In the very deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, directly under the Equator, Neptune, the Sovereign of the Seas, once held his regal court. His palace was of vast dimensions, capable of holding all the Ocean Spirits, the rulers and guardians of the realms of water below, and of all the islands which adorn its surface. Its outside was composed of huge black rocks piled up like mountains, one upon another, and covered with dark masses of seaweed, which, floating upward, appeared like a forest of trees, of a growth far more gigantic than the earth can produce, and yet it seemed but like lichens growing on the roof of a house in comparison with the size of the edifice. The inside was more magnificent than mortal eye has ever seen. There was one vast hall, pervaded by a green yet clear light, which came from above, and increased the grandeur and solemnity which reigned around. To say that the walls were of red coral and immense shells, each of which was as large as many a vessel which floats on the ocean, while pearls of surpassing brilliancy and whiteness were interspersed among them, and that the roof was of crystal of gorgeous tinge, can in no way picture the surpassing magnificence of the structure. At one end was a lofty throne, proportioned to the size of the building, of jet-black rock, glittering with that gold which the toil of man had won from the bowels of the earth, but which his carelessness had lost in the stormy sea. It was surrounded by many thousand other thrones, the seats of Neptune's vassal Spirits--his Governors, Tritons, and other attendants. It must be understood that, once upon a time, whatever may now be the case, every fish which swims, every insect which crawls in the sea, had its governor and king. The largest was the King of the Whales. He was a vast monster of dark form, whose dwelling was in the regions of icebergs and glaciers at the North Pole. The fiercest was the King of the Sharks; he had sharp teeth, and eyes full of malignancy and hatred to the human race. He was the most wicked of all the Spirits. The fastest and most beautiful was the King of the Dolphins; the most unwieldy the King of the Porpoises; the ugliest the King of the Cat-fish; and the tallest the King of the Big Sea Serpents--for they all partook somewhat of the forms of the fish over whom they were placed to govern. Their thrones, too, were of appropriate forms; some sat on huge sea-eggs, others on shells. The King of the Whales sat on an iceberg, but the King of the Big Sea Serpents was obliged to twist himself in and out about the pillars of the hall to find room for his long body. It is impossible to describe their vast mysterious forms, shrouded as they were in their dark-green mantles of vapours and obscurity.