Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters Part 8

"Not yet. He evidently thinks the thing impossible--besides, I wanted to hear your opinion on the matter before sayin' anything about it."

"Well, come, let us go into it at once," said the youth, turning to the sheets of paper before him and taking up a pencil. "You see, Baldwin, this trip of mine as second engineer has been of good service to me in many ways, for, besides becoming practically acquainted with everything connected with marine engines, I have acquired considerable knowledge of things relating to s.h.i.+ps in general, and am all the more able to afford you some help in this matter of raising the s.h.i.+p. I've been studying a book written by a member of the firm whose dresses you patronise, [Note.

`_The Conquest of the Sea_', by Henry Siebe.] which gives a thorough account in detail of everything connected with diving, and in it there is reference to the various modes that have hitherto been successful in the raising of sunken vessels."

"I've heard of it, but not seen it," said Baldwin. "Of course I know somewhat about raisin' s.h.i.+ps, havin' once or twice lent a hand, but I've no head for engineerin'. What are the various modes you speak of?

_That's_ not one of 'em, is it?"

He pointed, with a grave smile as he spoke, to the outline of a female head which Edgar had been absently tracing on the paper.

"Well, no," replied the youth, scribbling out the head, "that's not one of Siebe and Gorman's appliances, and yet I venture to prophesy that that head will have a good deal to do with the raising of the _Seagull_!

However, don't let's waste more time. Here you are. The first method,--that of putting empty casks in the hold so as to give the hull a floating tendency, and then mooring lighters over it and pus.h.i.+ng chains under it,--we may dismiss at once, as being suitable only for small vessels; but the second method is worth considering, namely, that of fixing air-bags of india-rubber in the hold, attaching them to the sides, and then inflating them all at the same time by means of a powerful air-pump. We could get your divers to pa.s.s chains under her, and, when she began to rise could haul on these chains by means of lighters moored above, and so move the wreck insh.o.r.e till she grounded.

What say you to that?"

Baldwin shook his head. "She's too big, I fear, for such treatment."

"Good-sized vessels have been raised by these air-bags of late," said Edgar. "Let me see: there were the brig _Ridesdale_, of 170 tons burthen, sunk off Calshot Castle, and Her Majesty's gun-brig _Partridge_, 180 tons, and the brig _Dauntless_, 179 tons, and last, but not least, the _Prince Consort_, at Aberdeen, an iron paddle-steamer of 607 tons, and the dead weight lifted was 560 tons, including engines and boilers."

Still Baldwin shook his head, remarking that the _Seagull_ was full 900 tons.

"Well, then," resumed the young engineer, "here is still another method.

We might send down your men to make all the openings,--ports, windows, etcetera--water-tight, fix a s.h.i.+eld over the hole she knocked in her bottom on the cliffs, and then, by means of several water-pumps reaching from above the surface to the hold, clear her of water. When sufficiently floated by such means a steam-tug could haul her into port.

The iron steams.h.i.+p _London_ was, not long ago, raised and saved at Dundee in that way. She rose four feet after the pumps had been worked only two hours, and while she was being towed into dock the pumps were still kept going. It was a great success--and so may it be in this case. Then, you know, we might construct a pontoon by making a raft to float on a mult.i.tude of empty barrels, pa.s.s chains under the _Seagull_ and fix them to this pontoon at low water, so that when the tide rose she would rise perforce along with the pontoon and tide, and could be moved insh.o.r.e till she grounded; then, waiting for low tide, we could taughten the chains again, and repeat the process till we got her ash.o.r.e. Or, better still, we could hire Siebe and Gorman's patent pontoon, which, if I mistake not, is much the same thing that I now suggest carried out to perfection."

"I'm not sure that the pontoon you speak of has been launched yet. I'm afraid it's only in model," said Baldwin.

"More's the pity," rejoined Edgar, "but I can go to London and ascertain. In any case, I shall have to go to London to make inquiries, and secure the necessary apparatus."

"Are you sure," said Baldwin, with a look of great solemnity, "that your going to London has nothing whatever to do with apparatus of _that_ sort?"

He placed a blunt forefinger, as he spoke on the obliterated sketch of the female head.

"Oh you suspicious old fellow!" replied Edgar; "come, you _are_ presuming now.--We will change the subject, and go on deck."

