Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER SIX.

  A SUNKEN WRECK INSPECTED, SUNDRY WONDERFUL DOINGS UNDER WATER RECORDED,AND VARIOUS PLANS SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED OUT.

  The vessel which Edgar Berrington had left his native element to inspectwas a large barque. It had gone to the bottom only a few months afterhaving been launched. The cargo, being intended for the Cape of GoodHope colony, was of a miscellaneous character, and some of it was ofcourse ruined by water, but much remained almost uninjured, or only alittle damaged.

  It was for the purpose of raising the latter portion of the cargo thatBaldwin and his men had been engaged by Mr Hazlit. Hitherto the divershad been extremely successful. With the usual appliances of slings,chains, shears and windlasses, etcetera, they had already recovered alarge quantity of goods, and were still busy in the hold when Edgar wentdown.

  As we have said, the wreck lay in comparatively deep water--about tenfathoms. The ladder which descended from the side of the diver's vesselwas not two fathoms in length, so that after reaching the lowest round,Edgar had to continue his descent by slipping down the rope which hungfrom the ladder and was weighted at the bottom with a stone.

  On reaching the ground he knelt, set down the lamp, and attached hisguide-line to the stone. While thus engaged he looked with muchinterest at his little lamp, which burned as brightly and steadily downin the depths of ocean as if on land, while, from its chimney the airwhich gave it life rose upwards in a constant stream of bubbles. Thewater being dense and very dark its light did not penetrate far, butclose to the bull's-eye it was sufficiently strong to enable our hero tosee what he was about. Having fixed the line, he was about to move inthe direction of the wreck when he received one pull on his life-line.Replying to it with one pull--"all right"--he was again about to move,when a strange unearthly sound filled his ears, and he smiled to thinkthat in his interest about the lamp and fastening his guide-line he hadtotally forgotten the speaking apparatus connected with his helmet.

  "How d'ee git on down there?" inquired the voice, which soundedstrangely mysterious, not to say unpleasant, in his confined metalhead-piece.

  "Splendidly," he replied, not applying his mouth to any orifice in hishelmet--for there _was_ no opening into the speaking-tube--but simplygiving utterance to the word in his usual manner. "I've just fixed myline and am going to move on."

  "Go ahead, and luck go with 'ee," was the prompt reply from Joe Baldwin.

  We have said that there was no opening into the helmet in connectionwith the speaking apparatus, such not being necessary. It was quitesufficient that the speaking-tube was fastened to the outside of thehelmet, just over a sort of cavity formed inside by means of what we maystyle an interior patch of metal. The sound passed _through_ thehead-piece and up the tube--or _vice versa_--and thus even though thetube should get broken and filled with water, no evil result couldfollow to the diver.

  Suddenly Berrington was again arrested.

  "Hallo!" shouted Baldwin.

  "Hallo! Well?" was sent up in reply, and the voice that came from belowcame out at the mouth-piece above, so soft and faint andfar-far-away-like that it seemed to Joe to belong to another world, andhad to be listened to attentively to be understood.

  "D'you think you could read by the light of your lamp?"

  "Yes, I'm sure I could."

  "Look out then; I'm sending you down a copy o' the _Times_."

  The youth looked up, and now perceived the advantage of the _fourth_hole or window, just over the forehead, which is peculiar to theDenayrouze helmet, most others having only three openings. He couldlook up by merely raising his eyes, whereas with the other helmets it isnecessary to bend well back in order to get the front-glass to faceupwards. Afterwards he found that there were some who objected to thisglass on the ground that as divers when below, and in total or partialdarkness, are constantly butting their heads against beams and otherportions of wrecks, the upper glass would be in frequent danger of beingbroken, but to this it was replied that it might be well guarded bypowerful cross-bars. The point we believe is still an open question.At all events the upper glass was found useful on the occasion to whichwe refer, for, looking up through it, our amateur diver saw a stonecoming down to him. It was lowered by a piece of twine, and tied to itwas an old _Times_ newspaper. Detaching and unfolding it Berrington sethis lamp on the sand, and, seating himself beside it, found that hecould read with perfect ease!

  Intimating the fact to his friend above, he returned the paper and beganhis explorations.

