Page 247 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

228 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

The smooth and glassy surface of the water
then prevents any distant view of the rocks

lurking beneath : on this part of the coast we
remained utterly unconscious of our prox­

imity to such destructive neighbours, until it
became evident that the current was sweeping
us slowly over an extensive bed of rock.
Through the bright blue and pellucid water,
we could then discern the minutest objects at
an immense depth, and the secrets of the
deep thus laid open to us afforded the most

magnificent spectacle which can be con
ceived. Although there were neither

“ Wedges of gold, vast anchors, heaps of pearls,
Nor other treasures of the vasty deep,*’
yet the productions of nature, valueless but
far more beautiful, were before us; every
formation of the coral was exposed to view :
on the one hand, we had a huge and shape­
less pile, formed by thin horizontal layers;

on the other a ponderous, and widely-spread
mass, like a huge blossoming plant, supported
by a thin cylinder, or stem. Successive cir­
cular fragments reared themselves aloft, or
assumed the fantastic, tortuous forms of
gnarled and knotted forest-trees: how varied,