Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1866-02-09
Sponge.Dlyers.

dive is very peculiar and interesting. The
diver, whose turn il is, takes his seat on the
deck of the vessel, at either the bow or
stern. and placing by his side large, fat
slab Of marble, weighing about twenty
FIVE pounds, to which is attached rope of
the proper length and thickness Gone and
half inch), he then strips, and is left by
his companions to prepare himself. This
seems TO consist in devoting a certain time
to clearing the passages Of his lungs by
expectoration, and highly initiating them
afterwards, thus oxydizing his blood very
highly by repetition OF deep Inspirations
The operation lasts from 6se TO ten minutes,
Or more. sccordla dS''h; aed during
IL, the operator il heNr in1ffered with by
his companions, and seldom speaks or is
spoken to; he is simply wstehed by two Of
them, but at u little distance, and they
never venture to ur him, or TO distract
him in any way during the process. 1t
seems TO q spectator as IL the diver were
going through sort Of mysterious cere-
mony or incarnation.
When, fiom some sensation known only
10 himself, after these repeated long. drawn
and heavy inspirations, he deems tho fit
ting moment 10 have arrived, he sezes the
slab of marble, and, after crossing himself
and uttoring prayer, plunges with it, like
returning dolphin, into the sea, and rap
idly descends The stone is always held,
during the descent, directly 10 front Of the
head, ut arms length, and so as TO offer as
little resistance as possible, and by varying
its inclination, il acts likewise as rudder,
causing the descent to be more or less YER
tical, as desired by the diver. As soon as
he reaches the bottom, he places the stone
ander his arm to lSep himself down, aud
then walks about upon the rock, or crawls
under its lodges, stuiling the sponges into
nettcd bag with u h0oped mouth, which
Is strung around his neck 10 receive them;
but he holds firmly TO the stone or rope all
the while as his safeguard for returning and
for making the known signal at the time he
desires IL.
Now let us notice the proceedings Of his
companions In the boat floating some TWEEN.
~ or thirty iathoms above him. The two
men who were nearest TO him previously
to his making the dive, but who systcmat-
ically seom TO place themselves so as to
prevent him form eonceiying the idea Of
being impatonily watched by thom while
undergoing tho preparation, spring to their
feet as soon as he disappears, and rush TO
the rope, which ono Of them holds in bis
hand, yoering IL out or shortening II In, as
tho diver moves about upon the bottom,
and ss I aeon Y . ieaiIss .Qf hl.
ing up the rope with great energy aud
oarnestness. aud in Way calculated 10
insure the greatest expedition OF ascent,
since the oyerstay of hw seconds may be
point Of life or death 20 the diver. The
hauling up is thus effected. The assistant
who has hold OF the rope, awaiting the
signal. frst reaches down with both hands
as low as he can. and there grasping the
rope, with q great bodily effort, raises il up
to nearly arms length over his head; the
second assistant is then prepared to make
his grasp as low down rs he can reach and
does the same, and so on, the two altern-
ately. aud by fGihom or more at time,
and with great rapidity, bring the anxious
his ncstrils, to expel the water and exaust-
ed air, indicates to his comrades that he Is
conscious and breathes. A word or two Is
spoken by one of his comrades to encour-
age him, ii he seems nuch distressed, as
is often the case; and the hearing OF tho
Vol c is said by them to be great support
ut the moment oi their greatest exhaustion.
A few seconds rest ut the surface, and then
the diver returns into the boat to recover,
generally putting on an under garment or
jacket 10 assist the restoration Of the ani-
NAL heat he has lost and to prevent the
loss Of more by The 700 rapid evaporation
Of water from his body. Such is the try
ing life Of a Levantine spongc-diyer; and
doubtless there are very few of US who have
any idea of what n fellowcreature has suf-
fered in procuring that little which has
become II necessity of our tollet-table and
the luxury of onr morning ablutions.-
! [Spratt's Travels in Crete.