SUBMARINE VESSELS 



operator. A strong piece of rope extended from the 

 magazine to the wood screw above mentioned, and was 

 fastened to both. When the wood screw was fixed to 

 be cast off from its tube, the magazine was to be cast 

 off likewise by unscrewing it, leaving it hanging to the 

 wood screw; it was lighter than the water, that it might 

 rise up against the object to which the wood screw and 

 itself were fastened. 



"Within the magazine was an apparatus constructed 

 to run any proposed length of time under twelve hours; 

 when it had run its time it unpinioned a strong lock 

 resembling a gun-lock, which gave fire to the powder. 

 This apparatus was so pinioned that it could not pos- 

 sibly move till, by casting off the magazine from the 

 vessel, it was set in motion. 



"The skillful operator could swim so low on the sur- 

 face of the water as to approach very near a ship in 

 the night without fear of being discovered, and might, 

 if he chose, approach the stem or stem above the water 

 with very little danger. He could sink very quickly, 

 keep at any depth he pleased, and row a great dis- 

 tance in any direction he desired without coming to the 

 surface, and when he rose to the surface he could soon 

 obtain a fresh supply of air. If necessary, he might 

 descend again and pursue his course. 



"After various attempts to find an operator to my 

 wish, I sent one who appeared more expert than the 

 rest from New York to a fifty-gun ship lying not far 

 from Governor's Island. He went under the ship and 

 attempted to fix the wooden screw in her bottom, but 

 struck, as he supposed, a bar of iron which passes 



TOL. VII. — 7 [ 97 ] 



