DIVING " Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearls, Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, All scattered in the bottom of the sea."—Shakespeare.
The utility of diving as a means of saving life, recovering lost property, and wresting from the deep such articles of commerce and value as pearls, coral, and sponges, prove it to be a worthy adjunct to swimming, and of great service in itself.
Man, however, is not naturally adapted for con tinuing under water without artificial appliances for any lengthened period, as his lungs are not capable of containing more air than will keep him alive for longer than a very few minutes.
The most noted divers are the South Sea Islanders, who descend in search of coral; the Ceylonese, who fish for the pearl-oyster; and the natives on the shores of the Grecian Archipelago, who are the most expert at cutting the sponge from its native bed. Some of these people—who may be said to pass all their time on the waters—with all their experience, seldom remain under water longer than a minute and a half, and according to the most reliable authorities never exceed two minutes. The descent is aided by their carrying a stone or weight, thus obviating the necessity of working their way downward. A line is also fastened round the waist, and on feeling exhausted at a given signal the diver is drawn to the surface at once. Not unfrequently, "on emerging from the water, blood issues from mouth, nose, and ears. ' Some of our own swimmers, who practise diving merely as an accomplishment or pastime, have on many occasions proved themselves superior to these • born experts, as the following will show. Several writers have questioned the possibility of a natural diver reaching a depth of sixty feet. The present writer took part in a diving match on the Frith of Clyde, off Greenock, when one of the competitors —Mr. James Milne of Edinburgh—brought an object from the bottom at a depth of seventy-two feet. While at a distance diving match—that is, where the competitor traversing the greatest dis tance under water in a straight line is declared the winner—which took place at Edinburgh, the victorious competitor—Mr. Baillie—swam two hun dred and forty feet before coming to the surface. This has since been eclipsed by Mr. Peter Johnson of Manchester, who swam over three hundred feet in one dive. We have taken time for this famous diver when he was under water for three minutes fifty-seven seconds. He has even excelled this
feat; having on one occasion, at a public perform ance, been under for four minutes seven seconds !— certainly one of the greatest feats in diving of which we have any authentic record.
The exploits of Nicolo Pesce, the Sicilian "Fish," as related by Father Athanasius Kercher—who says in his description of this so-called amphibious man, that he could stay under water for a day at a time —must be dismissed with other like stories to the land of fable, the exploits with which they are credited being quite beyond the powers of human endurance. The wonder is that such tales should have been at any time credited, even by those who knew little of either swimming or diving.
Diving is to a great extent a natural accomplish ment, and the length of the stay under water depends almost altogether on the •conformation and capacity of the lungs; yet although every one who can swim may not excel at diving, they,should be enabled to descend and move under water to some extent at least.
Any one of ordinary capacity of lung can hold his breath for say thirty seconds ; in this time he can go to a depth of twenty or thirty feet, and in ordinary circumstances have time to recover a body or an object and return to the surface without much exertion.
If a swimmer can accomplish this, he may go to help a drowning person, and care not whether he be struggling on the surface or lying on the bottom. Many a life has been lost by swimmers being unable to go under the surface and catch the drowning person. We would therefore impress upon all who can swim the importance of practising diving, as well as moving along the surface of the water.
With a knowledge of how to empty the lungs of the impure and fill them with fresh air, one can stay down forty, fifty, or sixty seconds, without great inconvenience, and the time may be still further extended by careful-attention to one's own powers of endurance. The practice is very interesting, and the clever diver is fond of working downward and cleaving through a great body of water. It is a fine sight to watch the different effects of light and shadow on the rocks and gravel at the bottom of clear water. The diver can also make interesting experiments at different depths as to pressure of water, buoyancy with different inflations, &c.
The following instructions will prove of advan tage in this branch of the art :