ich they were thrown precipitated
many of them on the sides of the bell, which being at the time suspended
from within five feet of the ground, swung from side to side in such a
manner as to rouse the fears of the workmen above before the signal
reached their ears. In a short time afterwards, when the bell was
raised, we saw the shoal making with great speed to the westward,
blowing, as they careered onwards, with a loud noise. I never knew of a
circumstance of the same kind before; and to-day you will not, I trust,
be alarmed by such visitors."

This statement roused my fears, already excited by what I had heard of
the dead bodies that lay on the wreck; but I adhered to my purpose. The
lighter was moved about twenty feet eastward, and the bell was again
swung round to be let down, it being resolved that I should accompany
the divers in their next descent. I watched the operations with an
interest derived from my expected position in the same circumstances
with these fearless men. The huge mass hung in the air, dangling over
the smooth surface of the sea; and the signal being given, was plunged
down. In a moment it had disappeared, and a heavy mass of waters rushed
on, swelling and boiling in the abyss, that seemed to have entombed the
daring adventurers. The rolling off of the chain in a long succession of
coils, and the disappearance of link after link, filled the mind with a
shuddering impression of the depth to which they were attaining. The
signal was again given; the air-pump began to play and whiz, and my
thoughts, burdened with the superstitious fear produced by the
narratives I had heard, took a new direction, picturing the men among
the floating bodies of the dead mariners, which, among the green lights
of the sea, would appear invested with additional horrors--the monsters
of the deep playing round them, or feasting upon the decayed
limbs--numberless crabs, sea urchins, and centipedes, crawling on
members once consecrated to beauty. The silence on board the lighter
aided my fancy in its gloomy revels; and when the clang of the hammer on
the bell announced the wish of the divers to rise again, I started from
a seat on a coil of ropes which I had in my musings taken possession
of--having been oblivious of the intervening half hour, during which I
had been shadowing forth the secrets of the green charnel-house, with
its surface lying smiling before me in the lurid glare of the still
enshrouded sun.

At last, I