Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  TREATS OF PLOTS AND PLANS, ENGINEERING AND OTHERWISE.

  The spot where the wreck of the _Seagull_ lay was a peaceful sequesteredcove or bay on the coast of Anglesea. The general aspect of theneighbouring land was bleak. There were no trees, and few bushes.Indeed, the spire of a solitary little church on an adjoining hill wasthe most prominent object in the scene. The parsonage belonging to itwas concealed by a rise in the ground, and the very small hamletconnected with it was hid like a rabbit in the clefts of some ruggedcliffs. The little church was one of those temples which are meant tomeet the wants of a rural district, and which cause a feeling ofsurprise in the minds of town visitors as to where the congregation cancome from that fills them.

  But, bleak though the country was, the immediate shore was interestingand romantic in its form. In one place perpendicular cliffs, cut up byragged gorges, descended sheer down into deep water, and meeting theconstant roll of the Irish Channel, even in calm weather, fringedthemselves with lace-work of foam, as if in cool defiance of the ocean.In another place a mass of boulders and shattered rocks stretched outinto the sea as if still resistant though for the time subdued.Elsewhere a half-moon of yellow sand received the ripples with a kiss,suggestive of utter conquest and the end of strife.

  As we have said, the spot was peaceful, for, at the time to which werefer, ocean and air were still, but ah! Those who have not dwelt nearthe great deep and beheld its fury when roused can form but a faintconception of the scene that occurred there on the night in which the_Seagull_ went down!

  Mr Hazlit thought of the place as something like the region of a "baddebt,"--where a portion of his wealth had been wrecked. Some knew it asthe hated spot where they had suffered the loss of all their fortune;but others there were, who, untouched by the thought of material gain orloss, knew it as the scene of the wreck of all their earthly hopes--forthe _Seagull_ had been a passenger-ship, and in that quiet bay God inHis providence had dealt some of the most awful blows that human beingsare capable of bearing.

  Close to a bald cliff on the northern shore the foretopmast of the wreckrose a few feet above the calm water. In a cove of the cliff theremains of a mast or yard lay parallel with a deep and thick mass ofwreckage, which had surged out and into that cove on the fatal nightwith such violence that it now lay in small pieces, like giantmatchwood. On a patch of gravel not far from that cliff a husband andfather had wandered for many days, after being saved--he knew not how--gazing wistfully, hopelessly at the sea which had swallowed up wife andchildren and fortune. He had been a "successful" gold-digger! On thatpatch of gravel scenes of terrible suspense had been enacted. Expectantones had come to inquire whether those whom they sought had _really_embarked in that vessel, while grave and sympathetic but worn-out orweary men of the Coast-guard, stood ready to give information or todefend the wreck.

  In the church on the hill there were dreadful marks on the floor, wherethe recovered bodies had lain for a time, while frantic relations cameand went day by day to search for and claim their dead. Ah, reader, weare not mocking you with fiction. What we refer to is fact. We saw itwith our eyes. Peaceful though that spot looked--and often looks--itwas once the scene of the wildest of storms, the most terrible ofmercantile disasters, and the deepest of human woe.

  But we are mingling thoughts with memories. The wreck which has creptinto our mind is that of the _Royal Charter_. The _Seagull_, although apassenger-ship, and wrecked near the same region, does not resemble_that_!

  At the time of which we write, Joe Baldwin and his men had already saveda considerable portion of the cargo, but during his submarineexplorations and meditations Joe had conceived the idea that there wassome possibility of saving the vessel itself, for, having recoiled fromits first shock and sunk in deep water, the hull was comparativelyuninjured.

  But Joe, although a good diver, was not a practical engineer. He knewhimself to be not a very good judge of such matters, and was too modestto suggest anything to competent submarine engineers. He could not,however, help casting the thing about in his mind for some time. Atlast, one evening while reading a newspaper that had been got from apassing boat, he observed the return of the ship in which his youngfriend Edgar Berrington had gone to India. At once he wrote thefollowing letter:--

  "My dear Mister Edgar,--I'm in a fix here. It's my opinion there's a chance of savin' a wreck if only good brains was set to work to do it. It would pay if we was to succeed. If you happen to be on the loose just now, as is likely, run over an' see what you think of it.--Yours to command,

  "J.B."

  Our hero received the letter, at once acted on it, and in a few days wason the spot.

  "What a change there is in you, my dear sir!" said Joe, looking withadmiration at the browned, stalwart youth before him; "why, you've grownmoustaches!"

  "I couldn't help it, Joe," replied Edgar; "they _would_ come, and I hadno time to shave on board.--But now, tell me about this wreck."

