86 



A HISTORY OF 



divers in general, that while the surface of 

 the sea may be deformed by tempests, it is 

 usually calm and temperate below ;" that some 

 divers who have gone down when the wea- 

 ther was calm, and came up when it was tem- 

 pestuous, were surprised at their not per- 

 ceiving the change at the bottom. This, how- 

 ever, must not be supposed to obtain with 

 regard to the tides and the currents, as they 

 are seen constantly shifting their bottom ; 

 taking their bed with great violence from one 

 place, and depositing it upon another. We 

 are informed, also, by divers, that the sea 

 grows colder in proportion as they descend 

 to the bottom ; that as far as the sun's rays 

 pierce, it is influenced by their warmth ; but 

 lower, the cold becomes almost intolerable. 

 A person of quality, who had been himself a 

 diver, as Mr. Boyle informs us, declared, that 

 though he seldom descended above three or 

 four fathoms, yet he found it so much colder 

 than near the top, that he could not well en- 

 dure it; and that being let down in a great 

 diving-bell, although the water could not im- 

 mediately touch him, he found the air ex- 

 tremely cold upon his first arrival at the 

 bottom. 



From divers also we learn, that the sea, in 

 many places, is filled with rocks at bottom ; 

 and that, among their clefts, and upon their 

 sides, various substances sprout forward, 

 which are either really vegetable, or the nests 

 of insects, increased to some magnitude. Some 

 of these assume the shape of beautiful flowers; 

 and though soft, when taken up, soon harden, 

 and are kept in the cabinets of the curious. 



But of all those divers who have brought 

 us information from the bottom of the deep, 

 the famous Nicola Pesce, whose performances 

 are told us by Kircher, is the most celebrated. 

 I will not so much as pretend to vouch for the 

 veracity of Kircher's account, which he as- 

 sures us he had from the archives of the 

 kings of Sicily ; but it may serve to enliven a 

 heavy chapter. " In the times of Frederic, 

 king of Sicily, there lived a celebrated diver, 

 whoso name was Nicolas, and who, from his 

 amazing skill in swimming, and his persever- 

 ance under water, was surnamed the Fish. 

 This man had, from his infancy, been used to 



Boyle, vol. iii. p. 242. 



the sea ; and earned his scanty subsistence by 

 diving for corals and oysters ; which he sold 

 to the villagers on shore. His long acquaint- 

 ance with the sea, at last, brought it to be 

 almost his natural element. He frequently 

 was known to spend five days in the midst 

 of the waves, without any other provisions 

 than the fish which he caught there, and ate 

 raw. He often swain over from Sicily to Ca- 

 labria, a tempestuous and dangerous passage, 

 carrying letters from the king. He was fre- 

 quently known to swim among the gulfs of 

 the Lipari islands, no way apprehensive of 

 danger. 



" Some mariners out at sea, one day ob- 

 served something at some distance from them, 

 which they regarded as a sea-monster; but, 

 upon its approach, it was known to be Ni- 

 colas, whom they took into their ship. When 

 they asked him whither he was going in so 

 stormy and rough a sea, and at such a dis- 

 tance from land, he showed them a packet 

 of letters, which he was carrying to one of the 

 towns of Italy, exactly done up in a leather 

 bag, in such a manner as that they could not 

 be wetted by the sea. He kept them thus 

 company for some time on their voyage, con- 

 versing and asking questions; and after eat- 

 ing a hearty meal with thein^ he took his 

 leave, and jumping into the sea, pursued his 

 voyage alone. 



" In order to aid these powers of enduring 

 in the deep, nature seemed to have assisted 

 him in a very extraordinary manner ; for the 

 spaces between his fingers and toes were 

 webbed, as in a. goose; and his chest became 

 so very capacious, that he could take in, at 

 one inspiration, as much breath as would 

 serve him for a whole day. 



" The account of so extraordinary a per- 

 son did not fail to reach the king himself; 

 who, actuated by the general curiosity, or- 

 dered that Nicolas should be brought be- 

 fore him. It was no easy matter to find Ni- 

 colas, who generally spent his time in the 

 solitudes of the deep; but at last, however, 

 after much searching, he was found, and 

 brought before his majesty. The curiosity 

 of this monarch had been -long excited by 

 the accounts he had heard of the bottom of 

 the gulf of Ch-uybdis; he therefore con- 

 ceived that it would be a proper opportunity 



