THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2010, 1 September 1892, Page 39

THE SKETCHER.

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.

After partaking of our morning coffee I proceeded, with my boy Ketchee's help, to don the ponderous diving - dress. The rubber suit, all in one piece, and which one gets into through the neck, was the first article to put on ; then the leaden-soled boots and tbe corselet, to whioh the helmet is screwed, and the chest and tack weights — in all weighing some 501b or GOlb. I stepped on the ladder hanging over the boat's side, and had tbe life-line, air-pipe, and helmet attached; then the order to pump was given, and, last of all, the faceglass was ecrewed up. Oh, that there had been a wrench with which to screw up my courage as well ! It had sunk to the bottom of those leaden-soled boots, and though Ketchee tapped the helmet, intimating that all was ready, I felt loattrto let go. Thoughts of sharks, octopi, and other monsters of tbe deep flew through my brain, and I felt sure that the pipe would burst, or the boys Btop pumping, or some unforseen accident would ocenr.

As I hesitated, thinking of some excuse to have that face-glass taken off again, I glanced up at Ketchee, still undecided what to do, and saw him grinning all over his yellow face at my discomfiture. That decided me ; I couldn't stand being laughed at by a Malay ; so without more ado I grasped the guiding-line firmly, and dropped. Splash I The water closed over me with a buzzing sound, and the air whistled in at the top of the helmet with a weird noise, and I saw the bottom of the boat just above me. My ears began to ache, and the pain increased as I slid down and down, until I fairly yelled with the agony caused by the unusual pressure of air on the ear-drums. Still swiftly down I went — would the bottom never touch my kicking feet? At last I reached it with a thud, and instantly all pain ceased, and I scrambled to my feet, full of curiosity. ■ My first thought was, how foolish I had been to dread leaving the monotonous sea and eky above, when; only 10 fathoms below, lay an everchanging scene of beauty — a paradise, although a watery one. The ground I stood upon was rock of coral structure, grown over with coral-cups from minute size to 4ft or sft in diameter. Sponges as high as one's head, sponge-cups, graceful corallines, and sea-flowers of new and beautiful forms, and tinted with all the hues of the rainbow, waved gently to and fro; while, like butterflies, flitting and chasing one another in and out among them all, were hundreds of tiny fishes, so gay with colours that the bistoiioal coat of Joseph would have paled beside them. Truly it was an enchanting scene, so bright, so beautiful, and so novel withal, that I walked about with onrious delight, forgetful of all the means which enabled me to intrude upon the fishes' dominion until I was brought to my senses by a sharp jerk on the life line. This being an interrogation from KetcUee as to whether I was all right, I answered it in a similar way, and, as I did so, a familiar object caught my eye in the shape of an empty beer bottle. It stood upright on a little ledge of rock, and I oould read its flaming yellow label of world-wide reputation. "Ye godsl" I cried, "what vulgarity ! An advertisement even here lls there no place on the earth or under the waters where one can escape the odious advertiser?" And then for the first time I began to realise my position: my head was aching, and I was breathing in quick, 9hort gasps; I was oppressed, and ac uncanny, eery feeling crept over me as I tried to pierce the dim azure of the dibtanoe beyond, where the shadowy sea fans moved so languidly, and my imagination con j cured up huge forms in the distance. I was getting nervous, and had therefore been down long enough; so I gave the Bignal to pull up, and in a few moments was greedily drinking in the pure, iresh air of heaven through the open face glass. My nose and ears were bleeding profusely, and I spat a good deal of blood also, but as I had been told that this would happen the first time, I was not alarmed. The pressure had opened a communication between the mouth and the ears, and I could now per form the extraordinary feat of blowing a mouthful of smoke through my ears, which all divers can do.

After this I experienced no pain whatever when descending, and soon became a fairly good diver.— From "Fishing for Pearls in Australia," in the Century.