  When Edgar heard that the vessel belonged to Mr Hazlit his firstimpulse was to have nothing to do with it. He felt that anyinterference in regard to it would seem like a desire to thrust himselfbefore the merchant's notice--and that, too, in a needy manner, as if hesought employment at his hands; but on consideration he came to theconclusion that he might act as a wire-puller, give Baldwin the benefitof his knowledge, and allow him to reap the credit and the emoluments.But for a long time the honest diver would not listen to such asuggestion, and was only constrained to give in at last when Edgarthreatened to leave him altogether.

  "By the way, have you seen Miss Aileen since you came home?" askedBaldwin, while the two friends were seated in the cabin of the diver'svessel poring, pencil in hand, over several sheets of paper on whichwere sundry mysterious designs.

  "No; I was on the point of paying a visit to my good aunt Miss Pritty,with ulterior ends in view, when your letter reached me and brought mehere. To say truth, your note arrived very opportunely, for I wasengaged at the time in rather a hard struggle between inclination andduty--not feeling quite sure whether it was right or wise to throwmyself in her way just now, for, as you may easily believe, I have not,during my comparatively short absence, made a fortune that is at alllikely to satisfy the requirements of her father."

  "I suppose not," returned the diver. "No doubt, at gold-diggin's an'diamond-fields an' such-like one does hear of a man makin' a find thatenables him to set up his carriage an' four, and ride, mayhap at atremendous pace, straight on to ruin by means of it, but as a rulepeople don't pick up sovereigns like stones either at home or abroad.It's the experience of most men, that steady perseverance leads by theshortest road to competence, if not to wealth.--But that's beside thequestion. I think you did right, Mister Eddy--excuse an old servant,sir, if it's taking too much liberty to use the old familiar name,--youdid right in coming here instead of going there."

  "So thought I, Baldy--you see that I too can take liberties,--else Ishould not have come. Your letter solved the difficulty, for, when Iwas at the very height of the struggle before mentioned--at equipoise soto speak,--and knew not whether to go to the right or to the left,_that_ decided me. I regarded it as a leading of Providence."

  Baldwin turned a rather sudden look of surprise on his young companion.

  "A leading of Providence, Mr Eddy! I never heard you use such anexpression before."

  "True, but I have learned to use it since I went to sea," replied ourhero quietly.

  "That's strange," rejoined the diver in a low voice, as if he feared toscare the young man from a subject that was very near his own heart,"very strange, for goin' to sea has not often the effect of makin'careless young fellows serious--though it sometimes has, no doubt. Howwas it, if I--"

  "Yes, Baldy," interrupted Edgar, with a pleasant smile, laying his handon the diver's huge shoulder, "I don't mind making a confidant of you inthis as in other matters. I'll tell you,--the story is short enough.When I parted from Aileen, she made m
e a present of a New Testament froma pile that she happened to have by her to give to the poor people. Tobe more particular, I asked for one, and she consented to let me haveit. You see I wanted a keepsake! Well, when at sea, I read theTestament regularly, night and morning, for Aileen's sake, but God inHis great love led me at last to read it for the sake of Him whoseblessed life and death it records."

  "Then you've fairly hauled down the enemy's colours and hoisted those ofthe Lord?" asked Baldwin.

  "I have been led to do so," replied the youth modestly but firmly.

  "Bless the Lord!" said the diver in a low tone as he grasped Edgar'shand, while he bowed his head for a moment.

  Presently he looked up, and seemed about to resume the subject ofconversation when Edgar interrupted him--

  "Have you seen or heard anything of Aileen since I left?"

  "Nothing, except that she's been somewhat out of sorts, and her fatherhas sent her up to London for a change."

  "Has he gone to London with her?"

  "No, I believe not; he's taken up a good deal wi' the cargo o' thisship, and comes down to see us now and then, but for the most part heremains at home attendin' to business."

  "Have you spoken to him about raising the hull of the ship?"

  "Not yet. He evidently thinks the thing impossible--besides, I wantedto 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 thesheets 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 inmany ways, for, besides becoming practically acquainted with everythingconnected with marine engines, I have acquired considerable knowledge ofthings relating to ships in general, and am all the more able to affordyou some help in this matter of raising the ship. I've been studying abook written by a member of the firm whose dresses you patronise, [Note.`_The Conquest of the Sea_', by Henry Siebe.] which gives a thoroughaccount in detail of everything connected with diving, and in it thereis reference to the various modes that have hitherto been successful inthe raising of sunken vessels."

  "I've heard of it, but not seen it," said Baldwin. "Of course I knowsomewhat about raisin' ships, havin' once or twice lent a hand, but I'veno 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 femalehead which Edgar had been absently tracing on the paper.

