the body of the wearer. It is put on in two sections; the trousers
have shoes attached to them, with heavy leaden soles, and at the waist
they are firmly fastened to a metallic ring. The upper part of the
suit covers the arms, the head, and the chest, and the lower part
of it is fastened to a ring which exactly meets the other. The upper
part of the suit is put on, and after it the second, or lower part.
The two rings are then fastened together by means of screws, and a
thin band of rubber upon them excludes both air and water. The head
of the diver is enclosed in a helmet made of brass or other metal,
and having a thick plate of glass in front. Air is conveyed inside
this helmet by means of a rubber tube, and an air pump must be kept
in constant operation, to supply the man in armor with the necessary
amount of air. The foul air escapes through a valve in the top, just
as it escapes from the top of the diving-bell. A suit of clothing
of this sort does not add to the beauty of its wearer; it is very
cumbersome, and I greatly doubt if it ever becomes fashionable for an
afternoon promenade on Broadway. The helmet might answer very well as
a disguise, for the reason that the face of the wearer is almost, and
generally quite, invisible.
When a diver is properly encased in his armor, he is swung off from
the side of the boat or ship, and sinks into the water. The leaden
soles upon his shoes carry him straight down, and serve to keep his
feet in the proper place and position. The tube supplies him with air,
and he can walk about and use his hands freely. He can handle the pick
and shovel, and can enter the cabin of a sunken ship; in fact, he can
go in any place where the flexible tube can be made to follow; but all
the time he is below, the pump must maintain a steady motion, and the
valve in the top of his helmet must work freely. A slight accident may
cause his death: should any of the machinery of the pump give way, or
some careless person on the ship step upon the tube as it lies along
the deck, the diver might lose his life. It sometimes happens that
on being drawn to the surface the diver is found dead. Some slight
accident has cut off his supply of air, and cutting off the air has
deprived him of life.
Sunken ships have been explored by means of this diving armor, and
sometimes large amounts of treasure are recovered through its use. In
some cases miners have prosecuted their operations under water by
means of this apparatus. A few years since an expedition was fitted
out to examine a wreck of a ship which was sunk more than half a
century ago on the coast of South America. She was known to have
a great deal of treasure on board. Operations had been undertaken
frequently by means of common divers and diving-bells to recover this
treasure, but none of the enterprises had been rewarded with success.
With their submarine armor to aid them, the new explorers were
successful, and were handsomely rewarded for their efforts.
Thrilling stories are told by men who have thus gone below the surface
of the water. Some time ago a diver was sent down to examine a steamer
that had been sunk in about sixty feet of water, and had carried down
many of its passengers. The man went down, and made two or three
efforts without success to enter the cabin of the vessel. On the
fourth visit he accomplished his object, and reached the cabin. Soon
he made a signal to be drawn up. When he was on the deck of the ship,
and the armor was removed, he fainted. When he recovered, he was asked
the cause of his faintness, and replied,—
[Sidenote: A HORRIBLE SIGHT.]
“It’s enough to make any man faint to see what I have seen. I went
into the cabin of that ship; it was full of water, of course; but
that wasn’t all. It was full of the bodies of those passengers that
went down when the ship was lost. There was a slight motion of the
water, caused by the ground swell; and, as I entered the cabin, the
water slowly swayed backward and forward, and swung these bodies with
it. At the very door one of them brushed against me, or rather rolled
against me, and its dead, glassy eyes stared directly in the face of
my helmet, not six inches away. I knew it was dead, but there seemed
to be a life-like expression in that cold and stony face. I passed by
it, and had gone but a few feet before I encountered another body;
and as I looked along the cabin, the vessel, being slightly careened,
received a dim light through its windows. Those bodies swinging with
the motion of the water seemed more like living than like dead forms.
There was a combination of life and death in their paleness which was
absolutely horrible; and not for all the treasure this ship contains
will I go down again.”
The diver positively refused to repeat his descent, at least in that
part of the ship; but others, less sensitive than himself, were found
to go down and complete the exploration. None of them, however,
appeared anxious to continue on that sort of work, and all were
heartily glad when the exploration in the cabin was completed.
[Sidenote: SEEKING FOR PEARLS.]
