[Contents]THE DIVING HELMET[53]In addition to the nets and trawls and dredges, the ship is equipped with a diving apparatus. It is a helmet or head piece, but not the rest of a suit.This tall helmet is made of thick brass with a triangle shaped glass window in the front. It fits on the shoulders and there is an air space inside so one can breathe. Then fresh air is pumped in by a hand pump, and whole flocks of bubbles keep rising to the surface coming out from under your arm pits.Uncle Will is the best one at it for he has used it most and goes down oftenest. It can be used at any depth a man can stand pressure, and of course the deeper down, the stronger the pressure, and one feels this especially in[54]the ears. They buzz and hurt as though someone was pushing on them. You have to swallow hard to keep back this feeling and equalize the pressure, the same as going down in a high elevator.There is air in front of your eyes so you can see just as perfectly as when you are on the surface. Whole crowds of tiny fishes swim by, many of them different colors and very bright. Pink, or green, or blue, or silvery or striped ones.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.One day as Uncle Will entered the water, and was just going down, a huge shark swam by. He waited a few minutes and then went down, and the shark had apparently gone along on his business. Later he had a cage built, so he could stay in that and look around if there were too many sharks.That afternoon when he went down he saw many very strange fish, some bright orange and black with a white cross like a belt, others dark gray with yellow tails.[55]Of course there is always a chance in these waters to see octopus, big sting rays or devil fish and sharks. So the cage with three heavy wire sides one can stand in, is pretty nice.One day I went down. I was a little scared because the helmet weighs forty pounds or more and the stuffy feeling of having something over one’s head is unpleasant. I went over the stern of a rowboat in about fifteen feet of water near shore, and climbed down a heavy iron ladder, holding onto the rounds. There is a kind of roar from the air coming in, and a curious feeling against the ears, but otherwise it is grand fun to be down underneath the sea and see all the rocks and ledges and fish swimming past.Your feet seem to float out around you and the distances under the water all look different. You think you can reach out and take hold of something, not believing it is far away.It must be fun to go down often enough[56]to get used to the feeling and then walk all around on the bottom like the pearl divers do, or the men who go way down below to salvage wrecks.[57]
[Contents]THE DIVING HELMET[53]In addition to the nets and trawls and dredges, the ship is equipped with a diving apparatus. It is a helmet or head piece, but not the rest of a suit.This tall helmet is made of thick brass with a triangle shaped glass window in the front. It fits on the shoulders and there is an air space inside so one can breathe. Then fresh air is pumped in by a hand pump, and whole flocks of bubbles keep rising to the surface coming out from under your arm pits.Uncle Will is the best one at it for he has used it most and goes down oftenest. It can be used at any depth a man can stand pressure, and of course the deeper down, the stronger the pressure, and one feels this especially in[54]the ears. They buzz and hurt as though someone was pushing on them. You have to swallow hard to keep back this feeling and equalize the pressure, the same as going down in a high elevator.There is air in front of your eyes so you can see just as perfectly as when you are on the surface. Whole crowds of tiny fishes swim by, many of them different colors and very bright. Pink, or green, or blue, or silvery or striped ones.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.One day as Uncle Will entered the water, and was just going down, a huge shark swam by. He waited a few minutes and then went down, and the shark had apparently gone along on his business. Later he had a cage built, so he could stay in that and look around if there were too many sharks.That afternoon when he went down he saw many very strange fish, some bright orange and black with a white cross like a belt, others dark gray with yellow tails.[55]Of course there is always a chance in these waters to see octopus, big sting rays or devil fish and sharks. So the cage with three heavy wire sides one can stand in, is pretty nice.One day I went down. I was a little scared because the helmet weighs forty pounds or more and the stuffy feeling of having something over one’s head is unpleasant. I went over the stern of a rowboat in about fifteen feet of water near shore, and climbed down a heavy iron ladder, holding onto the rounds. There is a kind of roar from the air coming in, and a curious feeling against the ears, but otherwise it is grand fun to be down underneath the sea and see all the rocks and ledges and fish swimming past.Your feet seem to float out around you and the distances under the water all look different. You think you can reach out and take hold of something, not believing it is far away.It must be fun to go down often enough[56]to get used to the feeling and then walk all around on the bottom like the pearl divers do, or the men who go way down below to salvage wrecks.[57]
THE DIVING HELMET