"Human natur's the same everywhere," observed Baldwin, with a quiet laugh as he rose. "Same with me exactly when I was after Susan. For one glance of her black eye I'd have gone straight off to China or Timbuctoo at half-an-hour's notice. Well, well!--Now, Mister Eddy, don't you think it would be as well for you to go down and have a look at the wreck? You'll then be better able to judge as to what's best to be done, an' I've got a noo dress by the firm of Denayrouze, with a speakin'-apparatus, which'll fit you. I got it for myself, and we're much about a size--barrin' the waist, in which I have the advantage of you as to girth. Their noo pump and lamp, too, will interest you. See, here is the pump."

As he spoke, the diver pointed to a pump which commended itself at first sight by its extreme simplicity. Whether or not it was better than the more complex, but well-tried, pumps of other makers, our hero was well aware could only be proved by time and experience. Meanwhile he was favourably impressed with it.

The peculiarities of the pump referred to were, first, and most obvious, that it had no outer wooden case or box, and the parts were exceedingly few and simple. It was on the lever principle, the cylinders, instead of the pistons, being movable. The pistons were fixed to a bed-plate and pointed upwards, so that the pump was, as it were, turned upside down, a position which, among other advantages, allowed of the plungers being covered with water, through which the air was forced and partially cooled. Another and important peculiarity was an air-reservoir which received air from the pump direct, and then pa.s.sed it on to the diver, so that even if the pumps should stop working there would still be a supply of air flowing down to the diver for several minutes. The lamp referred to was also a novelty, inasmuch as it was supplied with air by a separate tube from the reservoir in the same way as if it were a separate human diver. The Henkie and Davis lamp burns, on the other hand, entirely without air, by means of certain acids. That of Siebe and Gorman is an electric-lamp. Both are said to be effective and economical.

Putting on the new dress, our hero was soon ready to descend, with the lamp burning in his hand.

"There are three men down just now," said Baldwin as he was about to screw on the mouth-piece, "two of 'em bein' your old friends Maxwell and Rooney Machowl. They've been down about three hours, and won't be up for an hour yet. See that you don't foul them in your wanderings below.

The other man, Jem Hogg--an' he's well named--is the laziest chap I ever had to do with. I do believe he sometimes goes to sleep under water!"

"Is that possible?" asked Edgar.

"Possible? Ay, I've caught 'em takin' a snooze before now. Why, I've known a man _smoke_ under water. There was one of our fellows once got a comrade to let him keep his pipe in his mouth while he screwed on the front-gla.s.s; you see he couldn't have put it in his mouth _after_ that was fixed; but he was well paid. For a time he smoked away well enough, and the draught of air carried off the smoke through the escape-valve, but an extra strong puff sent a spark out o' the bowl, which went straight into his eye. He spat out the pipe, and nearly drove in the gla.s.ses in his useless efforts to get at his eye, and then he tugged at the lines like fury, and, when we got him on deck he danced about like wildfire, as if he'd been shod with indyrubber instead of bein' weighted with lead. We thought he had gone mad, and held him fast till we got his helmet off. It cost him a month in hospital before that eye was cured."

"That being the case, I won't smoke while below," said Edgar, laughing; "screw away."

The gla.s.s was fastened, and our hero quickly disappeared under the sea.

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 inspect was a large barque. It had gone to the bottom only a few months after having been launched. The cargo, being intended for the Cape of Good Hope colony, was of a miscellaneous character, and some of it was of course ruined by water, but much remained almost uninjured, or only a little damaged.

It was for the purpose of raising the latter portion of the cargo that Baldwin and his men had been engaged by Mr Hazlit. Hitherto the divers had been extremely successful. With the usual appliances of slings, chains, shears and windla.s.ses, etcetera, they had already recovered a large quant.i.ty of goods, and were still busy in the hold when Edgar went down.

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

On reaching the ground he knelt, set down the lamp, and attached his guide-line to the stone. While thus engaged he looked with much interest at his little lamp, which burned as brightly and steadily down in the depths of ocean as if on land, while, from its chimney the air which gave it life rose upwards in a constant stream of bubbles. The water being dense and very dark its light did not penetrate far, but close to the bull's-eye it was sufficiently strong to enable our hero to see what he was about. Having fixed the line, he was about to move in the 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 think that in his interest about the lamp and fastening his guide-line he had totally forgotten the speaking apparatus connected with his helmet.

