Observations on Divers. 621 



and serves, at the same time, as a guide to other ropes, which 

 are employed to heave up articles of great weight. In gene- 

 ral, these men dive only in summer. As to the duration 

 of their submersion, I noted down three successive times in 

 the course of the year 1829. I had taken care to provide 

 myself with a seconds-watch, and to mark with accuracy the 

 number of seconds which each diver remained under water. 

 The articles for which they went lay at the depth of 100 ft.; 

 and the temperature of the external air was at 24° R. 



It will be seen that this scale gives, on an average, 76" for 

 each man ; a period considerably shorter than that indicated 

 by Percival. 



When these labourers emerge from the water, they have 

 almost always the face strongly injected. They are often 

 seized with profuse bleeding at the nose ; and, in some in- 

 stances, blood has been observed to issue from the eyes and 

 the ears. As soon as they are out of the water, they wrap 

 themselves in thick woollen cloaks, and thus await their turn 

 to repeat the dive. They can perform this task three or four 

 times in an hour. I could obtain no answer to my enquiries, 

 whether, at an advanced age, they were more than ordinarily 

 afflicted with derangements of the circulatory functions, as 

 might be conjectured from the repeated suspensions of respir- 

 atory action, and the consequent stagnation of the blood in 

 connexion with the pulmonary system. 



We may conclude, therefore, that the space of two minutes 

 is the maximum of those which travellers have recorded, and 

 which the most skilful divers can seldom attain. A melancholy 

 anecdote, applicable to this subject, will serve to conclude 

 these remarks. Brydone, the author of a Tour in Sicily, has 

 noticed the astonishing powers of a Neapolitan diver, named 

 Pesce, whose feats are said to have been most extraordinary. 

 Frederick King of Sicily was curious to see his performances; 

 and, in order to excite his emulation, directed a golden vase, 

 of considerable value, to be thrown in the sea near the whirl- 

 pool of Charybdis. Pesce collected his strength, calculating 

 that it would take him about two minutes to descend to the 

 bottom of the water and reascend to the surface. He 

 plunged into the sea, full of hope ; but, alas ! he was never 

 seen again. 



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