  He had been lowered close beside the stern of the wreck, that he mightbe as far as possible from the divers who were at work in the hold, andhad taken only half a dozen steps in the direction of it when its vastbulk appeared above him, looming through the dark water like a darkercloud. For some time he went carefully round it, minutely examining therudder and stern-post and the parts connected therewith, all of which hefound to be uninjured. Then, passing along the starboard side, heproceeded in his inspection until he reached a point which he judged tobe nearly amidships. Glancing upwards, he thought he could see thelife-lines and air-pipes of the other divers. To make sure he signalledfor more air. This he did by means of the air-pipe--two pulls--insteadof using the speaking-tube, because the air-pipe and life-line are neverfor a single instant let go or neglected by the attendants above,whereas the speaking-tube, on that occasion, was merely tried for thefirst time by these divers as an experiment. Immediately the puffing atthe airhole showed that the men at the pumps were on the alert. Edgarnow closed his front-valve so that no air at all was suffered to escapethrough it; the dress began to inflate, and in a few seconds was swelledout pretty tightly.

  Up to that period he had felt no further inconvenience than a slightpressure on the drums of his ears, which was relieved by the usualmethod of swallowing the saliva, which action has the effect of openinga small, and not _easily_ opened, internal orifice or passage to thedrum, and thus, by admitting the condensed air to the interior of theear, enables it to resist the pressure on the outside. Each inspirationof air has the same effect on the lungs, and the pressure, inside andoutside, being _at once_ equalised, is in their case unfelt, although itremains and tests the strength of the animal tissues. Hence it is arecognised rule that a man who has at any time spat blood is unsuited toa diver's work, as his weak blood-vessels are apt to burst. But now,under the increased pressure, our hero felt his ears affectedconsiderably, and other disagreeable sensations came on--such as singingin the head, etcetera; nevertheless, confident in his strength, hepersevered.

  Presently the amount of air in his dress more than counterbalanced theweight of lead about him--great though it was--and he began to rise likea cork--slowly. In a few seconds his head was close to the lines andair-pipes which he observed passing over the bulwarks of the wreck anddown into the hold. Afraid lest he should get entangled in them hecaught hold of the end of a piece of iron which projected near him andchecked his upward rise. At the same time he opened his valves; the airrushed out, and he immediately descended. On reaching the bottom heregulated the valves so as to give himself just enough of air to permitof his _keeping_ the ground, and moving about as before.

  He had observed, while up, that one set of lines diverged away from thewreck, but this did not strike him at the time as being noteworthy.After a few minutes he signalled his friends above, and shouted by meansof the speaking-tube--

  "Pay out the air-pipe and life-lines and give me free play."

  This being done he could pass under the lines of the other divers, andexamined the wreck as far as the bow, where he found an immense hole,partially filled by a mass of the rock which had originally driven itin. This of itself was sufficient to have sunk the vessel. In order toexamine the port side of the wreck he returned towards the stern andsignalled for more air. As before, he rose to the bulwarks, over whichhe passed by a slight effort, and, opening the valves, dropt gently,like a bird, upon the deck. Walking across it slowly, and with somedifficulty, owing to the b
roken spars and cordage with which it wasencumbered, he passed over the port bulwarks and lowered himself againto the bottom. A careful examination showed him that no injury worthmentioning had been sustained on that side, and he finally came to theconclusion that the large hole in the starboard bow was the only seriousdamage done to the hull.

  To make sure of this he returned to it, and satisfied himself as to itsexact nature and extent. While thus engaged, his attention was againdirected to the diverging line and air-pipe before referred to.Following these up he came to a mass of rocks, in a snug corner of whichhe found a diver fast asleep. At first he could scarcely believe hiseyes, but when he cautiously held the lantern close to the man'sfront-glass all doubt was removed, for not only were the eyes of thesleeper tightly closed, but the opening and shutting of his nostrils,coupled with certain regular motions about the lips, gave unquestionableevidence that the man was snoring vigorously, although, of course, nosound passed the metal covering that hermetically sealed his head.

  While Edgar gazed at the slumberer, around whose form a number of smallfish were prying inquiringly, he observed that his life-line received ajerk, and came to the correct conclusion that the attendants above,alarmed at the absence of motion in the diver's life-line and air-pipe,had signalled to know if all was right. Of course he expected that thesleeper would give no reply, and would, according to rule in such cases,be hauled up without delay. What then was his astonishment to see theman slowly lay hold of his lifeline with his left hand, give it a singletug to indicate that all was right, and then settle himself morecomfortably to continue his submarine slumbers!

