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49. The Bottom of the Sea.

In some places there are very long and wide
banks under the sea. The tops of many
ranges and ridges also rise above water, and
form islands.

Many volcanoes rest upon the bottom of the

deep. sea. Their peaks form hundreds of
lonely islands, far out in the ocean. Most of
these volcanic islands are in the Pacific ocean.

By far the greater part of the bottom of
the sea is a vast smooth plain.

Sunlight does not go very far down in the
sea. If we were to sink in this great body of
water, we should find the light growing fainter
as we went deeper. At less than one fourth
of a mile below the surface, the
ocean is always in darkness.
Yet, in some places, the water
is five miles in depth.

 

CORAL ISLANDS.

This tiny creature is called a polyp, and the
The coral is a part of the |

hard part is coral.
body of the polyp.

Some polyps grow like trees, and send out
buds that form branches. The polyps on the
branches bud again, and thus a dense coral
forest grows.

Polyps lay tmy eggs in the water, and the
egos float and swim. If they reach a rocky

bank or a hard bottom where the water is |

shallow, clear and warm, they start another
forest of coral.

When the coral has grown nearly to the
surface of the sea, waves break off many
branches and wash them onto the top of the
coral mass. Hach storm sends
up more, till the bank rises
above the water and forms an
island.

 

 

 

Near the surface of the sea,
and on the bottom, there are
many kinds of fish and other
creatures. At times the shal-

low water near the shores of the grand

divisions seems to be alive with fishes.

50. Coral Islands.
(A Reading Lesson.)

Have you ever heard of the pretty islands
that grow in the sea? Let us visit one of
them, and find out how it grew.

The water round the island is clear, and we
can look far down into it. What are those
little branches that grow under the water?
Reach down with a long pole, and break off
a branch.

It looks like a small tree, but it is as hard
as stone.
sides and ends of the branch.

This is one of the wonders of the sea. Each
soft spot is a living body. It has a mouth and
a stomach, and takes its food from the water.

 

There are tiny soft spots on the

picture are built upon other sinking islands.

The waves soon grind some
of the coral to powder. Sea-
plants drift to the new shore,
and mix with the coral dust.
Soil is thus formed on the island.

Fine seeds are carried many miles by winds
in storms. Other seeds drift with the sea
from shore to shore. In some such ways
seeds reach the new island, and grow to trees
or smaller plants.
ready for man to come and make it his home.

In the warm parts of the ocean, polyps
have made many long banks, or reefs, along
the main shores.

Ships often strike upon ieee reefs, and are
wrecked." ;

There are many kinds of coral, and they
take many pretty shapes.

1 The famous war vessel, Kearsarge, was wrecked on a

coral reef.

2Tt ig often stated that islands like that in the
Tt is now
thought that this has taken place only in rare cases,

if in any.

Now the coral island is