The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-06-06
THE SUNKEN GALLON.


rr-untain. which was rapidly dwindling
into a blue shadow in the windy atmos-
ohere as our vessel Numbered north
ward through the long frothing ridges of
he south Atlantic, when a sailorly-look-
Ing man came and stood at my side. and,
after gazing a moment. exclaimed:
The old peak grows dim, sir. Another
hour Of this travelling will give US
clear horizon the circle round"
Il wonder" said I. following with my
eve the startled fight of shoal Of flying
fish. what would be the sensation if one
could dive from the bows and let this
great roaring steamer. churning up a
perfect snow-storm of foam. pass over
ones head?"
IF you were TO go three fathoms below
the keel of the vessel. you would be UNI
conscious. except for the shadow of her
eclipsing the sort of twilight that comes
sitting through the green water, of any
thing passing above you. 1 speak with
some little knowledge, for, curiously
enough, my calling is that of a diver"
Really" said 1, looking at my COM
panion with some interest. for 1 own to
finding a considerable fascination in the
of the sea. And. pray may 1 ask
whether you have been pursuing your
submarine Investigations in the waters
of the cape?"
II have, sir" he answered. ''in Table
bav itself. And, if it would entertain
you to hear it, l will tell you very
curious yarn of my experiences below
the surfaces of the historic anchorage
Il shall indeed be most interested TO
hear the story" said l.
Then let us go and sit under the lee
of the chart house, for the rush of the
wind here makes talking difficult. All.
this is more comfortable. Well. sir. L
must begin by telling you that before
became a diver ! was a sailor. and for
some years had command Of a bark trad
ing between London and South Africa
! used sometimes when at CapetOwn, TO
hear an old tradition of an ancient treas
ure ship. said to be sunk in Table bay.
and which might even al times be seen
shimmering fathOms down under the
water. that is glass-clear, when the
weather was quiet and the sea still. one
day l met with an old Dutch settler. and
he told me a wonderful yarn about the
wealth of this sunken galleon, which
made a good deal Of an impression upon
my mind al the time, for L couldn't help
thinking what pity IL was that so much
treasure should be lying at the bottom
of the bay without an effort being made
TO recover it
q returned to England and fell Ill of
lingering malady. which forced me TO
give up my berth Of command. When 1
got well again. / found no small diff
Guilty In obtaining a fresh post; till one
day. happening to meet with an old ship
mate, he told me he was going to give
up going TO sea and become diver; that
he made about Is a week at the business,
and strongly recommended me to take to
it. | told him that | doubted whether
should have the nerve TO go down TO
sunken wrecks and witness such CHASTITY
spectaCles as I knew it must often fall
10 the lot of a diver to behold; but he
assured me that l would soon grow ac-
Customed TO the whole thing, and in
Vited me to go out for trip with him.
that ] might make a trial A few days
afterward l accompanied him in his cut
ter to the scene of a wreck, from which
he was recovering a cargo; he lent me
diving dress and a headpiece, and ]
made my first descent in about eight
fathoms Of water IL was n most curl
Gus senss ton walking upon the bed of
the sea in the greenish glimmering twi-
light through which every object doomed
vague and large, but 1 got quite used
10 il before / had been down half an
hour To cut short this part Of my
y i
Sary outfit. and started in the diving
business out Of which 1 did a very
great deal better than a shipmaster.
Meanwhile there frequently ran in
ny head the recollection of the Dutch
m7n's story Of the sunken treasure-ship
H. Table bay. 1t CHANGED one evening
that ] was in the company of a little as
scrblage of sailors and ship-owners; the
conversation turned upon valuable
wrecks, and 1 talked somewhat freely
about the traditional galleOn supposed to
be lying under water off CapetOwn, re-
GREETING that I had not got the means to
60 out and try and recover some Of her
rich freight. l suppose / ran on in a
pretty fluent strain. dwelling upon the
fabulous wealth OF the ancient Spanish
ships. for l found them all listening TO me
with the greatest attention.
Next morning a man named Bury
called upon me; he was a Thames barge
owner reputed 10 be worth $4,000. He
said he had been thinking over the sub
Ject Of our conversation on the previous
evening, and wished to know whether l
really meant that providing / had the
means. 1 would go out and explore the
submerged galleOn? ] answered, GER
tainly that these sort Of traditions about
sunken ships and buried treasures are,
with scarcely an exception, based upon
some degree Of truth, and so likely did
consider that there might lie a great for
tune in the speculation TO any man who
would hazard some little capital upon
the project, that l only lamented my own
inability TO make the venture He then
come directly 10 the point. and said that
those views were exactly his own. and If
] would carry out my scheme he would
find the necessary funds the condition
J. ing that he was TO have half Of what
o ] might recover. / closed with his
p, and a week later was on board
'ner bound for CapetOwn.
IN my arrival ! went TO work TO
eaiher all the Intelligence / could con-
r9ing the supposed whereabouts Of the
sunken wreck, and presently met with
q very old waterman, who said he had
once dimly seen the outline of a ship
resting upon the bottom many feet deep,
hut couldn't say whether 1t would be the
vessel / was in search Of He pointed out
the exact spot. which was at the en-
trance 70 the bay, betwixt Green Point
a7d RObben island, and, as / found, be-
y1nd the Jurisdiction Of the port author
tiles, 50 that ! had nObOdy's permission
u ask before starting on myscheme.
hired a large sloop suitable 10 my pur-
pose. and engaged half-a-dOzen Cape
Malays. whom / instructed in the use
Of the air-pump, and the meaning Of the
signals which a diver makes by Juggling
- the lifeline attached round his chest.
With the exception Of these blacks nobody
had any idea of the object of our mission
when, shortly after daybreak one morn
f.. we got under weight, and stood out
Z rrd the entrance Of the bay. We ar
ID at the spot the bearings Of which
~ Old waterman had told me to take by