[Illustration]

For instance, you have a picture of some divers at the bottom of the port of Marseilles.  A box of gold had fallen from a steamship, and the next day these two men went down after it.  They found it, and it was hauled safely to the surface by means of the ropes which they attached to it.

You see how strangely they are dressed.  An iron helmet, like a great iron pot, is over each of their heads, and a reservoir, into which the air is pumped, is on their backs.  They can see through little windows in their masks or helmets, and all they have to do is to walk about and attend to their business, for men above supply them with a sufficiency of air for all breathing purposes, by means of an air-pump and a long flexible tube.

We have not even alluded to many profitable waters; we have said nothing about those vast seas where the great whale is found, or of the waters where men catch the valuable little sardine.

We have not mentioned corals, nor said anything about those cod-fisheries, which are considered of sufficient importance, sometimes, to go to war about.  But these, with many other subjects of the kind, we must leave unnoticed, while we cast our eyes upon some Dangerous Waters.

We all know that almost any water, if it be a few feet deep, is dangerous at certain times and under certain conditions.

The creek, which in its deepest parts is not up to your chin, may be the death of you if you venture upon it in winter, when the ice is thin, and you break through.  Without help, you may be able neither to swim out or climb out.

But oceans and seas are the waters where danger may nearly always be expected.  The sea may be as smooth as glass, the skies bright, and not a breath of wind be stirring; or a gentle breeze, just enough to ripple the water, may send our vessel slowly before it, and in a few hours the winds may be roaring, the waves dashing into the air, and the skies dark with storm-clouds.

If we are upon a large and strong steamer, we may perhaps feel safe enough among the raging waves; but if our vessel be a fishing-boat, or a small pleasure-craft, we have good reason to be afraid Yet many a little sloop like this rides bravely and safely through the storms.  But many other little vessels, as strong and as well steered, go to the bottom of the ocean every year.  If the sailor escapes severe storms, or sails in a vessel which is so stout and ably managed as to bid defiance to the angry waves, he has other dangers in his path.  He may, for instance, meet with icebergs.  If the weather is clear and the wind favorable, he need not fear these floating mountains of ice.  But if it be night, or foggy, and he cannot see them, or if, in spite of all his endeavors, the wind drives him down upon them, then is his vessel lost, and, in all probability, the lives of all upon it.  Sometimes, however, the passengers and crew may escape in boats, and instances have been related where they have taken refuge on the iceberg itself, remaining there until rescued by a passing ship.