The life of a pearl diver is full of adventures. The pearl oyster
is found only in warm countries, or, at all events, very rarely in
cold countries. The parts of the sea where these oysters are found
are generally frequented by sharks. The sharks have a great fondness
for divers, but it can be readily understood that the divers do not
reciprocate the fondness of this finny tribe. Nothing is more pleasing
to the shark—that is to say, an old and well-educated shark—than to
make a breakfast off a pearl diver. The diver objects to this little
arrangement, and remonstrates with the shark; but the latter doesn’t
heed his remonstrances, unless they are of the most positive character.
Before going below, the diver generally scans the water very
carefully, to see whether any of his man-eating friends are around
and ready to welcome him. When he has reached the bottom, finished
his labor, filled his bag with oysters, and is ready to ascend, he
always takes a good look aloft, to see that no shark is waiting for
him. The shark does not pick up the diver at the bottom; he makes no
attack as long as the man is beneath him, but watches his chance, and
as the man goes upward he makes a sudden dash, and considering the
diver a stranger, takes him in. It is not unusual in the pearl diving
regions to hear of men who have suddenly disappeared while below; and
the inference always is, that these men have been quietly and calmly
eaten. A pearl seeker whom I met some years ago while on a sea voyage
told me an exciting story of an adventure with a shark in the pearl
regions not far from Panama.
“I had in my employ,” said he, “about a dozen divers, very active,
athletic fellows, who did their duty faithfully, stole all the pearls
they could when my back was turned, and sometimes, unless I was very
watchful, they reduced my returns very materially. I had a curiosity
to learn the peculiarities of pearl diving for myself, and so engaged
one of the professional divers to teach me. Well, he taught me.
“My first duty was to strip off all my clothes, swing a bag over
my shoulder, take an iron rod about two feet long and sharpened at
one end with which to detach the oysters, seize a stone, and after
fastening my nose so as not to take in any water that way, I jumped
overboard and followed the diver below.
“The water was about thirty feet deep, and the first time I went down
I could do nothing but come back again. I didn’t bring any oysters
that time. The next time I went down, I managed to get half a dozen
oysters, and then I came up. Well, after a while I got so that I could
get my bag half filled on each descent, and began to think that I was
a very fair diver. I did not do much of it, though. Half a dozen times
a day were all that I was willing to try. My ears stood it very well
the first day, but the second day I went down deeper and staid rather
longer than at any previous time, and when I came up my ears were
bleeding, and I felt as if there was at least a barrel of water in my
head. That was enough for that day; but the next morning I felt all
right, and tried it again.
[Sidenote: ADVENTURE WITH A SHARK.]
“Always before I went down they cautioned me to look out for sharks.
‘Never stir from the bottom,’ said one of the men, ‘until you have
looked up to the top, and find everything is clear above you.’ I
remembered his advice, and it was well that I did so. About ten days
after I had begun to learn the business, I went down as usual, picked
up some oysters, put them in my bag, and was starting to go up. I
gave my usual look above, and there I saw a big shovel-nosed shark
watching me. He was evidently calculating that he had me sure, and
considered me as good a breakfast as he wanted. I did not like his
looks, and what to do I did not exactly know. I would have much rather
been in the cabin of my schooner than in the stomach of that fellow.
My first impulse was to dart up beneath him, and follow the custom of
the natives. Generally when one sees a shark, and can’t get off in
any other way, he rises as rapidly as possible beneath the fish, and
sticks the iron rod into his belly. This is a treatment for which the
shark is not prepared, and unless he is over-hungry he will generally
go away. Sometimes, though, he shows fight; and when it comes to a
struggle it is very fierce. The shark is in his natural element, but
the man is not in the element to which he is most accustomed, and if
the shark is large and persistent he generally wins.
“I did not consider myself up to the emergency of stabbing that fellow
with my rod, and thought I would take the chance of going by him.
But that was of no use; he would have taken me in as I reached the
surface, just as a trout takes in a fly. In an emergency like mine,
men think, and they must think very rapidly. I do not believe that
I ever thought with more rapidity in all my life. The place where I
had been gathering oysters was at the side of a large rock, and I had
not left it when I saw the shark. I moved quietly to the other side,
thinking to dodge him.
[Sidenote: A FIGHT UNDER WATER.]
