THE IMPENETRABLE SEA 



years. But such finds tell us little of the explorations of 

 the sea which produced them. 



There are innumerable legends regarding early sea 

 exploration : stories of underwater caves, and treasures 

 brought out of the sea, and of devices used in exploring 

 the sea. We have, for instance, the legend (one of many) 

 regarding Alexander the Great (356-323 e.g.), found in 

 the old script known as the Pseudo-Kallisthenes, in which 

 it is stated that Alexander descended into the ocean 

 depths with two companions in a vessel made from some 

 transparent material and the skins of asses, and that they 

 remained deep under water for ninety-six days and 

 nights, observing the wonders of the ocean, seeing, 

 among other strange creatures, a monstrous fish, of such 

 length that it took four days to swim past their hiding 

 place. As an account of early sea exploration the legend 

 — like many others of the kind — is worthless ; but it has 

 some value in its implication that men were probably 

 concerned with penetrating the sea's surface, even in 

 those days. For the phrase ''skins of asses", used to 

 describe some of the material of the fabulous "diving 

 bell" seems to be satirical and indicative of the existence 

 of real devices, however ineffective. 



The history of underwater exploration can be sharply 

 divided into three sections : Accounts of divers who 

 have gone down, either naked or with appliances, simple 

 and complex, to help them descend and ascend, and to 

 help them to breathe : humans who may have been 

 encased in suits, but who have not used "diving bells" or 

 similar vessels for their explorations — and accounts of 

 humans who have gone down in contrivances which they 

 have occupied, as pilots or "passengers". Divers in the 

 first classification range from naked divers with no appli- 

 ances whatever, to our modern frogmen and divers who 

 use the aqualung or any similar device to assist breath- 

 ing; and of course men wearing the older types of diving- 

 suit with tubes connecting them with surface pumps are 



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