SPRINGS IN THE OCEAN.
After these introductory statements it is possible now to postu late an additional proposition : springs of fresh water arise in the midst of the ocean at some distance from the shore. The facts are not numerous, but are stated upon the best authority. Pro fessor Joseph Le Conte, in his says that fresh water springs arise in the ocean in the Hawaiian Islands. In reply to my inquiry as to details, he wrote that he had not preserved the memoranda relating to these phenomena, and that they had es caped his memory. No one can doubt the correctness of the state ment in view of the existence of the proved underground waters. Powerful streams discharge millions of gallons of water through the artificial openings very near the sea shore. If not intercepted. they must continue a considerable distance out to sea, and hence must well up to the surface amid saline billows.
Further inquiry about these springs in the Territory of Hawaii has resulted in the discovery of several upon Oahu ; there is one off Diamond Head, a second off Waialae. At the east end of Maui, in Hana, there was a fortress named Kaimuke, occupied by soldiers in the ancient times. As it was almost an island, com
munication with the mainland was not feasible in the time of a siege, and for the lack of water it could not have been held ex cept for the presence of submarine springs. The natives would dive down to collect water in their calabashes, which supplied all the wants of the garrison. Other springs were known in the harbor of liana, and at low tide at Lahaina. Upon Hawaii I found there were fresh-water springs off Kawaiahae, Keauhou and Punaluu.
I was led to pursue the study of these fresh-water springs some what further in other than Hawaiian districts, and found abund ant illustrations of them in Florida, Louisiana, Cuba and the Per sian Gulf, so that we are warranted in looking for fresh water bubbling up through the brine of the ocean in almost any part of the world. It is conceivable that such supplies might be utilized for the benefits of steamships or for household purposes where the local streams are unwholesome or