Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-12-23

paraiso, aboard the sloop Of war
Virago, enc Of our midshipmen
touched me ON the shoulder and
informed ne that Lieutenant
Bardolph wanted to see me-.
81 have heard thatl yoniwere
something of naturalist, Star
buck" said the officer, smiling.
''No, sir,''rI replied, mo hat
uralist, although | take an inter
est in .;a,g eeag
ooh, we'll mind, quoth
the Lieutenant ssYou hateseen
our divinSabeFP' hoilaoib9h
i answered yes, when. the Lieu
tenant informed me that he wan
ted me to godown under the sea
with our sboatswain, Randolph,
ftimerly Il pearl diver, TO look
fora curious fish which, on the
day prevlotis,h had been pierced.
and killed With Il spike.o Til
form, the fish reseihblod a Ser
pcnt, was about thirty inches IN
length, and had ON both sides Of
| its neck Il pair Of singular APP
pendages, Sc melting likewilnlgs,
Its most striking pecdliarity,
however, was one eye,of'a green-
ish color, Situated CD the-fdp Of
the head. On being struck With
the pike the creature had. rolled
over, apparently dying, and then
Owed out Of sight. 70 4lIoW pr
"a think, 'e6iifintied the. IfeuI'
tenant, "that sueh2A curiosity is
worth obtainhg;and1 have pfek-
ed you QUITO go With Randdlph,'
believing that you die'int, rested
lin natural history. BeAde5,g,f
will pay you a. guinea If aybut
will go.'' a9iigd % i''iioF I9'H
My mouth watered3; bottles Of.
dguaraiente ard tKe1Baek eyes
OF pretty Gillian daInsels Idanc-
ed before my miiid! L Bowed
acquiescence,s and went awdy to
make preparations blnoF
The diving bell so6ifM ag on
deck, ready to be hoisted hand
swung over the side. The in
strument was a little damaged,
but neither Randolph noi'I an
ticipated danger. iiiit $40 q
We were presently in our pla-
ces, singing out "All fright!"
when the bell began to decend.
| Down, down, doWn-FodFwe{sf
and lower. I'VE glanced round
usaon all sides, but as yet saw
nothing. Of theistrange fish. Cda'
rious-looking specimehs Bf the
.finny tribe, however, greeted us
in m;ny directions. We ep4H
see the sword1fsh dart past With
its long, protudinS bone %te!apon;
the globe-fsh, the balloon-fsE
and the spitefufl6okihgi shark;
swept through the green waters,
almost brushing our bell with
tails and fins. {lfii-'.'s, III .
'sIIow singularl''LT calculated.
.Like vision Of the delifidm.
tremens, as | have heard that dis
ease described. "2Tjsio his.l 9ai
"Don't talk of the delirnini
tremens herel' gfowled Ran
dolph, with dissatisfied ar.
."Grog is too scarce do yofi see,,l
for that. Tauts is faults syerIy-
where, bat blow me if they don II
somehowiseem to have dwindledi|
mighty small about Vii4igo." ~
Now we hung suspended in
midsea. The air had become
somewhat impure, SO we opened,
the top-cork and let it ont, ..feel-'l
ing, a moment after, a fresh Sup
ply, sent us through the In
dia-raBber Hfpipe'' OF Hose sell
cured into the top of'the BELL
Randolph was about touching
the signal4c5rd to intimate onr1
desire to he lowered still farther,
when we felt a sudden jerk felt |
the bell going down faster than |
we had anticipated, and, to our
horror, realised that the rope .byf
which the Instrument was sds- |
pended had parted from the hook I
to which it was attached, mo- 4,
Away went the apipe'' at tie
same moment, and we only saved
ourselves from instant destrdc-
ton by stopping up the aperture
thus left in the top with a thick
handkerchief. Otherwise. thel
water beneath, no longer meet-
ing the resistance of the air, that
element escaping, must havef
filed the bell ira brief space. ~
, We heard the water loaringl
and gurgling around MS as wei,
aeessSc ii,sSi; oui descent newev-
or keea.sen aane.lt instant eYt..s,as.
until finally the resistance of the
confined air in the bell kept us
about two feet abogeF.
the bottom Of the sea. DnSa 70
1.-The air Of our floating prison
had by this time become aImest J
nnbearable, not only fiom its /
being so denseIy compressed,