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

"Splendidly," he replied, not applying his mouth to any orifice in his helmet--for there _was_ no opening into the speaking-tube--but simply giving utterance to the word in his usual manner. "I've just fixed my line 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 connection with the speaking apparatus, such not being necessary. It was quite sufficient that the speaking-tube was fastened to the outside of the helmet, just over a sort of cavity formed inside by means of what we may style an interior patch of metal. The sound pa.s.sed _through_ the head-piece and up the tube--or _vice versa_--and thus even though the tube should get broken and filled with water, no evil result could follow to the diver.

Suddenly Berrington was again arrested.

"Hallo!" shouted Baldwin.

"Hallo! Well?" was sent up in reply, and the voice that came from below came out at the mouth-piece above, so soft and faint and far-far-away-like that it seemed to Joe to belong to another world, and had 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 the Denayrouze helmet, most others having only three openings. He could look up by merely raising his eyes, whereas with the other helmets it is necessary to bend well back in order to get the front-gla.s.s to face upwards. Afterwards he found that there were some who objected to this gla.s.s on the ground that as divers when below, and in total or partial darkness, are constantly b.u.t.ting their heads against beams and other portions of wrecks, the upper gla.s.s would be in frequent danger of being broken, but to this it was replied that it might be well guarded by powerful cross-bars. The point we believe is still an open question.

At all events the upper gla.s.s was found useful on the occasion to which we refer, for, looking up through it, our amateur diver saw a stone coming down to him. It was lowered by a piece of twine, and tied to it was an old _Times_ newspaper. Detaching and unfolding it Berrington set his lamp on the sand, and, seating himself beside it, found that he could read with perfect ease!

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

He had been lowered close beside the stern of the wreck, that he might be as far as possible from the divers who were at work in the hold, and had taken only half a dozen steps in the direction of it when its vast bulk appeared above him, looming through the dark water like a darker cloud. For some time he went carefully round it, minutely examining the rudder and stern-post and the parts connected therewith, all of which he found to be uninjured. Then, pa.s.sing along the starboard side, he proceeded in his inspection until he reached a point which he judged to be nearly amids.h.i.+ps. Glancing upwards, he thought he could see the life-lines and air-pipes of the other divers. To make sure he signalled for more air. This he did by means of the air-pipe--two pulls--instead of using the speaking-tube, because the air-pipe and life-line are never for a single instant let go or neglected by the attendants above, whereas the speaking-tube, on that occasion, was merely tried for the first time by these divers as an experiment. Immediately the puffing at the airhole showed that the men at the pumps were on the alert. Edgar now closed his front-valve so that no air at all was suffered to escape through it; the dress began to inflate, and in a few seconds was swelled out pretty tightly.

Up to that period he had felt no further inconvenience than a slight pressure on the drums of his ears, which was relieved by the usual method of swallowing the saliva, which action has the effect of opening a small, and not _easily_ opened, internal orifice or pa.s.sage to the drum, and thus, by admitting the condensed air to the interior of the ear, enables it to resist the pressure on the outside. Each inspiration of air has the same effect on the lungs, and the pressure, inside and outside, being _at once_ equalised, is in their case unfelt, although it remains and tests the strength of the animal tissues. Hence it is a recognised rule that a man who has at any time spat blood is unsuited to a diver's work, as his weak blood-vessels are apt to burst. But now, under the increased pressure, our hero felt his ears affected considerably, and other disagreeable sensations came on--such as singing in the head, etcetera; nevertheless, confident in his strength, he persevered.

Presently the amount of air in his dress more than counterbalanced the weight of lead about him--great though it was--and he began to rise like a cork--slowly. In a few seconds his head was close to the lines and air-pipes which he observed pa.s.sing over the bulwarks of the wreck and down into the hold. Afraid lest he should get entangled in them he caught hold of the end of a piece of iron which projected near him and checked his upward rise. At the same time he opened his valves; the air rushed out, and he immediately descended. On reaching the bottom he regulated the valves so as to give himself just enough of air to permit of his _keeping_ the ground, and moving about as before.

He had observed, while up, that one set of lines diverged away from the wreck, but this did not strike him at the time as being noteworthy.