  Our hero gave vent to an uncontrollable burst of laughter, which,however, resounded so horribly in his ears that he checked it suddenlyand began to consider what he should do in order to punish the idler.

  Remembering to have heard it said that divers might communicate witheach other with their voices by bringing their helmets into contact, sothat the sound should vibrate through both, he resolved to test this andtry an effect. Hooking the lantern to his belt behind, in such a waythat its light was concealed, he kneeled down beside the diver--who, hehad no doubt, was the Jem Hogg mentioned to him by Baldwin--and restedhis helmet on the rock, in such a way that the side of it was broughtinto contact with the back of Jem's head-piece. No sooner did it touchthan the snoring became audible. Feeling assured, therefore, ofsuccess, our hero drew in a long breath and gave vent to a Red-Indianyell that rendered himself completely deaf. Its effect on the sleeperwas electric. Edgar could just hear the beginning of a responsive yellof terror when Jem's springing up separated the helmets and producedsilence. At first the scared man stood up and stared right before himin a state of wild amazement, while Edgar took care to stand directlybehind him, out of sight. A man in a diving-dress cannot turn his headround so as to look over his shoulder. When he wishes to see behind himhe must needs turn round. Seeing nothing in front to account for thealarming sound, Jem began to turn, but Edgar knew that this motion wouldhave the effect of twisting their lines and pipes together. Hetherefore seized Jem suddenly round the chest, and, being a much largerand stronger man, held him like a vice in the grasp of his left armwhile he pommelled him heartily with his right all over the back andribs. At the same time he punished him considerably with his knees, andthen, a sudden fancy striking him, he placed his helmet against that ofJem, and began to laugh, howl, and yell like a maniac, the laughterbeing rendered very real and particularly effective owing to the shrieksof terror which he then heard issuing from the horrified diver. Notcontent with this he seized his lantern and passed it smartly in frontof his victim's front-glass, in the hope that the unwonted andunaccountable glare might add to his consternation. That he had notfailed in his intention was made plain by the shock which he immediatelyfelt thrilling Jem's frame from head to foot.

  Strong though he was, however, our hero was not powerful enough toprevent the struggle from agitating the air-pipes and lines to such anextent that those in charge above became alarmed, and signalled down toJem to know if all was right. Edgar observed the jerk, and felt thediver make a violent effort to disengage one hand, with the intention,no doubt, of replying; he therefore held him all the tighter, andseizing the line replied for him--"All right." At the same moment hisown line received one jerk, to which he quickly replied in the samemanner, and then resumed his belabouring, which, being delivered underwater, required to be done vigorously in order to have any satisfactoryeffect. While thus engaged, and during a momentary pause in hishowlings, he heard a faint voice come down his speaking-tube, andinstantly removed his head from Jim's in order to prevent the latterhearing it.

  "What on earth are you about down there?"

  "Never mind; all right; attend to signals!" answered Edgar sharply;then, being pretty well fatigued with his exertions, he suddenly gavefour pulls at Jem's line with such good-will as almost to haul theattendant at the other end into the sea. At the same instant he relaxedhis grip and Jem Hogg shot upwards like a submarine rocket!

  While this struggle was going on at the bottom, the attendants abovewere, as we have said, greatly perplexed, and it is certain that theywould have hauled both divers up but for the reassuring signals of youngBerrington.

  "I say, Bill," remarked one of the couple who held Jem Hogg's lines,"Jem seems to be doin' somethin' uncommon queer--he's either got hold ofa conger-eel by the tail, or he's amoosin himself by dancin' ahornpipe."

  "Why, boys," answered Bill, who was one of the attendants on Edgar, "Ido believe Mr Berrington has got hold o' somethin' o' the same sort.See here: his line is quiverin' as if a grampus was nibblin' at the endof it. Hadn't we better haul 'im up, sir?"

  He addressed Joe Baldwin, who chanced to come on deck at the moment.

  "Haul 'im up--no, why?"

  "Why, sir, just look at the lines an' pipes."

  "Have you signalled down?" asked Joe.

  "Yes, sir, an' he's answered `all right.'"

  "So's Jem, sir, signalled the same," said one of the latter'sattendants.

