THE EARTH. HO 



irom divers in general, that while the surface of the sea may be de- 

 formed by tempests, it is usually calm and temperate below ;* that 

 some divers, who have gone down when the weather was calm, and 

 came up when it was tempestuous, were surprised at their not per 

 ceiving the change at the bottom. This, however, must not be sup 

 posed to obtain with regard to the tides, and the currents, as they art 

 seen constantly shifting their bottom ; taking their bed with great vi 

 olence from one place, and depositing it upon another. We are in- 

 formed, 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 influ- 

 enced by their warmth ; but lower, the cold becomes almost intolera- 

 ble. 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 endure it ; and that being let down in ?i great diving- 

 bell, although the water could not immediately touch him, he found' 

 the air extremely 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 vege- 

 tables, 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 pre- 

 tend to vouch for the veracity of Kircher's account, which he assures 

 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, whose name was Nicholas, and who, 

 from his amazing skill in swimming, and his perseverance under wa- 

 ter, was surnamed the Fish. Th'is man had, frdm his infancy, been 

 used to the sea ; and earned his scanty subsistence by diving for corals 

 and oysters ; which he sold to the villagers on shore. His long ac- 

 quaintance 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 swam over from Sicily to Cala- 

 bria, a tempestuous and dangerous passage, carrying letters from the 

 king. He was frequently known to swim among the gulfs of the Li- 

 pari islands, no way apprehensive of danger. 



" Some mariners out at sea, one day observed something at some 

 distance from them, which they regarded as a sea-monster ; but, upon 

 its approach, it was known to be Nicholas, 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 distance from land, he shewed 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 iney could 

 Dot be wetted by the sea. He kept them thus company foi- some 



Bovle, vol. iii. p. 242. 



