Under the Waves : Diving in Deep Waters: Original Text

When the diver received the encouraging pat on the head, as already related, he descended the ladder to its lowest round.

Here, being a few feet below the surface, the buoyancy of the water relieved him of much of the oppression caused by the great weights with which he was loaded.

He was in a semi-floating condition, hence the ladder, being no longer necessary, was made to terminate at that point.

He let go his hold of it and sank gently to the bottom, regulating his pace by a rope which descended from the foot of the ladder to the mud, on which in a few seconds his leaden soles softly rested.

A continuous stream of air-bubbles from the safety-valve behind the helmet indicated to those above that the pumps were doing their duty, and at the same time hid the diver entirely from their sight.Meanwhile the two men who acted as signalman and assistant stood near the head of the ladder, the first holding the life-line, the assistant the coil of air-tubing.

Their duty was to stand by and pay out or haul in tubing and line according as the diver's movements and necessities should require.

They were to attend also to his signals-some of which were transmitted by the line and some by the air-tube.

These signals vary among divers. With Baldwin and his party one pull on the life-line meant "All right;" four pulls, "I'm coming up." One pull on the air-pipe signified "Sufficient air;" two pulls, "More air." (pump faster.) Four pulls was an alarm, and signified "Haul me up." The aspect of Rooney Machowl's face when endeavouring to understand Baldwin's explanation of these signals was a sight worth seeing!