THE
TROUBLESOME
INVENTION
Nicolas Tartalea:
BEING
A Generall way to recover from the bottome of the
any
it were a
An Artificiall way of DIVING, and &longs;taying a long
time under
greate&longs;t
A SVPPLEMENT,
Generall and Secure Way to
Engli&longs;hed, By
Printed by WILLIAM LEYBOURN,
To the mo&longs;t
Prince, FRANCESCO DONATO
Duke of VENICE.
Bre&longs;cia,
Illu&longs;trious Prince, that about ten
years &longs;ince, that a Ship full-laden
did &longs;inke near to
about
that to endeavour the recovering and getting it from
thence, there had been u&longs;ed all tho&longs;e Means, and boun
tifull Offers and Tenders that could be imagined, a&longs;wel
by the Illu&longs;trious Signory, for the Pre&longs;ervation of the
Port, as by the chief Owners of the Ship and its Cargo:
and that although there were many that had tried, and
attempted the &longs;ame, by &longs;undry and divers wayes, of no
&longs;mall expence, and that it had been &longs;ever all times well
grappled and begirt, yet neverthele&longs;s as far as I could
hear, none of them were able to rai&longs;e her from that &longs;mall
depth: And it being al&longs;o told me, that of late there was
another &longs;unk again in le&longs;s than four Fathome of Water,
&longs;o that all its Poope and Prow, and a greate part of its
Hull, was above Water, and that yet not with &longs;tanding this
al&longs;o was judged by the fruitle&longs;s Experiments and Ex
pen&longs;es made about the former, to be irrecoverable, &longs;o
that the &longs;aid Ship &longs;hould be broken up, & taken to pieces
at low Water: and &longs;o, for ought that I hear, it hath been.
Now I having con&longs;idered of how great prejudice the
breaking up of &longs;uch a Ve&longs;&longs;el was, be&longs;ides the lo&longs;s of the
Cargo, I deliberated about the finding of a way or Rule,
that might remedy &longs;uch detriment all Occurrences: And
having found out one thats generall and unquestionable, I
thought fit, for the common benefit of this renowned City,
to declare, and by Figures to dilucidate the &longs;ame in the
pre&longs;ent Tractate, and to offer and dedicate the &longs;ame to
your Highne&longs;s; not as a pre&longs;ent worthy of yon (for indeed
the&longs;e Mechanicall Matters are exceeding di&longs;proporti
onate to your Highne&longs;s Merits) but only with an Ambi
tion to Enoble and Dignifie my Book with your Glorious
Name; In confidence that like as the Sun doth not di&longs;
dain that all &longs;orts of Per&longs;ons &longs;hould make u&longs;e of its light
and heat, &longs;oneither will Your accu&longs;tomed Humanity be
offended with this my Pre&longs;umption; and therefore I
humbly lay my &longs;elf at your Highne&longs;s Feet,
Nicolas Tartalea.
THE
Indu&longs;trious or Trouble&longs;ome
INVENTION
OF
Nicolas Tartalea:
which was cau&longs;ed to be broken up neere
judged irrecoverable.
Before I come to declare the promi&longs;ed way
to recover any laden or empty Ship when
it is &longs;unke; I thinke it convenient (
Serene and Illu&longs;trious Prince,
clare the reall cau&longs;e of its &longs;inking.
Natation, Lib. 2.
Prop. 1.
I &longs;ay then; That its impo&longs;&longs;ible that the water &longs;hould wholly
&longs;wallow or receive into it any materiall Body lighter than it &longs;elf (as
to &longs;pecies;) but it will leave or cau&longs;e one part thereof to lie above
the Superficies of the &longs;aid water, that is uncovered by it. And as
the whole Body demitted into the water, is to the part thereof,
which &longs;hall be received or admitted by the water, &longs;o &longs;hall the Spe
cificall Gravity of the water, be unto the Specificall Gravity of the
&longs;aid Solid Body.
Natation, Lib. 1.
Prop. 7.