  Baldwin looked anxiously at the lines, and went quickly to thespeaking-tube, to which he applied his ear. A look of surprise mingledwith the anxiety as he put his lips to the tube.

  It was at this moment that he sent down the message before referred to,and received Edgar's prompt reply.

  "All right," said Baldwin, turning gravely to his men, while a littlegleam of intelligence and humour twinkled in his grey eyes. "When a mansignals `all right,' he _must_ be all right, you know. Let 'em alone,but stand by and mind your signals."

  He had scarcely finished speaking when the man at Jem's life-line gave ashout, and held on, as if to an angry shark.

  "Hallo! Hi! Haul in. Lend a hand!"

  He said no more, and did not require to, for willing hands came to therescue.

  In a few seconds poor Jem Hogg was hauled inboard, and tumbled on thedeck, where he lay rolling about for some time, and kicking as if in afit.

  "Hold him fast, Bill! Off with his mouth-piece," cried Baldwin,kneeling on the writhing diver; "why, what's wrong, Jem?"

  "Wrong?" gasped Jem, as soon as his glass was off; "wrong? Hey!--haulme up! Hi!--"

  These exclamations terminated in a fearful yell, and it was plain thatJem was about to relapse into hysterics or a fit, when Baldwin, liftinghim in his arms, planted him sitting-wise, and with some violence, on aseat.

  "Come, none o' _that_" he said sternly. "Off with his helmet, Bill. Ifyou don't quiet yourself, I'll chuck you overboard--d'ee hear?"

  Somewhat reassured by this remark, and having his helmet and weightsremoved, Jem Hogg looked about him with bloodshot eyes and a countenancethat was almost sea-green with terror.

  "There's nothin' bu'st about your dress," said Baldwin, examining it,"nor broken about the helmet. What on earth's wrong with you?"

  "Wrong?" shouted Jem again, while a horrible grin distorted hisunhandsome visage; "wrong? Hey! Oh! I've seen--seen the--ho!--"

&nbs
p; Another relapse seemed imminent, but Baldwin held up a warning finger,which restored him, and then the poor man went on by slow degrees, andwith many gasping interruptions, to tell how, when busily engaged atwork in the hold of the wreck, he had been suddenly seized by a"Zanthripologus," or some such hideous creature, with only one eye, likea glaring carbuncle in its stomach, and dragged right out o' the hold,overboard, taken to the bottom, and there bashed and battered among therocks, until all his bones were smashed; squeezed by the monster'stentacles--sixteen feet long at the very least--until all his ribs werebroke, and his heart nigh forced out of his mouth, and finally pitchedright up to the surface with one tremendous swing of its mighty tail!

  All this and a great deal more was related by the unfortunate diver,while having his dress removed, his volubility increasing as his fearswere allayed, but he was not fairly restored to his wonted state of minduntil he had swallowed a stiff glass of grog, and been put into hishammock, where, in his sleep, he was heard to protest with great fervourthat he wouldn't go under water again for any sum short of ten hundredthousand million pounds!

  Meanwhile our amateur diver continued his inspection of the wreck.Returning to the deck he went down into the hold.

  The idea occurred to him that the other divers might also be indulgingin a siesta. He therefore left his lamp on the deck behind him. Thehold was very dark, and at first he could see nothing. As he could hearnothing, he fancied that the men could not be there, but he was somewhatrudely corrected in this error by receiving a severe blow on the helmetfrom a large box which, having just been attached to the slings, wasbeing hauled up by the men at the windlass overhead. The blow knockedhim off a beam on which he stood, and he fell on the cargo below,fortunately, however, without evil result, owing to the medium in whichhe half-floated. Presently his eyes became accustomed to the faintlight that penetrated from above, and he saw an indistinct figure movingslowly towards him, with a sprawling motion. As it drew near, the hugehead and distended form proved it to be a diver. He was guiding the boxabove mentioned, and had let it slip, when it came so violently againstEdgar's helmet. Not wishing to be recognised at first, our amateur drewback into a darker spot and watched.

  The diver bent his head close to the slings, apparently to see that allwas secure, and gave a signal with his line on which the box movedslowly up. A few minutes later it was deposited on the deck of thevessel overhead, and added to the heap of goods which had previouslybeen recovered from the deep.

  The diver sprawled slowly back into darkness again. As he disappeared,a similar figure became faintly visible, guiding another box of goods.The box was sent up as before, and now Edgar was convinced that RooneyMachowl and his comrade David Maxwell--unlike their sleepy-headedcompanion--were busy at work.

