The fish swam against him, plunging and leaping, and finally turned him completely over.
He was in the power of a new enemy, and what the end of this adventure would be there was no telling.
The fish were indeed curious—some long and thin, others short and fat, but all with something extremely unusual in their makeup.
One fish had horns on its head, another had wings like those of a bird, and many had feathers instead of scales on their bodies.
And then came a fish shaped very much like a long, spiral spring, with a square-looking head and horns all of two feet long just over his eyes, which set out like two yellow and white eggs.
"I must try and get you, my beauty," thought the young diver, and prepared to put out the net for that purpose.
He had to work with care, being alone, and it took considerable time before he opened the diving bell and let in the water.
The first thing that struck him when he felt the water on him was that it was no longer cold, but warm—even warmer than at the surface.
This was not unpleasant, but he could not help but wonder how much hotter it might be at the very bottom.
"This part of the ocean may be over a submarine volcano," he reasoned. "If that is so it will be boiling at the bottom, and to get to the wreck will be impossible."