But tho&longs;e Solid Bodies which are more grave than the water; be
ing demitted into the &longs;aid water, &longs;uddenly make the water to give
place; and not only enter wholly into the &longs;ame, but they do go
continually de&longs;cending, till they arrive at the bottom: And they
de&longs;cend with &longs;o much greater Velocity, by how much they exceed
the water in &longs;pecificall Gravity.
Natation, Lib. 1.
Prop. 111.
And tho&longs;e again which happen to be of the &longs;ame Gravity with the
water, of nece&longs;&longs;ary con&longs;equence being put into it, are admitted
and received totally into the &longs;ame, but yet they &longs;tay in the Surface
of the &longs;aid water; that is, they &longs;uffer not any part to lie above the
Superficies of the &longs;aid water, nor much le&longs;s doth the water con&longs;ent
to their de&longs;cent to the bottom.
And all this is demon&longs;trated by
his Tract And becau&longs;e the
greate&longs;t part of woods are lighter, or le&longs;s grave than the water; he
therefore that &longs;hall build a Ship or other Ve&longs;&longs;el meerly of wood,
lighter than water, its manife&longs;t that he cannot (though he &longs;hould
fill the &longs;ame with water, as full as it would hold) make the &longs;ame
totally to &longs;ink, but that nece&longs;&longs;arily &longs;ome one part or other of the
&longs;aid Ship or Ve&longs;&longs;el &longs;hall &longs;tand above the Surface of the water: For
its a thing very clear, that all that &longs;ame Body, compounded of wood
and of water, would be much lighter than if it were all only of water
without wood: Such a compound Body therefore being le&longs;s grave
than the water, its nece&longs;&longs;ary (for the rea&longs;ons above produced) that
a part of the &longs;ame remain above the Surface of the water.
And if the &longs;aid Ship or Bark &longs;hall be built (as it is u&longs;ual) with
Bolts, Nailes, and other Materials of Iron, and that &longs;uch Iron
works be not of &longs;uch quantity, as to make that Body compounded
of wood and Iron, graver than the water, but that it continue &longs;till
le&longs;s grave than the water (as I judge all Ships and Barks to be;) The
&longs;ame will follow as did before, namely, that filling the &longs;aid Ship
with water, as full as is po&longs;ible, it cannot by any means go to the
bottom If then a Ship or other Ve&longs;&longs;el being wholly fill'd with
water, cannot be thereby &longs;unk to the bottom; It is a thing evident,
that if &longs;uch a Ship or Ve&longs;&longs;el &longs;hall be totally fill'd with a Matter
lighter than the water; not only its totall &longs;inking under that weight
face of the water will be nece&longs;&longs;ary: And &longs;o much the greater part
&longs;hall be vi&longs;ible above the water, by how much the Matter of the
Lading, is lighter than the water.
Therefore, if all the Cargo of a Ship (for in&longs;tance) Buts of Oyl,
and that no other Matters of a graver Nature than water were intro
duced, and that the &longs;aid Ship &longs;hould by &longs;ome Accident be filled
up with water, it is not only manife&longs;t that the Ship cannot be there
by &longs;unk to the bottom, but that a part thereof mu&longs;t nece&longs;&longs;arily float
above the Surface of the water: Becau&longs;e all that Compo&longs;ition of
Wood, Water and Oyl, would be lighter than if it had been all
&longs;imply of water. The very &longs;ame would follow, if the Cargo had
been &longs;oley of Wine, Wax, Camphor, Spices, or the like Matters,
lighter than the water. But becau&longs;e the Merchandizes that fraight
Ships, or other Ve&longs;&longs;els, are &longs;ome (&longs;pecifically) graver, and &longs;ome
(&longs;pecifically) lighter than the water: (The graver are all forts of
Mettals, as Iron, Tinn, Lead, Bra&longs;s, Copper, Silver, Gold, and infi
nite other Species of Commodities; likewi&longs;e the per&longs;ons of Men,
Stones, Balla&longs;ts, and the like:) And that al&longs;o there are &longs;ome &longs;orts of
Commodities that chance to differ very little in Gravity from the
water: Therefore I conclude, that as oft as any Ship accidentally
is fill'd with water, and &longs;o &longs;inks by degrees to the bottom, it is ne
ce&longs;&longs;ary to grant that all the Compo&longs;ition, namely, of the Fraight,
of the Ve&longs;&longs;el, and of the water that entered into it, is more grave,
than if the compo&longs;ition had been all &longs;imply of water, by the rea&longs;ons
before alledg'd.
