The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1906-07-27

marine explorations is afforded by the
| light, which forms a strange blend OF
green and violet, the color being little
similar 10 that Of the caverns which are
to be seen in icebergs. At depth of
| thrty-two yards the light begins to get
more and more dfluse, and the sun,
viewed through the mass of superincum-
bent water, appears like a reddish
opaque globe, but-and this is somewhat
strange-w sheltered from the rays of
the sun (behind Il rock. for instance) the
stars become visible even at midday.
Zone day, just about noon, saw a
never to be forgotten sight at depth of
one hundred and twenty-nine feet. The
sun was right at the zenith The bottom
upon which | stood consisted of fine
white sand, and the reflection of the light
upon the snowy carpet gave me the i'm
preston of standing upon a plain of
molten gold.
cat depth of two hundred and twenty
six feet the obscurity is complete; at
three hundred and twenty seven feet the
darkness is impenetrable, and it is ncceS-
sary to have recourse to electricity for
purposes of vision. use electric lamps
of ten thousand candle power, but even
these cannot diiuse their light beyond a
radius of ninety feet. A most tragic
spectacle is then presented by sunken
vessels, broken boats, splintered hulls,
gaping decks, and broken masts."
No scenes of horror can he surpassed
by the awful panoramas of death and
disaster which have been witnessed by
Engineer de plury in the course of his pro-
fessional experience as diver:
In the vicinity of OStend," he relates,
81 was requested once to examine the
wreck of the vessel which had sunk not
long before. This was the occasion upon
which was assailed by vertible horde
of those giant crabs of which have
already spoken. They were at the time
busy devouring the corpses of the dead
sailors.
"Onc of these monsters seized me by the
leg, which would have been crushed as if
squeezed by jaw of steel hadit not been
protected by the powerful armoring of
my diving dress. had a kind of sword
in my hand, with which | succeeded in
killing two of these monsters; the shells1
still possess.
"All objects ut the bottom of the sea
are covered with Il kind of curious pow
der, and a terrible gloom and silence
prevails What scene of melancholy!
The floor of the ocean is strewn with
bones, not few of them of human origin.
a very singular fact which have OBJ
served is that the sea for a certain period
of time keeps bodies in perfect state of
preservation.
Il once visited the hull of n vessel which
had gone down with all hands. The
crew were mostly asleep at the moment
when the disaster occurred, and had thus
practically passed instaneously from
sleep to death. So far they had not been
bitten or gnawcd by any fish, as most OF
the hatChways were closed.
The men still appeared as if ASLEEP.
There they lay, wrapped in a calm and
mysterious slumber. approached and
touched one of TIE corpses with my hand;
the flesh seemed to dissolve and vanish,
leaving nothing but grinning skeleton.
And the treasures of the seas Mil
lions alone are cngulfed not far from
Vigo. Personally, l have never been
there, but one of my men once went down
there, clad in the old diving dress. The
unhappy man died almost directly he
reached the surface again, but he had had
time to see several galleons lying at the
bottom, with the masts still standing
and the timberwork still sound.
These. of course, were some of the ia
nous treasure ships, but | do not think
it would lie possible to recover them.
Allmetals would have been destroyed by
rust now, as they have been below water
ever since 1907.
Il have secn personally the vessel
which, about 1908, was conveying Ma
poIeon's treasures to Holland when it
was wrecked en- route and sank with one
hundred millions of gold on board. OF
these, ffty-Six millions have been recov-
cred. but the remainder, as have said,
is still in the bottom of the ocean.
The Prince of Monaco states that he
has found near Cyprus a galley, still full
of objects Of art, at the bottom of the
sea This is where submarine boats will
have such future before them, as by
their aid we shall one day be able to ex-
plore deep sea grottocs, rich in unknown
forms Of life, vaults full of untold wealth,
and the tomb Of many poor sailor