[53]In addition to the nets and trawls and dredges, the ship is equipped with a diving apparatus. It is a helmet or head piece, but not the rest of a suit.This tall helmet is made of thick brass with a triangle shaped glass window in the front. It fits on the shoulders and there is an air space inside so one can breathe. Then fresh air is pumped in by a hand pump, and whole flocks of bubbles keep rising to the surface coming out from under your arm pits.Uncle Will is the best one at it for he has used it most and goes down oftenest. It can be used at any depth a man can stand pressure, and of course the deeper down, the stronger the pressure, and one feels this especially in[54]the ears. They buzz and hurt as though someone was pushing on them. You have to swallow hard to keep back this feeling and equalize the pressure, the same as going down in a high elevator.There is air in front of your eyes so you can see just as perfectly as when you are on the surface. Whole crowds of tiny fishes swim by, many of them different colors and very bright. Pink, or green, or blue, or silvery or striped ones.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.One day as Uncle Will entered the water, and was just going down, a huge shark swam by. He waited a few minutes and then went down, and the shark had apparently gone along on his business. Later he had a cage built, so he could stay in that and look around if there were too many sharks.That afternoon when he went down he saw many very strange fish, some bright orange and black with a white cross like a belt, others dark gray with yellow tails.[55]Of course there is always a chance in these waters to see octopus, big sting rays or devil fish and sharks. So the cage with three heavy wire sides one can stand in, is pretty nice.One day I went down. I was a little scared because the helmet weighs forty pounds or more and the stuffy feeling of having something over one’s head is unpleasant. I went over the stern of a rowboat in about fifteen feet of water near shore, and climbed down a heavy iron ladder, holding onto the rounds. There is a kind of roar from the air coming in, and a curious feeling against the ears, but otherwise it is grand fun to be down underneath the sea and see all the rocks and ledges and fish swimming past.Your feet seem to float out around you and the distances under the water all look different. You think you can reach out and take hold of something, not believing it is far away.It must be fun to go down often enough[56]to get used to the feeling and then walk all around on the bottom like the pearl divers do, or the men who go way down below to salvage wrecks.[57]
[53]
In addition to the nets and trawls and dredges, the ship is equipped with a diving apparatus. It is a helmet or head piece, but not the rest of a suit.
This tall helmet is made of thick brass with a triangle shaped glass window in the front. It fits on the shoulders and there is an air space inside so one can breathe. Then fresh air is pumped in by a hand pump, and whole flocks of bubbles keep rising to the surface coming out from under your arm pits.
Uncle Will is the best one at it for he has used it most and goes down oftenest. It can be used at any depth a man can stand pressure, and of course the deeper down, the stronger the pressure, and one feels this especially in[54]the ears. They buzz and hurt as though someone was pushing on them. You have to swallow hard to keep back this feeling and equalize the pressure, the same as going down in a high elevator.
There is air in front of your eyes so you can see just as perfectly as when you are on the surface. Whole crowds of tiny fishes swim by, many of them different colors and very bright. Pink, or green, or blue, or silvery or striped ones.
In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.
In the Diving Helmet, Standing in Front of Shark Cage.
One day as Uncle Will entered the water, and was just going down, a huge shark swam by. He waited a few minutes and then went down, and the shark had apparently gone along on his business. Later he had a cage built, so he could stay in that and look around if there were too many sharks.
That afternoon when he went down he saw many very strange fish, some bright orange and black with a white cross like a belt, others dark gray with yellow tails.[55]
Of course there is always a chance in these waters to see octopus, big sting rays or devil fish and sharks. So the cage with three heavy wire sides one can stand in, is pretty nice.
One day I went down. I was a little scared because the helmet weighs forty pounds or more and the stuffy feeling of having something over one’s head is unpleasant. I went over the stern of a rowboat in about fifteen feet of water near shore, and climbed down a heavy iron ladder, holding onto the rounds. There is a kind of roar from the air coming in, and a curious feeling against the ears, but otherwise it is grand fun to be down underneath the sea and see all the rocks and ledges and fish swimming past.
Your feet seem to float out around you and the distances under the water all look different. You think you can reach out and take hold of something, not believing it is far away.
It must be fun to go down often enough[56]to get used to the feeling and then walk all around on the bottom like the pearl divers do, or the men who go way down below to salvage wrecks.
[57]