“He saw my movement, and immediately swam over the rock, and placed
himself above me. Well, what was to be done next, and what do you
suppose I did? You know there is a little fish called the cuttle-fish.
It is not much of a fish; it is not handsome; it cannot swim fast, and
is not heavy on the fight. When pursued it throws out a sort of inky
substance, which blackens the water and makes it sufficiently cloudy
to enable the cuttle-fish to escape. It carries this ink in a bag, and
keeps it laid up ready for use. Perhaps you might call him a marine
editor; that is, the sort of editor that does not fight, but defends
himself by slinging ink in the face of his adversaries.
“I was not in a condition to fight, and so I quickly thought I would
play cuttle-fish. On one side of the rock the bottom was a sandy
mud, and I immediately conceived the idea of stirring up this mud,
thickening the water, and so making a cloud, behind which I could
escape. With my pick I stirred the mud, and in less than ten seconds I
had the water all around me very thick and cloudy.
“Then I slipped back to the other side of the rock, and went above.
I reached the side of the boat with just strength enough to lay hold
of it. The men saw that something was wrong, and they instantly
seized me, and pulled me on board. They had become alarmed at my long
absence, as I was under water nearly twice the time I had been at any
previous descent.
[Sidenote: A NARROW ESCAPE.]
“Well, this is not the whole of the story. If I should take off my
boot—the right one—you would see some very ugly scars on my foot.
That shark watched the water where I was, and just as I reached the
surface, and was being pulled into the boat, he discovered me. He
darted for me, whirled on his back,—sharks always have to turn on
their backs to seize their prey,—and tried to take in my foot.
“The men saw him coming, and they pulled me in about as fast as any
man was ever pulled into a boat. That shark did not get me, as, of
course, you believe, but he did get hold of the end of my foot. Two
toes are gone, and the others are pretty well scarred. If he had made
his dive at me one second earlier, I do not believe I should have had
any foot on this leg to boast of. Confound these sharks, any how.
They do not respect a white man at all, or half as much as they do a
brown-skinned native.
“Take a lot of sharks when they are not particularly hungry, and a lot
of niggers may swim around them, and they will be as sociable as if
they belonged to the same family; but just let them see a white man in
the water, and they will take him in as readily as a bull-dog would
take in a beefsteak.
“I have been some time telling this story to you, but the whole
occurrence did not consume more than two or three minutes.”
[Sidenote: PREPARATORY ARRANGEMENTS.]
In Mexico, a peculiar way of pearl-fishing is going on. Preparatory
to entering on pearl-fishing in that country, a contractor must obtain
a concession, and take care to be provided with such articles as the
Indians most desire—eatables, tools, coarse articles of dress, and
toys. The concession is obtained by securing a fifth of the produce of
the fishery to the authorities of La Paz, and then, at an expense of
five dollars, a right to fish in a certain spot is acquired.
A picturesque scene is presented by the encampment of the Indians
with their families, who are mainly supported through the year by the
fishery. They impatiently await the coming of their employers, and
their approach is the signal for a joyful tumult. All join in the
shout of welcome, and many plunge into the sea, to show, by their
various performances in the water, their superior fitness for the
labors they are anxious to undertake.
Loud cries are heard, of “Engage me, master,” “I will make your
fortune,” “You employed me last year,” “I am not only the best of
divers, but I am always lucky.”
A selection is made, and the contractor takes with him those he deems
the ablest hands, pursued by the reproaches and taunts of those who
consider they are unfairly neglected. The conditions of the engagement
secure the divers’ maintenance during the fishery, and a share of the
unopened oysters. These requirements granted, shaking hands seals or
completes the arrangement.
It is from the 15th of May to the 15th of August that the Mexican
fishing is prosecuted. Then it is that calm weather and cloudless sky
may be expected, which are indispensable to success. Early in the
afternoon a breeze frequently comes from the northeast. Should it
rain, the work is partly suspended. The evening is occupied in opening
the oysters collected in the early part of the day.
The day after the arrival of the divers, the places most likely
to prove favorable are sought by experienced eyes, and a sort of
rehearsal is gone through by the Indians. They plunge in to a moderate
depth, and remain but a short time under water. Then they prepare
themselves for the severer task. Their children, almost amphibious,
remain on the bank, and are thus prepared to take up the calling of a
diver at some future day.