And therefore in &longs;uch a ca&longs;e things graver than the water, mu&longs;t
of nece&longs;&longs;ity exceed in force tho&longs;e that be lighter: and by how much
things graver than the water, exceed the lighter, &longs;o much the more
Force will be required to recover &longs;uch a Ship or other Ve&longs;&longs;el being
&longs;unk, and on the contrary, &longs;o much le&longs;s Force will be required,
when the Ma&longs;s of the Materials more grave than the water, &longs;hall
not differ much from the Ma&longs;s of the le&longs;s grave: provided the Re
covery be undertaken in &longs;ome &longs;hort time after the Ship &longs;hall be &longs;unk,
For if the Ship lie many dayes under water, the delay will intro.
duce many difficulties: One will be, that it will con&longs;olidate with
and dock or work it &longs;elf farther into the Mudd or Sand, which will
not a little hinder its Recovery; and again, the water will continu
ally carry into the &longs;aid Ship, Ouze, Mudd, and Sand, which Mat
ter is much graver than the water, whereby the Ship is continually
made graver as to the water, than it was at the beginning when it
was fir&longs;t &longs;ubmerg'd. And moreover the corruptible Matters, which
are by nature lighter than the water, will corrupt, and corrupting
will change into other earthy &longs;ub&longs;tances much graver than the
order to the recovery of the &longs;aid Ship, as if it were &longs;olely laden
with Mire, Dirt, and Sand: which doing, you will not be deceived
in the operation, that is to &longs;ay, preparing and working with a Force
equivalent to that its Gravity. The way to know how to prepare
Forces equivalent to the Gravity &longs;hall be &longs;hewn in the eight Expla
nation of this.
Now to give beginning to the bu&longs;ine&longs;s propo&longs;ed, I &longs;ay, that
in the Recovery of a Foundred Ship laden, or any other la
den Ve&longs;&longs;el that is foundered or &longs;unk, there interveneth more
e&longs;pecially the&longs;e three great Ob&longs;tructions. The fir&longs;t difficulty is, how
to imbreech and grapple it with &longs;uch, and &longs;o many Ropes, as may
&longs;uffice to bear it up; for if this either by ill chance cannot be done
(whether through its being in a place two deep, or too far dockt in
the Mudd or Sand) all our other labour will be fru&longs;trate and vain.
The &longs;econd difficulty, when once it is grappled, is how with dex
terity to &longs;eperate it from the bottom of the Sea; and this difficulty
will be much greater, the Ship being in a Miry or Sandy bottom,
than if it &longs;hall be in a Stony place; and it &longs;hall be al&longs;o a greater
difficulty to &longs;eperate it from a very deep bottom, than from a Shal
low; (alwayes &longs;uppo&longs;ing that the two bottoms be both alike, name
ly, either both Stony or both Sandy;) and al&longs;o far greater &longs;hall the
&longs;aid difficulty be in a Ship long &longs;unk, than in one newly four dered;
(as we have already &longs;aid in the precedent Explanation:) But when
&longs;he is once water-born, or &longs;eperated from the bottom, its an ca&longs;ie
matter to rai&longs;e her up to the Surface of the water; for then &longs;he &longs;hall
not be a little aleviated in her Gravity: But the truth is, the draw
ing of it after wards above the Superficies of the water, is no very ca
&longs;ie matter, but is extream hard to be done; and this is the third
difficulty; the principal cau&longs;e of which two la&longs;t difficulties &longs;hall be
a&longs;&longs;igned by and by.
