Corporal Harris, almost entirely by his own diligence, removed in little more than two months the wreck of the Perdita, mooring lighter, which was sunk in 1783, in the course of Mr. Tracy’s unsuccessful efforts to weigh the Royal George. It was about sixty feet in length, and embedded in mud fifty fathoms south of that vessel. The exposed timbers stood only two feet six inches above the level of the bottom, so that the exertions of Harris in removing the wreck were Herculean. Completely overpowered by fatigue, he claimed a respite for a day or two to recruit his energies, and then resumed work with his accustomed assiduity and cheerfulness.
There was a sort of abnegation, an absence of jealousy, in the character of Harris which, as the rivalry among the divers made them somewhat selfish, gave prominence to his kindness. He met a comrade named Cameron at the bottom, who led him to the spot where he was working. For a considerable time Cameron had fruitlessly laboured in slinging an awkward timber of some magnitude, when Harris readily stood in his place, and in a few minutes, using Cameron’s breast-line to make the necessary signals, sent the mass on deck. It was thus recorded to Cameron’s credit; but the circumstance, on becoming known, was regarded with so much satisfaction that honourable mention was made of it in the official records.
Lance-Corporal Jones, engaged on the wreck of the Royal George, one day lodged on deck from his slings a crate containing eighty 12-pounder shot. With singular success he laid the remainder of the kelson open for recovery, and then, sinking deeper, drew from the mud, in two hauls, nearly thirty-five feet of the keel. He also weighed a small vessel of six tons burden, belonging to a Mr. Cussell, which drove, under a strong current, upon one of the lighters. Becoming entangled, the craft soon filled and foundered, grappling, in her descent, with the ladder of one of the divers, grounding at a short distance from the interval between the lighters. Jones was selected to try his skill in rescuing her. At once descending, he fixed the chains under her stern, and while attempting to hold them in position, by passing them round the mast, the tide turned, the vessel swung round, and the mast fell over the side, burying Jones under her sails and rigging. Perilous as was his situation, his fearlessness and presence of mind never for a moment forsook him. Working from under the canvas, and carefully extricating himself from the crowd of ropes that ensnared him, he at last found himself free. A thunderstorm now set in, and, obedient to a call from above, he repaired to the deck; but as soon as the squall had subsided he again disappeared, and cleverly jamming the slings, the boat was hove up; but she had become a complete wreck, and was taken on shore.
A dangerous but curious incident occurred on the Royal George diving operations between Corporal Jones and Private Girvan, two rival divers, who, in a moment of irritation, engaged in a conflict at the bottom of the sea, having both got hold of the same floor timber of the wreck, which neither would yield to the other. Jones, at length, fearful of a collision with Girvan, who was a powerful man, got his bull-rope fast, and attempted to escape by it, but before he could do so Girvan seized him by the legs and tried to draw him down. A scuffle ensued, and Jones succeeded in extricating himself from the grasp of his antagonist. He then took a firmer hold of the bull-rope and gave a kick at Girvan, which broke one of the lens of Girvan’s helmet, and as water [pg 89]instantly rushed into his dress, he was likely to have been drowned, had he not at once been hauled on board. Two or three days, however, at Haslar Hospital restored him; and the two submarine combatants resumed work together with the greatest cordiality.
A diver’s “Nursery Tale” must not be omitted. The hero, “Jack” (this is the name of a diver who “lived once upon a time”), had been busy for some weeks in gathering up the relics of a shipwreck, when on a certain day he saw appear at one of the windows of his bell the pale face of a woman, with long hair intertwined with sea-weed. He had often heard tell of the beauty of mermaids, who are, as every one knows, lovelier than the most lovely of women; but Jack never believed that any creature so perfect as this could have existed. With a voice softer than the murmuring of the waves under a gentle breeze, she said to him, “I am one of the spirits of the sea. On account of your kind disposition I have marked you out among the rest of your companions, and I will protect you, but on one condition only, and that is, that you shall be sure to recognise me under any shape into which I may be pleased to change myself.” The beautiful spirit disappeared, and Jack remained very much surprised, but with a strong feeling of joy thrilling within him. He prospered exceedingly in all that he undertook. But at last prosperity spoiled him. He kicked and ill-treated a polyp, a kind of devil-fish, but still an animal, and one that had done him no harm, not knowing that the beautiful spirit was disguised under that mass of ugliness. A few days afterwards an accident occurred and Jack was drowned. Moral: Take the advice of kindly mermaids—when you meet them.
And now for our last yarn, a true one. Some years ago a large vessel, having on board a valuable cargo, including gold bars, was run down and sunk by a steamship in the Thames between Northfleet and Gravesend. She was afterwards successfully raised [pg 90]by Captain George Wilson, of Milton, the famous oyster place, near Sittingbourne, in Kent, and which is also famous for its divers. It is principally, however, to the names of the vessels concerned that attention is directed. The United Kingdom was run down by the Queen of Scotland!
CHAPTER VIII.
The Ocean and Some of its Phenomena.
The Saltness of the Sea—Its Composition—Tons of Silver in the Ocean—Currents and their Causes—The Great Gulf Stream—Its Characteristics—A Triumph of Science—The Tides—The Highest Known Tides and Waves—Whirlpools—The Maelström—A Norwegian Description—Edgar Allan Poe and his Story—Rescued from the Vortex—The “Souffleur” at the Mauritius—The Colour of the Sea—Its Causes—The Phosphorescence of the Ocean—Fields of Silver—Principally Caused by Animal Life.