The Indians dive fearlessly, being accustomed to such exercises from
their infancy, plunging to a depth of from five to ten fathoms by two
cords, a diving-stone and a net, which are connected with the boat,
which always accompanies them. The diver, putting the toes of his
right foot on the rope of the diving-stone, and his left on the net,
seizes the two cords with one hand, and, closing his nostrils with the
other, goes to the bottom of the water, where he brings the net around
his neck, and collects and puts into it as many shells as he can reach
while he remains below, which is generally about two minutes. On
emerging from the sea, he discharges water from his mouth and nose,
and sometimes blood, which, however, does not deter him from presently
resuming his labors. Some men will frequently make fifty trips in one
forenoon.
Divers soon find themselves able to remain under water two minutes;
some occasionally stay three minutes, but never longer. Young divers
at first are curiously affected; blood rushes from the nose, eyes,
and ears, when they come up, caused by the compression of the lungs.
It is a painful sight, but rest and cold water are the only remedies
applied, and, after a short time, the bleeding is not renewed on
diving.
[Sidenote: THE OPENING OF THE SEASON.]
The opening of the season is marked by a ceremony, intended to be
very solemn. A sorcerer is brought with the divers, to exorcise the
sea, and protect them. In the performance of his important duty, this
highly-gifted personage addresses awful language to the dog-fish,
setting forth his past atrocities and admonishing him to act a better
part in future.
A single plunge enables a diver to secure five or six oysters,
sometimes seven or eight, but rarely more. The boats which attend
them are managed by rowers, or are secured by an anchor, or a stone,
fastened to a rope. Some of the divers have a rope around them,
attached to the boat. The most prudent course is to be as little
encumbered as possible, that they may avoid the sharks and dog-fish.
They are, however, generally armed with a short stick, made of hard
wood, and pointed. A lookout or watcher is in each boat, to give a
signal to those under water when danger is apparent.
[Sidenote: THE WAYS THAT ARE DARK.]
The gangs of younger divers divide into three parties, and rest for
longer periods. They go to their labor fasting. When below, they of
course snatch the oysters up as quickly as possible, using the short
stick they carry, when necessary to separate them from any other
substance. Finding an oyster likely to contain a pearl, the stick is
sometimes used to open it, and the diver will reappear with a shell or
two, and tell that during three minutes immersion he could discover
nothing but shells. The fraud is often discovered, and the stick
freely used on the head or back of the cheat.
_Jules Verne_, in his _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_, gives
the account of an adventure of a pearl-diver, which is of the most
thrilling nature; Prof. Aronnax has gone down to the bottom of the
sea, in a peculiar diving apparel, which allowed him to remain under
water for a considerable time, with Captain Nemo of the Nautilus, and
two or three other men. The professor tells his story thus:
“About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and sank to the ground.
The disquieting idea of sharks shot through my mind, but I was
mistaken; and once again it was not a monster of the ocean that we had
anything to do with.
“It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a poor devil,
who, I suppose, had come to glean before the harvest. I could see the
bottom of his canoe anchored some feet above his head. He dived and
went up successively. A stone held between his feet, cut in the shape
of a sugar-loaf, whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him
to descend more rapidly. This was all his apparatus. Reaching the
bottom, about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled his bag
with oysters picked up at random. Then he went up, emptied it, pulled
up his stone, and began the operation once more, which lasted thirty
seconds.
“The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock hid us from sight.
And how should this poor Indian ever dream that men, beings like
himself, should be there under the water watching his movements, and
losing no detail of the fishing. Several times he went up in this way,
and dived again. He did not carry away more than ten at each plunge,
for he was obliged to pull them from the bank to which they adhered by
means of their strong byssus. And how many of those oysters for which
he risked his life had no pearl in them! I watched him closely; his
manœuvres were regular, and, for the space of half an hour, no danger
appeared to threaten him.
“I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight of this interesting
fishing, when suddenly, as the Indian was on the ground, I saw him
make a gesture of terror, rise, and make a spring to return to the
surface of the sea.
“I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow appeared just above
the unfortunate diver. It was a shark of enormous size, advancing
diagonally, his eyes on fire, and his jaws open. I was mute with
horror, and unable to move.
