There was a famous diver in Sicily at the end of the fifteenth century whose feats are recorded in the writings of Alexander ab Alexandro, Pontanus, and Father Kircher, the Jesuit savant. This man's name was Nicolas, born of poor parents at Catania. From his infancy he showed an extraordinary power of diving and swimming, and from his compatriots soon acquired various names indicative of his capacity. He became very well known throughout Sicily, and for his patron had Frederick, King of Naples. In the present day, the sponge-fishers and pearl-fishers in the West Indies, the Mediterranean, the Indian Seas, and the Gulf of Mexico invite the attention of those interested in the anomalies of suspended animation. There are many marvelous tales of their ability to remain under water for long periods. It is probable that none remain submerged over two minutes, but, what is more remarkable, they are supposed to dive to extraordinary depths, some as much as 150 to 200 feet. Ordinarily they remain under water from a minute to one and a half minutes. Remaining longer, the face becomes congested, the eyes injected; the sputum bloody, due to rupture of some of the minute vessels in the lung. It is said by those who have observed them carefully that few of these divers live to an advanced age. Many of them suffer apoplectic attacks, and some of them become blind from congestion of the ocular vessels. The Syrian divers are supposed to carry weights of considerable size in their hands in order to facilitate the depth and duration of submersion. It is also said that the divers of Oceanica use heavy stones. According to Guyot-Daubes, in the Philippine Isles the native pearl-fishers teach their children to dive to the depth of 25 meters. The Tahitians, who excited the admiration of Cook, are noted for their extraordinary diving.
Speaking of the inhabitants of the island of Fakaraya, near Tahiti, de la Quesnerie says that the pearl-fishers do not hesitate to dive to the depth even of 100 feet after their coveted prizes. On the Ceylon coast the mother-of-pearl fishers are under the direction of the English Government, which limits the duration and the practice of this occupation. These divers are generally Cingalese, who practice the exercise from infancy.
As many as 500 small boats can be seen about the field of operation, each equipped with divers. A single diver makes about ten voyages under the water, and then rests in the bottom of the boat, when his comrade takes his place. Among other native divers are the Arabs of Algeria and some of the inhabitants of the Mexican coast.
It might be well to mention here the divers who work by means of apparatus. The ancients had knowledge of contrivances whereby they could stay under water some time. Aristotle speaks of an instrument by which divers could rest under water in communication with the air, and compares it with the trunk of an elephant wading a stream deeper than his height. In the presence of Charles V diving bells were used by the Greeks in 1540. In 1660 some of the cannon of the sunken ships of the Spanish Armada were raised by divers in diving bells. Since then various improvements in submarine armor have been made, gradually evolving into the present perfected diving apparatus of to-day, by which men work in the holds of vessels sunk in from 120 to 200feet of water. The enormous pressure of the water at these great depths makes it necessary to have suits strong enough to resist it. Lambert, a celebrated English diver, recovered L90,000 in specie from the steamer Alphonso XII, a Spanish mail boat belonging to the Lopez line, which sank off Point Gando, Grand Canary, in 26 1/2 fathoms of water. For nearly six months the salvage party, despatched by the underwriters in May, 1885, persevered in the operations; two divers lost their lives, the golden bait being in the treasure-room beneath the three decks, but Lambert finished the task successfully.
Deep-sea divers only acquire proficiency after long training. It is said that as a rule divers are indisposed to taking apprentices, as they are afraid of their vocation being crowded and their present ample remuneration diminished. At present there are several schools. At Chatham, England, there is a school of submarine mining, in which men are trained to lay torpedoes and complete harbor defense. Most of these divers can work six hours at a time in from 35 to 50 feet of water. Divers for the Royal Navy are trained at Sheerness. When sufficiently trained to work at the depth of 150 feet seamen-divers are fully qualified, and are drafted to the various ships. They are connected with an air-pump in charge of trustworthy men; they signal for their tools and material, as well as air, by means of a special line for this purpose. At some distance below the water the extraordinary weight of the suits cannot be felt, and the divers work as well in armor as in ordinary laboring clothes. One famous diver says that the only unpleasant experience he ever had in his career as a diver, not excepting the occasion of his first dive, was a drumming in the ears, as a consequence of which, after remaining under water at a certain work for nine hours, he completely lost the use of one ear for three months, during which time he suffered agony with the earache. These men exhibit absolute indifference to the dangers attached to their calling, and some have been known to sleep many fathoms beneath the surface. Both by means of their signal lines and by writing on a slate they keep their associates informed of the progress of their work.