THE DIVING BUSINESS.
In a little street that runs from Broadway, not far from Wall Street,
there was a low doorway with dingy panes of glass, over which was a sign
which bore the following letters, somewhat faded:
BROCKET & CO., CONTRACTORS
About a month after his arrival at New York Brandon entered this place
and walked up to the desk, where a stout, thick-set man was sitting,
with his chin on his hands and his elbows on the desk before him.
“Mr. Brocket?” said Brandon, inquiringly.
“Yes, Sir,” answered the other, descending from his stool and stepping
forward toward Brandon, behind a low table which stood by the desk.
“I am told that you undertake contracts for raising sunken vessels?”
“We are in that line of business.”
“You have to make use of diving apparatus?”
“Yes.”
“I understand that you have gone into this business to a larger extent
than any one in America?”
“Yes, Sir,” said Brocket, modestly. “I think we do the leading business
in that line.”
“I will tell you frankly my object in calling upon you. I have just come
from the East Indies for the purpose of organizing a systematic plan for
the pearl fisheries. You are aware that out there they still cling to
the old fashion of diving, which was begun three thousand years ago. I
wish to see if I can not bring science to bear upon it, so as to raise
the pearl-oysters in larger quantities.”
“That’s a good idea of yours,” remarked Mr. Brocket, thoughtfully.
“I came to you to see if you could inform me whether it would be
practicable or not.”
“Perfectly so,” said Brocket.
“Do you work with the diving-bell in your business or with armor?”
“With both. We use the diving-bell for stationary purposes; but when it
is necessary to move about we employ armor.”
“Is the armor adapted to give a man any freedom of movement?”
“The armor is far better than the bell. The armor is so perfect now
that a practiced hand can move about under water with a freedom that is
surprising. My men go down to examine sunken ships. They go in and out
and all through them. Sometimes this is the most profitable part of our
business.”
“Why so?”
“Why, because there is often money or valuable articles on board, and
these always are ours. See,” said Brocket, opening a drawer and taking
out some silver coin, “here is some money that we found in an old Dutch
vessel that was sunk up the Hudson a hundred years ago. Our men walked
about the bed of the river till they found her, and in her cabin they
obtained a sum of money that would surprise you--all old coin.”
“An old Dutch vessel! Do you often find vessels that have been sunk so
long ago?”
“Not often. But we are always on the lookout for them,” said Brocket,
who had now grown quite communicative. “You see, those old ships always
carried ready cash--they didn’t use bank-notes and bills of exchange. So
if you can only find one you’re sure of money.”
“Then this would be a good thing to bear in mind in our pearl
enterprise?”
“Of course. I should think that out there some reefs must be full of
sunken ships. They’ve been sinking about those coasts ever since the
first ship was built.”
“How far down can a diver go in armor?
“Oh, any reasonable depth, when the pressure of the water is not too
great. Some pain in the ears is felt at first from the compressed air,
but that is temporary. Men can easily go down as far as fifteen or
sixteen fathoms.”
“How long can they stay down?”
“In the bells, you know, they go down and are pulled up only in the
middle of the day and at evening, when their work is done.”
“How with the men in armor?”
“Oh, they can stand it almost as well. They come up oftener, though.
There is one advantage in the armor: a man can fling off his weight and
come up whenever he likes.”
“Have you ever been down yourself?”
“Oh yes--oftener than any of my men. I’m the oldest diver in the
country, I think. But I don’t go down often now. It’s hard work, and I’m
getting old.”
“Is it much harder than other work?”
“Well, you see, it’s unnatural sort of work, and is hard on the lungs.
Still, I always was healthy. The real reason why I stopped was a
circumstance that happened two years ago.”
“What was that?”
Brocket drew a long breath, looked for a moment meditatively at the
floor, and then went on:
“Well, there happened to be a wreck of a steamer called the _Saladin_
down off the North Carolina coast, and I thought I would try her as a
speculation, for I supposed that there might be considerable money on
board one way or another. It was a very singular affair. Only two men
had escaped; it was so sudden. They said the vessel struck a rock
at night when the water was perfectly still, and went down in a few
minutes, before the passengers could even be awakened. It may seem
horrid to you, but you must know that a ship-load of passengers is very
profitable, for they all carry money. Besides, there are their trunks,
and the clerk’s desk, and so on. So, this time, I went down myself. The
ship lay on one side of the rock which had pierced her, having floated
off just before sinking; and I had no difficulty in getting on board.
