ILLUSTRATIONS.
| PAGE | ||
| I. | The Argonaut Sailing Before the Wind | (Frontispiece) [467] |
| II. | Sponge Fishing on the Coast of Syria | [78] |
| III. | Coral Fishing on the Coast of Sicily | [138] |
| IV. | Coral Island in the Pomotouan Archipelago | [169] |
| V. | Sea Anemones (I.) | [187] |
| VI. | Sea Anemones (II.) | [189] |
| VII. | Agalma Rubra | [239] |
| VIII. | Galeolaria Aurantiaca | [244] |
| IX. | Sea-urchins | [290] |
| X. | Fishing for Holothuria | [295] |
| XI. | Synapta Duvernæea | [299] |
| XII. | Dredging for Oysters | [374] |
| XIII. | Oyster Parks on Lake Fusaro | [376] |
| XIV. | Pectinidæ | [386] |
| XV. | Spondylus | [388] |
| XVI. | Anodonta | [340] |
| XVII. | Tridacna Gigantea | [338] |
| XVIII. | Venus and Cytherea | [336] |
| XIX. | Solenidæ (Razor-fish) | [333] |
| XX. | Temple of Serapis | [330] |
| XXI. | Conus | [427] |
| XXII. | Cypræadæ | [421] |
| XXIII. | Voluta | [426] |
| XXIV. | Capture of a Gigantic Cuttle-fish | [462] |
| XXV. | Shark Fishing | [520] |
| XXVI. | Sturgeon Fishing on the Volga | [528] |
| XXVII. | Fishing for Electrical Eels | [539] |
| XXVIII. | Greenlanders Fishing for Halibut | [551] |
| XXIX. | The Herring Fishery | [580] |
| XXX. | A Roman Feast | [593] |
| XXXI. | Fishing for Tunny in Provence | [598] |
| XXXII. | Fishing for Mackerel Off the Cornwall Coast | [601] |
CHAPTER I.
THE OCEAN.
Ἄοιστον μὲν ὔδωρ—"The best of all things is water."—Pindar.
It is estimated that the sea covers nearly two-thirds of the surface of the earth. The calculation, as given by astronomers, is as follows: The surface of the earth is 31,625,625½ square miles, that portion occupied by the waters being about 23,814,121 square miles, and that consisting of continents, peninsulas, and islands, being 7,811,504 miles; whence it follows that the surface covered with water is to dry land as 3·8 is to 1·2. The waters thus cover a little more than seven-tenths of the whole surface. "On the surface of the globe," Michelet remarks, "water is the rule, dry land the exception."
Nevertheless, the immensity and depth of the seas are aids rather than obstacles to the intercourse and commerce of nations; the maritime routes are now traversed by ships and steamers conveying cargoes and passengers equal in extent to the land routes. One of the features most characteristic of the ocean is its continuity; for, with the exception of inland seas, such as the Caspian, the Dead Sea, and some others, the ocean is one and indivisible. As the poet says, "it embraces the whole earth with an uninterrupted wave."