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46 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.