58 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Another great advantage I had which has fallen to the lot of 

 few other ofificials, and certainly never before to a Lieutenant- 

 Governor with scientific leanings. On a suggestion made to me I 

 gladly provided for the supply of diving dress and apparatus ; and 

 these being on the spot my innate curiosity induced me on 

 several occasions to put on this dress and go down to visit the 

 paars and see for myself how the oysters grow. I believe that 

 Mr. Hornell, Captain Legge, and myself are probably almost the 

 first persons to make use of the diver's dress for inspecting the 

 bottom of the sea for purely scientific purposes ; and some account 

 of my own experiences may be not without use. 



1 have roughed it in so many places and so many ways that 

 after the idea of myself going down had once suggested and com- 

 mended itself to me I do not think that any qualms or doubts 

 presented themselves. The sensation of being put into the dress 

 is at first certainly rather trying. The weight is of course 

 enormous and most oppressive, and I found that the operation of 

 screwing up of the rivets fastening the very heavy helmet on to 

 the rest of the dress was distinctly painful. Mr. Bartlett, pro- 

 fessional diver, who valetted me on this occasion, certainly did 

 his best to spare me as much inconvenience as possible. But a 

 few months later when I was at the Maldive Islands with H.M.S. 

 " Highflyer " and, moved by a desire to see for myself the 

 wonderful coral forests and jungles and underwater cliffs of those 

 atolls, I again donned the diver's dress, as supplied to His Majesty's 

 ships, I found that both the weight and the painfulness of being 

 screwed up were considerably less. I am assured that the 

 equipment of the " Highflyer " is identical with those used in 

 constructing the Colombo breakwater — it was one of these that I 

 used at the pearl fishery ; but I am positive that for some reason 

 the " Highflyer " dress caused me the less inconvenience, and if 

 any scientific man wishes to engage in the enterprise of deep sea 

 diving, I should strongly advise him before acquiring his dress 

 to consult the naval authorities. 



The dress once donned and one's heavily encumbered body once 

 got over the side of the ship and on to the ladder, the rest is easy. 

 All that is necessary is to keep one's feet well down when descending 

 the ladder and until one is entirely under water. Neglect, or rather 

 ignorance of this precaution on one occasion brought me into 

 difi&culties. Having seen the professional diver swing himself off 

 the ladder instead of first going patiently down to the lowest rung, 

 I thought I would do the same ; with the result that I fell on my 

 back into the water, and that the air distributed within the dress 

 instead of being forced gradually up from feet to head, as would 



