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Rh CHAPTER III.

THE OCEAN WORLD.

OWN into the deep we sank. On-rushing through miles of water. As we passed onwards thousands of strange monsters of the deep met our sight, swimming about here and there, single and in shoals. Most of them appeared as irrational as the great fishes of earth. Some were reptilian in aspect, more like the ichthyosaurus or the cetiosaurus of the secondary formation of earth than any earthly fish. Some were apparently higher in type, like the whales or dolphins of the earth's oceans. But a few appeared of rational nature, and were provided with singular implements of swimming, alone, or elsewhere floating in submarine ships of metal, curiously designed, and propelled through the waters with great velocity.