[Sidenote: FIGHTING A SHARK.]
“The voracious creature shot towards the Indian, who threw himself on
one side in order to avoid the shark’s fins: but not its tail, for it
struck his chest, and stretched him on the ground.
“This scene lasted but a few seconds; the shark returned, and, turning
on his back, prepared himself for cutting the Indian in two; when
I saw Captain Nemo rise suddenly, and then, dagger in hand, walk
straight to the monster, ready to fight face to face with him. The
very moment the shark was going to snap the unhappy fisherman in two,
he perceived his new adversary, and, turning over, made straight
towards him.
“I can still see Captain Nemo’s position. Holding himself well
together, he waited for the shark with admirable coolness; and, when
it rushed at him, threw himself on one side with wonderful quickness,
avoiding the shock, and burying his dagger deep into its side. But it
was not all over. A terrible combat ensued.
“The shark had seemed to roar, if I might say so. The blood rushed in
torrents from its wound. The sea was dyed red, and through the opaque
liquid I could distinguish nothing more. Nothing more, until the
moment when, like lightning, I saw the undaunted captain hanging on
to one of the creature’s fins, struggling, as it were, hand to hand
with the monster, and dealing successive blows at his enemy, yet still
unable to give a decisive one.
“The shark’s struggles agitated the water with such fury that the
rocking threatened to upset me.
“I wanted to go to the captain’s assistance, but, nailed to the spot
with horror, I could not stir.
“I saw the haggard eye; I saw the different phases of the fight. The
captain fell to the earth, upset by the enormous mass which leant upon
him. The shark’s jaws opened wide, like a pair of factory shears, and
it would have been all over with the captain; but, quick as thought,
harpoon in hand, Ned Land rushed towards the shark and struck it with
its sharp point.
“The waves were impregnated with a mass of blood. They rocked under
the shark’s movements, which beat them with indescribable fury. Ned
Land had not missed his aim. It was the monster’s death-rattle. Struck
to the heart, it struggled in dreadful convulsions, the shock of which
overthrew Conseil.
“But Ned Land had disentangled the captain, who, getting up without
any wound, went straight to the Indian, quickly cut the cord which
held him to his stone, took him in his arms, and, with a sharp blow of
his heel, mounted to the surface.”
X.
RUSSIAN MINES AND MINING.
EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE—ITS MINERAL RESOURCES—PETER THE GREAT, AND
WHAT HE DID—NIKITE DEMIDOFF—THE DEMIDOFF ESTATES—IRON MINES
AND A VISIT TO THEM—WHERE RUSSIAN SHEET IRON IS MADE—COPPER
AND MALACHITE—A WONDERFUL SIGHT—STRANGE STORY OF AN EMERALD
NECKLACE—GOLD MINING IN SIBERIA—HARDSHIPS OF THE MINERS—HOW THEY
ARE TREATED—MODE OF MINING.
The empire of Russia covers nearly an eighth of the land surface of
the globe. Her northern limit is the Arctic Ocean, and the regions of
eternal ice and snow; on the south, she rests upon the Black Sea, in a
region of almost tropical warmth. Tropical fruits grow in her Crimean
possessions, while polar bears and reindeer wander over the frozen and
barren lands of her extreme north. She has every variety of climate,
and every variety of soil. Here are long ranges of lofty mountains
enclosing countless treasures of wealth in their rocky bosoms; beyond
them you find wide stretches of treeless steppes, fertile as our
western prairies, and boundless, apparently, as the sea. Wide and deep
rivers wind through her territory, and facilitate the communications
which commerce demands; broad lakes spread their shiny surfaces at
frequent intervals, and reflect the primeval forests that line their
shores. In a word, Russia is a little world in herself. The races of
men included in her inhabitants are as varied as her climate; it is
said that more than a hundred distinct and different languages are
spoken by the subjects of His Imperial Majesty, the Autocrat of all
the Russians.
With such a vast territory, and such a variety of mountain and plain,
hill and valley, within her borders, Russia may be expected to hold a
prominent place as a land of mines.
Such an expectation would be well founded, as the land of the Czar
is in the very front rank of mining countries. The intelligence and
enterprise of Peter the Great led to the development of her mining
interests, and the work thus begun has been steadily followed to the
present day.