  "Well, no," replied the youth, scribbling out the head, "that's not oneof Siebe and Gorman's appliances, and yet I venture to prophesy thatthat 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 firstmethod,--that of putting empty casks in the hold so as to give the hulla floating tendency, and then mooring lighters over it and pushingchains under it,--we may dismiss at once, as being suitable only forsmall vessels; but the second method is worth considering, namely, thatof fixing air-bags of india-rubber in the hold, attaching them to thesides, and then inflating them all at the same time by means of apowerful air-pump. We could get your divers to pass chains under her,and, when she began to rise could haul on these chains by means oflighters moored above, and so move the wreck inshore 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," saidEdgar. "Let me see: there were the brig _Ridesdale_, of 170 tonsburthen, sunk off Calshot Castle, and Her Majesty's gun-brig_Partridge_, 180 tons, and the brig _Dauntless_, 179 tons, and last, butnot least, the _Prince Consort_, at Aberdeen, an iron paddle-steamer of607 tons, and the dead weight lifted was 560 tons, including engines andboilers."

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

  "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 shield over the hole she knocked in herbottom on the cliffs, and then, by means of several water-pumps reachingfrom above the surface to the hold, clear her of water. Whensufficiently floated by such means a steam-tug could haul her into port.The iron steamship _London_ was, not long ago, raised and saved atDundee in that way. She rose four feet after the pumps had been workedonly two hours, and while she was being towed into dock the pumps werestill kept going. It was a great success--and so may it be in thiscase. Then, you know, we might construct a pontoon by making a raft tofloat on a multitude of empty barrels, pass chains under the _Seagull_and fix them to this pontoon at low water, so that when the tide roseshe would rise perforce along with the pontoon and tide, and could bemoved inshore till she grounded; then, waiting for low tide, we couldtaughten the chains again, and repeat the process till we got herashore. Or, better still, we could hire Siebe and Gorman's patentpontoon, which, if I mistake not, is much the same thing that I nowsuggest carried out to perfection."

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

  "More's the pity," rejoined Edgar, "but I can go to London andascertain. 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 yourgoing to London has nothing whatever to do with apparatus of _that_sort?"

  He placed a blunt forefinger, as he spoke on the obliterated sketch ofthe 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 quietlaugh as he rose. "Same with me exactly when I was after Susan. Forone glance of her black eye I'd have gone straight off to China orTimbuctoo 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 lookat the wreck? You'll then be better able to judge as to what's best tobe done, an' I've got a noo dress by the firm of Denayrouze, with aspeakin'-apparatus, which'll fit you. I got it for myself, and we'remuch about a size--barrin' the waist, in which I have the advantage ofyou 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 firstsight by its extreme simplicity. Whether or not it was better than themore complex, but well-tried, pumps of other makers, our hero was wellaware could only be proved by time and experience. Meanwhile he wasfavourably 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 exceedinglyfew and simple. It was on the lever principle, the cylinders, insteadof the pistons, being movable. The pistons were fixed to a bed-plateand pointed upwards, so that the pump was, as it were, turned upsidedown, a position which, among other advantages, allowed of the plungersbeing covered with water, through which the air was forced and partiallycooled. Another and important peculiarity was an air-reservoir whichreceived air from the pump direct, and then passed it on to the diver,so that even if the pumps should stop working there would still be asupply of air flowing down to the diver for several minutes. The lampreferred to was also a novelty, inasmuch as it was supplied with air bya separate tube from the reservoir in the same way as if it were aseparate human diver. The Henkie and Davis lamp burns, on the otherhand, entirely without air, by means of certain acids. That of Siebeand Gorman is an electric-lamp. Both are said to be effective andeconomical.

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

  "There are three men down just now," said Baldwin as he was about toscrew on the mouth-piece, "two of 'em bein' your old friends Maxwell andRooney Machowl. They've been down about three hours, and won't be upfor 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 Iever had to do with. I do believe he sometimes goes to sleep underwater!"

  "Is that possible?" asked Edgar.

  "Possible? Ay, I've caught 'em takin' a snooze before now. Why, I'veknown a man _smoke_ under water. There was one of our fellows once gota comrade to let him keep his pipe in his mouth while he screwed on thefront-glass; you see he couldn't have put it in his mouth _after_ thatwas 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 wentstraight into his eye. He spat out the pipe, and nearly drove in theglasses in his useless efforts to get at his eye, and then he tugged atthe lines like fury, and, when we got him on deck he danced about likewildfire, as if he'd been shod with indyrubber instead of bein' weightedwith lead. We thought he had gone mad, and held him fast till we gothis helmet off. It cost him a month in hospital before that eye wascured."

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

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