y stone. He stands on the stone, holds the
rope with one hand and his nose with the other, and quickly sinks to
the bottom. Then he goes to work, as fast as he can, to fill a net
which hangs from his neck, with the pearl-oysters. When he can stay
down no longer, the net and stone are drawn up by the cord, and he
rises to the surface, often with blood running from his nose and ears.
But then, those who employ them sometimes get an oyster with as fine
pearls as this one contains.

[Illustration]

It is perfectly possible, however, to dive to the bottom of the sea
with very valuable results, without undergoing all this terrible
injury and suffering. In this country and Europe there are men who,
clad in what is called submarine armor, will go to the bottom of a
river, or bay, or the sea,--where it is not very deep--and there walk
about almost as comfortably as if they were on land. Air is supplied
to them by long pipes, which reach to the surface, and these divers
have been made very useful in discovering and removing wrecks,
recovering sunken treasure, and in many other ways.

[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