea-weeds, or hung motionless in the water above and around us.
I had hardly time to observe all this when I felt the need of air. My conductor placed a pipe to my lips and signed to me to breathe. My first attempt was not very successful, and I felt as if I must go to the surface. But my companion, seeing my embarrassment, produced a small spring clamp which he fastened on my nostrils so as effectually to stop them. I was then able to take a full inspiration, which at once restored me to my self-possession; and after two or three attempts, I found I could use the apparatus with tolerable facility.
I noticed that my Instructor possessed the power of keeping his nostrils tightly closed by their own muscular action; and he told me that all his countrymen had the same power. Indeed, it was absolutely necessary to close the nostrils under water, not only for the purpose of using the breathing tubes, but also to prevent the water penetrating into and filling up the cavity of the nose. I had to use the nose-clamp for some time but I ultimately, by repeated exercise, acquired the power of closing my nostrils voluntarily. But this is a digression.
I found that my weight-belt completely counteracted the tendency of my body to ascend to the surface, and so true was the equilibrium established between my body and the water, that I could assume any position, rise, descend or remain stationary in the water, without any conscious effort; there was, in fact, no resistance to be overcome, buoyancy as well as gravitation was completely annihilated. I had, in fact, no weight relative to the medium in which I was. The sensation was at once new and delightful. It reminded me of the feeling of flying I had sometimes experienced in dreams, when I had felt as if skimming over the earth without touching it.
Looking upwards, I was struck with the curious appearance of the outside world seen from the depths of the water. The sky and some elevated objects on land, such as trees and mountain tops, were seen framed in a large circular opening, sharply defined and surrounded by a thin ring of prismatic colours. Objects near the horizon appeared high up, but dwarfed and flattened laterally; and the sun itself, when not right overhead, was of an oval shape, the long diameter being horizontal. The remainder of the space visible was occupied by a vivid reflection of the bottom of the sea, the corals, sponges and sea-weed being reproduced with great distinctness. The deeper the water the smaller the circumference of the circular space through which sky and external objects were seen.
The water being perfectly clear, I could see to a considerable distance, and all objects floating in the water were distinctly seen and of their natural shape.
I was struck by the exquisite whiteness of the skin both of my own body and that of my companion, owing to the blue tinge in the water.
On this first occasion I could not remain long below the surface, owing to the painful sensation caused in my eyes by the contact with the sea-water. This smarting sensation was speedily removed by an eye-wash my Instructor gave me, and gradually diminished as I grew used to the immersion; so that after a week's practice I no longer felt any inconvenience from it, and could remain as long under water as I chose without the slightest discomfort in the eyes.
Until I got thoroughly habituated to the new element, I used to pass most of my time in the grotto of my Instructor prosecuting the studies necessary in order to make me fit for mingling with the community among whom I was to pass my time and whose manners and customs I was to adopt.
My progress towards this end gave great satisfaction to my Instructor, who assured me that others had much greater difficulty in becoming accustomed to this new life than I had displayed. This I could very well understand, for I know many persons at home to whom immersion, even for a short time, is attended by very disagreeable effects.
I asked my teacher if it was not the case that some could never become used to the aquatic habits of his countrymen: to which he replied:—
"It is certainly the case that a good many of those who are thrown upon these islands can never adapt their habits to ours, in fact are unable to exist with any degree of comfort in the water. These are, therefore, constrained to remain on the land, and there are many houses and residences on shore where these unfortunate people dwell. The discomforts of a land residence are, however, so great that most of them pine away and die, and of those who are able to stand out against the deleterious influences of the climate, most are employed in some of the manufactures, which must always be conducted on the land. They have adopted sundry contrivances for warding off the extreme heat and the attacks of the insects, and so manage to live in tolerable comfort. But they are looked down upon by us, and cannot help feeling themselves to be an inferior kind of beings to us who are endowed by nature with the necessary faculties for a subaqueous life. It is possible that in earlier times, when the land was actually inhabited and that pretty thickly by the race who have left monuments of their art and industry on the land, the climate of this region was very different from what it is now. When the climate gradually changed and aquatic habits became indispensable there can be no doubt that natural selection caused the gradual extinction of those who were unfit for subaqueous life."
"I see," I rejoined, "this is only another instance to be added to the many known examples of the 'survival of the fittest.'"
"Exactly so," he replied, "but as the choice lay between living in water or dying on land, the love of life acted as a very powerful stimulus for promoting the acquirement of aquatic habits.
"Possibly," he continued, "many might become seasoned or acclimatized to the dreadful heat and even to the noxious insects; but there is another plague these islands are subject to which none can resist, and that is the terrible volcanic eruptions to which they are exposed. You noticed that one of the hills on this the largest island is an active crater, at present only emitting a thin stream of vapour. But at uncertain times the most frightful eruptions take place sometimes in this, sometimes in one or several of the other islands, when streams of molten lava and showers of ashes and scoriæ are ejected from chasms that open up in uncertain places. These eruptions drive all into the sea, or cause them to take shelter in the numerous caverns with which the islands abound. The red-hot lava and ashes cause terrible conflagrations in our forests, and many of those who are physically incapacitated from living in the water have been smoked or roasted to death in their subterranean retreats. In short, life on land is attended by so many discomforts and dangers that the country would long ago have been depopulated, were it not for the safe asylum afforded by our sub-aqueous abode."
I was much struck by the perfect stillness of the air, which seldom stirred the surface of the water sufficiently to cause the slightest ripple. It was owing to this glass-like smoothness of the surface that external objects were so distinctly observed through the circular opening I before described, and that such a perfect reflection of the bottom of the sea was seen from below.
I had read that even in tropical regions certain winds, which we call trade-winds, prevailed and a steady breeze blew almost constantly in one direction or another. To my inquiry whether this portion of the globe was not subject to these winds, the Instructor replied:—
"This region is situated precisely in the angle between the north-east and south-east trade-winds, and is quite exempt from their influence. We are occasionally visited by terrific cyclones or circular hurricanes, and then the surface of our inland sea is agitated to a considerable degree; but the agitation does not extend to any great depth, so that when we are four or five fathoms below the surface we are not aware of the slightest movement of the water, and would only know that a hurricane is raging above by the circumstance that then the mirror above us is broken into fragments, and where the sky is seen when it is calm through the circular opening, nothing but a patch of broken light is visible. But these hurricanes are of short duration, and occur at rare intervals, so that they do not interfere in the slightest degree with the avocations nor even with the amusements of the inhabitants of the watery depths.
It was some weeks before I could trust myself to stay altogether beneath the water, and to sleep there; but at last I accomplished even this most difficult feat. To do this at first, I had to lie down on my back, in a sort of niche among the corals lined with soft sponges, with an air-tube between my lips and a spring-compressor on my nose to prevent me drawing the water in by my nostrils. I practised regular breathing, which gradually seemed to come quite naturally and to be performed without conscious effort, nor was it interrupted when unconsciousness overtook me and I slept soundly. I was soon able to dispense with the nose-clip, the muscles of the nostrils acting automatically and closing the nasal orifices completely.
When I had thoroughly mastered this difficulty, my Instructor pronounced me qualified by aquatic accomplishments for admission as a citizen of this remarkable community.