The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-06-11
Tue Ocean Depths.
pryn's rALE

oi the sea, 10 not more periloua tnan ia6ciuH-
ting, The charm Of terror hangs around it,
aud the iuterminable succession of exciting
events renders II dear 10 ilt professor. Not
10 the common diver oi the East, who can
remain but for fraction Of time beneath
the wave, and grOpe ieariully among rugged
ocean mounds, but 10 the adept iH tho civil
lied mode Of diving, who In his protective
armor, may remain submerged for hours,
alsa a.agaaE1 .Eltll -iHHiiliiy, for mllez along
those unknown regions Tar below the SEA
To him are laid open the hOrT0rs 0f the wa
teiy creation, and be may gaze upon such
scenes as Arabian story tells M were presen-
ted 10 the fearful eyes Of hbdsllah 10 him
the most thrilling ocouuspces Of the upper
world seems frivolous Tor, la his memory,
he retains thoughts that MAJ vel chill the
soul with dread
am a diyer--a diver from ohoice-and I
am proud Of my profession, Where Ia such
courage required as Ia needed hrrep Ii IL
nothing 90 be a soldicri ditrr, however
but iorhear, / Will tell my story, and leave
others 10 judge concerning H.
An appalling shipVreok occurred, not long
ago, upon the widest part Of the coast ol
Newfoundland, The tilings Of this calnmi-
Is reached the ears ~ thousands but, amid
the crowd Of accidents which followed In
quick succession, IL was soon forgotten,
not by us, however. We found that the
vessel had sunk upon q spot where The wa
ter's depth was by no means great, and that
a daring man might easily reach her,
She was steamer called the Mnrmion,
and had been seen going suddenly down,
without an instant's warning, by some fish
ermen noar by, She had undoubtedly struck
a hidden rock, and had thus been, IN one mo-
mcnt destroyed.
! spoke TO my as,oeiates oT The plan, aud
they approved il. No time was lost IN ma.
king the necessary preparations, and a short
Time behCld us embarked in our small schup-
ner for the sunken ship. There were sE Of
us and we anticipated extraordinary success.
was the leader, and generally yenturod
upon'any exploit ia which there was uucom-
mon danger. Not that the others are COW
nrdsi on the contrary, they we're oil brave
men, but was gifted with a coolncka aud
presence Of mind Of which the others we're
destitute. As two persona were needed, m
order TO explore the Marmion, had sglected
as my companion young fellow, whose
steadiness and dauntl,ss courage had several
times before been fearlully tested.
II was a calm and pleasant day. but the
southern aud eastern horizon, looked deceit
ful. Small, suspicious clouds were gathered
there, III Of aspect, and "sncakiug fel1ows,
regular hang-dog fellows, as my comradc,
Rmmcr, remarked 10 me- Nevertheless, We
were not to be- put off by little eloudincts
in the sky, but boldly prepared TO venture.
So deep was the water, that no yCstigc Of q
ships makt remained above the aurflce. 10
point out the resting place OF the Mnrmion.
We were compelled, therefore, 70 select thc
scene Of operations according 10 tic best or
our ability. Down went the salts Of our
schooner, aud Rimmcr aud put on our al.
wing afmoF. We fixed our helmets tightly
and screwed on the hose. One 10y one each
clumsy article was adjusted. The weights
were hung. and we were ready.
at looks terrible blackish, Berlon,' said
Rimmer To me.
"oh," replied gaily, its only little mist
all right"
"Ah" lie uttered low exclamation
which sounded hollow from his cayemou,
helmet
"All ready" cried in a loud voice, which
trey Tarrr,-tr,e et-sild not easily Distinguish
Then making a proper sgn, was swung
over the side.
Down we went, first, and Rimmcr clos,
behind me. II did not take a long timc iol
us to reach the bottom. We found ourselves
upon what seemed broad plain, slopinp
downward, toward the north. Looking for
ward then, dim, black object arose, which
our experienced eyes knew to be loft,
rock.
mo,ioned to Rimmcr that we should pro
cccd there.
| cannot tell the strangcncss OF the scnsa
ton felt BY one who first walks the bolton
I OF the sea.
There are a thousand objects, fitted to cx
cite astoniShment even in the mind Of hin
who has dared the deed hundred tines
All around us lay the plain, covered by water
but here the eye could not pierce far away NJ
in the upper ali, for the water, in the dis
tance, grew opaque, and seemed TO fade ava,
into misty darkness. There was no sount
except the ineessant gurgle which was pro
duced by the escape Of air from the breas
valve, and the plash caused by our passag
through the waters. We walked on at
good pace for this armor, which seems $,
clumsy up above, is excellent below, and, OF
fers little Inconvenience to the practice,
wearer.
Fishes in crowds were around us. Fishe
of every shape met our eyes no matter wher
they turned. They swan swiftly by us the
sported in the water above usj they race,
and chased one another, in every direction
Here a shoal of porpoiscs tumbcd along il
4 in clumsy gambolsj there a grampus NIGH
be seen rising slowly Ia the surface her
an immense number Of smaller fish flashe
past US, there some huge ones, with ponder
Gus forms, iloated in the water luEily. Some
times three or four placed themselves direct
ly before us, staring at US, and solcmnl
working their gils. There they would RI
main, till we came close up TO them, an
then, with start they would dart away.
All this time we were walking onward
along the bottom of the sen, while above u
like black cloud in the sky, we could &c
, our boat slowly moving onward upon the SUI
face of the water. And not more than
hundred yards before us, we could see th
towering form of that ebony rock which ha
at first greeted our eyes from afar. As yC
we could not be certain that this was tn
place where the Marmion had struck. Bu
soon round, black object became discernabl
as we glanced at the rocky base
Rimmer struck on my. arm, and pointed
signed assent and we moved on nor
p quickly.