  Thousands of pounds' worth of property is saved in this manner by diversevery year--not only on the coasts of England, but all over the world,where-ever human enterprise and commerce have touched, or costly shipsgone down.

  As we have said, a large portion of the cargo of the _Seagull_ hadalready been recovered. During the process a healthy spirit ofemulation had arisen among the men as to which of them should send upmost of the sunken property. Rooney and Maxwell were confessedly thebest divers among them, but the rivalry between these two haddegenerated, on the part of Maxwell, into a spirit of jealousy. Underthe influence of this, even Rooney's good-nature had to some extentgiven way, and frequent disputes and semi-quarrels were the result. Butthese quarrels were always made up, and the two were soon as goodfriends as ever.

  At this time, however, while Edgar Berrington stood watching them, thesetwo men seemed to have found an apple of discord of unusual size--tojudge from the energetic display of feeling which it occasioned. Edgarnever ascertained what the bale in dispute contained, but he saw themappear rather suddenly and simultaneously, dragging it between them.The violent gesticulations of the two showed that their spirits weregreatly roused, both having evidently resolved to claim and keeppossession of the bale. At last one of them struck the other a severeblow on the chest, which, though it did not hurt him, caused him tostumble and fall. From his smaller size Edgar judged the striker to beRooney. Before the other could recover, he had fastened his slings tothe bale, and given the signal to hoist--intending to go up with it, butMaxwell caught him by the legs and attempted to drag him off, whereuponRooney kicked as hard as his suspended position would admit of, and inhis struggles kicked in one of the glasses of his comrade's helmet. Thewater instantly began to rush in, and he would certainly have beensuffocated had he not signalled quickly, and been hauled up to thesurface without delay. At the same time Rooney Machowl signalled to behauled up in haste, and appeared on deck of the attendant vessel, indreadful anxiety as to the consequence of his violent conduct underwater.

  But Maxwell was not seriously injured. He had indeed beenhalf-suffocated, and had to be invalided for a few days, but soon he andRooney were at work again, as good--or, if you will, as bad--friends asever!

  After this incident Edgar received a pull on his life-line, to which hereplied "All right." Immediately after, and while he was in the act ofrising from the hold of the wreck by the process of retaining his airuntil it floated him, he heard Baldwin's voice saying--

  "You've kicked up a pretty shindy among my men, Mister Edgar, since youwent under. Don't you think you'd better come up?"

  "Yes, I'm coming directly," he replied.

  "There's a letter here for you--just brought off by a boat."

  "All right; send me more air."

  While this order was being obeyed, Edgar made his way to theladder-line, being guided thereto by his guide-line, and then, shuttinghis valves, he quickly inflated his dress which soon floated him, sothat he used the rope depending from the ladder merely to guide himupwards. As he ascended the light became gradually stronger, thepressure of water also decreased, obliging him to open his valves andlet out air which was becoming superabundant. At last he emerged fromthe sea, was assisted over the side, and two men began to divest him ofhis dress.

  While thus occupied he read his letter. It was from the owners of thesteamer in which he had made his recent voyage. Not being aware of hisdistance from London they merely asked him to call, as they wished totalk with him on a matter of importance.

  "I wish they had mentioned what the matter was," said Edgar, with atroubled look, as he and Baldwin descended to the cabin. "It may beimportant enough to justify my returning to London at once, and yet maynot be worth more than a walk of half a mile."

  "True, Mister Edgar," said Baldwin. "However, as you say you'veexamined the hull well, and feel sure it can be raised, there's noreason why you shouldn't go see about the apparatus required, and sokill two birds with one stone. Meanwhile, I'll write to Mr Hazlit,recommending him to try to raise the wreck, and he's pretty sure to takemy advice."

  In accordance with this plan Edgar returned to London. We will nothowever trace his future steps in regard to the _Seagull_. It issufficient to say that his advice was acted on. The divers tightlyclosed the hole in the bow of the wreck, they also stopped up everyother orifice in her, and then pumped her out until at last she floated,was towed into dock, and finally repaired.

  Thus were several thousands of pounds saved to Mr Hazlit, and not onlyto him, but to the world, for a lost ship--unlike a dropt purse--is a_total_ loss to the human race.