The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-11-26

= Divers Tale.
The life of one who explores the mysteries
of the sea is not more perlous than fascinating
The charm of terror hangs around il, and the
lntermlnab!e succession of exciting events rem
ders it dear to its professor. Not to the common
diver Of the cast who can remain but for frac,
ton Of time beneath the wave and group fear
fully among ocean mounds, but to the adept in
the civilIsed mode of diving, who, in his protect
i've armor, may remain submerged for hours
and wander with impunity for miles along the
unknown regions far below he sea- To him
are laid open the horrors Of the watery creation
and he may gaze upon such scenes as the Ara
blan story tells us were presented to the fearful
eyes of Abdallah. TO him hc most thrilling
occurrences of the upper wohd seem frivolous;
for, IN his memory, he retains thoughts that
may well chill the soul with dread.
| am diver-a diver'fron choice-and am
proud of my profession. Where is such cour-
age required as is needed hqe? It is nothing
to be soldier; diver, howe7er-but forbear
[ will tell my story, and leave others to judge
concerning it,
An appalling shipwreck occurred, not long
ago, upon the widest part Of the coast of New
Foundland. The tidings ofthis calamity reach
ed the ear of thousands; but, amid the crowd
of accidents'which followed in quick succession,
1t was soon forgotten. Not by US, however.
We found the vessel had sunk upon spot
where the waters depth was by no means great,
and that a daring man might easily reach her.
She was steamer called the Marmon, and
had been seen going down suddenly without an
instant's warning, by some fishermen near by
She had undoubtedly struck hidden rock, and
had thus been in one moment destroyed.
lspoke to my associates of the plan, and they
approved it. No time was lost in making the
necessary preparations, and short time be-
held us embarked in our small schooner for the
sunken ship. There were six Of us, and we an
tcipated extraordinary success.
Twas the leader, and generally ventured upon
any exploit in WHICH there was uncommon dan
ger. Not that the others were towards; on the
contrary, they were all brave men, but was
gifted with coolness and presence of mind
of which the others were destitute. As two
persons were needed in order to explore the
Marmion, | had selected as my companion /,
young fellow, whose steadincsS and dauntless
courage had several times before been fearfully
tested.
TWAS calm and pleasant day, but the south
ern and eastern horizon looked deceitfu. Small,
suspicious clouds were gathered there, i'll Of as
pect, and ''sneaking fellows, regular hang dog
fellows" as my comradc, Rinmer, remarked
to me. Nevertheless, we were not to be put
off by little cloudiness in the sky, but boldly
prepared to venture.
So deep was the water, that no vestige of a
ships mast remained above the surface, to point
out the resting place of the Mamion. We were
compelled, therefore, to select The scene of ope-
ration according to the best of our ability. Down
went the sails Of our schooner and Rimmer and
put on our diving armor. We fixed on our
helmets tightly, and screwed on the hose. One
by one each clumsy article was adjusted. The
weights were hung, and we were ready.
cit looks terrible blackish, Berton," said
Rimmer to me.
."Oh.' I replied, gayly, 'it's only little
mist-all right!''
'Ah!" he uttered in a low voice, which
sounded hollow from his cavernous helmet.
''All ready,' | cried in a loud voice, which
they, however, could not easily distinguish
Then making proper sign, was swung over
the side.
bONu VIC NtIt. HlSt dill! lNIlUIlCl ClOSt dl
ter me. 1t did not take a long time for us 10
reach the bottom. We found ourselves upon
what seemed a broad plain, sloping downward
toward the south, and rising slightly toward
the north. Looking forward, then dim, black
object arose, which our experienced eye knew
to be lofty rock. motioned to Rimmer that
we should proceed there.
cannot tell the strangeness of the sensation
felt by one who first walks the bottom of the sea.
There are thousand objects fitted to excite
astonishment, even III the mind of him who has
dared the deed hundred times. All around
US lay the plain, covered by water, but here the
eye cannot pierce far away, as in the upper air,
for the water in the distance grew opaque and
seemed to fade away into misty darkness
There was no sound, except the incessant CUR
gle which was produced by the escape Of air
from the breath valve, and the splash caused
by our passage through the waters. We walked
out at a good race; for this armor, which seems
SO clumsy up above, is excellent below, and Of
fcrslttle inconvenience to the practiccd wearer.
Fishes in crowds were around us. Fishes of
every shape and size met our eyes, no matter
whore they turned. They swan swiftly by US;
they sported in the water above us; they raced
and chased one another in every erection
Here shoaI ofporposcs tumbled along in clum-
sy gambols; therea grampus might be seen ris-
ing slowly to the surface; here an immense num-
Der Of smaller fish flashed past US; there some
huge ones, with ponderous forms, t1oated IN the
the waterlazily. Sometimes three or four placed
themselves directly before us, staring at US, and
soIemnl y working their tails. There they would
remalnStlll we came close up to them, and then,
with. a start, they would dart away.
All this time, we were waiklns onward,
along the bottom Of the sea, while above us, like
black cloud in the sky, we could see our boat
slowl y moving along upon the surface the wa
ter. And now, not more than hundred yards
before us, we could see the towering form OF
that ebony rock which had at first greeted our
eyes from afar. As yet we could not be certain
that this was the place where the Marmion had
struck. But soon round, black object became
dscernible as we glanced at the rocky base.
RmSner struck my arm and pointed. sign
ed assent, and we moved on more quickly.
A feS moments elapsed; We had come nearer
to the rock, The black object now looked like
the stern of a vessel whose hull lay there.
Sd d ,,,t