After walking about the deck I went at once into the saloon. Sir,” said
Brocket, with an awful look at Brandon, “if I should live for a hundred
years I should never forget the sight that I saw. A hundred passengers
or more had been on board, and most of them had rushed out of their
state-rooms as the vessel began to sink. Very many of them lay on the
floor, a frightful multitude of dead.
“But there were others,” continued Brocket, in a lower tone, “who had
clutched at pieces of furniture, at the doors, and at the chairs, and
many of these had held on with such a rigid clutch that death itself had
not unlocked it. Some were still upright, with distorted features, and
staring eyes, clinging, with frantic faces, to the nearest object
that they had seen. Several of them stood around the table. The most
frightful thing was this: that they were all staring at the door.
“But the worst one of all was a corpse that was on the saloon table.
The wretch had leaped there in his first mad impulse, and his hands had
clutched a brass bar that ran across. He was facing the door; his hands
were still clinging, his eyes glared at me, his jaw had fallen, The
hideous face seemed grimacing at and threatening me. As I entered the
water was disturbed by my motion. An undulation set in movement by my
entrance passed through the length of the saloon. All the corpses swayed
for a moment. I stopped in horror. Scarcely had I stopped when the
corpses, agitated by the motion of the water and swaying, lost their
hold; their fingers slipped, and they fell forward simultaneously. Above
all, that hideous figure on the table, as its fingers were loosened, in
falling forward, seemed to take steps, with his demon face still staring
at me. My blood ran cold. It seemed to me as though these devils were
all rushing at me, led on by that fiend on the table. For the first time
in my life, Sir, I felt fear under the sea. I started back, and rushed
out quaking as though all hell was behind me. When I got up to the
surface I could not speak. I instantly left the _Saladin_, came home
with my men, and have never been down myself since.”
A long conversation followed about the general condition of sunken
ships. Brocket had no fear of rivals in business, and as his
interlocutor did not pretend to be one he was exceedingly communicative.
He described to him the exact depth to which a diver in armor might
safely go, the longest time that he could safely remain under water, the
rate of travel in walking along a smooth bottom, and the distance which
one could walk. He told him how to go on board of a wrecked ship with
the least risk or difficulty, and the best mode by which to secure any
valuables which he might find. At last he became so exceedingly
friendly that Brandon asked him if he would be willing to give personal
instructions to himself, hinting that money was no object, and that any
price would be paid.
At this Brocket laughed. “My dear Sir, you take my fancy, for I think
I see in you a man of the right sort. I should be very glad to show any
one like you how to go to work. Don’t mention money; I have actually got
more now than I know what to do with, and I’m thinking of founding an
asylum for the poor. I’ll sell you any number of suits of armor, if you
want them, merely in the way of business; but if I give you instructions
it will be merely because I like to oblige a man like you.”
Brandon of course expressed all the gratitude that so generous an offer
could excite.
“But there’s no use trying just yet; wait till the month of May, and
then you can begin. You have nerve, and I have no doubt that you’ll
learn fast.”
After this interview Brandon had many others. To give credibility to
his pretended plan for the pearl fisheries, he bought a dozen suits
of diving armor and various articles which Brocket assured him that
he would need. He also brought Cato with him one day, and the Hindu
described the plan which the pearl-divers pursued on the Malabar coast.
According to Cato each diver had a stone which weighed about thirty
pounds tied to his foot, and a sponge filled with oil fastened around
his neck. On plunging into the water, the weight carried him down. When
the diver reached the bottom the oiled sponge was used from time to time
to enable him to breathe by inhaling the air through the sponge applied
to his mouth. All this was new to Brocket. It excited his ardor.
The month of May at last came. Brocket showed them a place in the
Hudson, about twenty miles above the city, where they could practice.
Under his direction Brandon put on the armor and went down. Frank worked
the pumps which supplied him with air, and Cato managed the boat. The
two Brandons learned their parts rapidly, and Louis, who had the hardest
task, improved so quickly, and caught the idea of the work so readily,
that Brocket enthusiastically assured him that he was a natural-born
diver.
All this time Brandon was quietly making arrangements for a voyage.
He gradually obtained every thing which might by any possibility be
required, and which he found out by long deliberations with Frank and by
hints which he gained by well-managed questions to Brocket.
Thus the months of May and June passed until at length they were ready
to start.