But becau&longs;e the means to obviate and &longs;uperate the fir&longs;t difficulties
as more ^{*} common, we &longs;hall forbear to &longs;peak of them untill the
next Book. To provide, and that briefly, to the &longs;econd and third
impediments (which are the lea&longs;t known) that is, not only to &longs;e
perate the Ship from the bottom, but to rai&longs;e it al&longs;o &longs;omewhat above
the Surface of the water.
lieved (as he de
clareth in the E
pi&longs;tle to the en&longs;u
ing Suppliment of
this his
on)
riners conver&longs;ant in the&longs;e affairs, had many wayes to imbreech a Ve&longs;&longs;el uuder water; and for that rea&longs;on he
over pa&longs;&longs;eth it here, and is very cur&longs;ive upon the &longs;ame Point, in the &longs;econd Book, but giveth a generall Rule
for it in the &longs;aid Suppliment: to which the Reader is referred for fuller Satisfaction.
And this is the Rule that you mu&longs;t ob&longs;erve; If the Ship be newly
&longs;unk, you mu&longs;t immediately, if it be po&longs;&longs;ible, find two other Ships,
that be each of them rather of greater bulk than the foundered Ship
than le&longs;s: and when you have found the&longs;e two Ships, you mu&longs;t
free them of all the inward and outward lading, and rigging, e&longs;pe
cially of tho&longs;e things which are by nature more grave than the water,
as are the Guns, the Shot, and any kind of Balla&longs;t, which is pre&longs;up
po&longs;ed to be in the Hold, and of other things of impediment; and
when the&longs;e Ships are thus cleared, you mu&longs;t &longs;top all the Loop-holes,
Cat-holes, Skuppers and Hau&longs;es, which you &longs;hall finde between or
above Decks, graving and calking them &longs;o with Okum, and paying
them with Pitch, that the water can neither get in nor out thereat.
And next you mu&longs;t join or grapple the&longs;e two Ships together with five
or more Tires or Orders of thick and &longs;trong Beames tripplicated;
that is, that each of the &longs;aid Orders con&longs;i&longs;t of three Beams, joyned
lengthways; and that each of the three Beams be &longs;omewhat longer
than the bredth of the Deck or Hull of each Ship; and that theybe
thick and &longs;trong, as being to &longs;upport the Foundered Ship, as you
&longs;hall &longs;ee it made to appear pre&longs;ently: and couple the &longs;aid Ships to
gether, at &longs;uch a di&longs;tance from each other, that you give berth, or
leave room enough betwixt for the foundered Ship to play; and
you mu&longs;t make this couppling in &longs;uch &longs;ort, that the length or &longs;ide
of the one Ship, look towards the length or &longs;ide of the other; and
albeit this conjunction or grappling may be made with many Orders
or Tires of tho&longs;e Bcams tripplicated lengthways, as was &longs;aid above,
five Orders of Beams, and towed ju&longs;t over the place where the
Foundered Ship is.
yet that we may not cau&longs;e confu&longs;ion in the Figure, we would have
this colligation to be made only of five Rows, as appeareth in the
placed equidi&longs;tant from the Surface of the water, for that the
Wailes or Rifings of the two Ships are not flu&longs;h, but cuved, it is
not of any importance, &longs;o that they be well fa&longs;tened and &longs;trength
ened in tho&longs;e places where they re&longs;t upon the &longs;aid Rifings: upon
which Ri&longs;ings, you &longs;hall conjoyn the &longs;aid Beams, namely, the two
ends of them, which two ends &longs;hall be the &longs;tronge&longs;t place, able to
&longs;upport any great weight. Yet the truth is, that to fit the&longs;e Tires
of Beams, you need not have regard to make them pa&longs;s through from
&longs;ide to &longs;ide, in that weak part of the Ships Poop and Prow, to re&longs;t
them on the Rifings or Gun-wales of the Deck of tho&longs;e Ships, and
to go cro&longs;s the Hull in tho&longs;e places. And next you are to make upon
the&longs;e Beams, that is upon the mouths of both the Ships, a Plat-form
of Planks for to &longs;tand upon whil&longs;t you are about the work; leaving
diver&longs;e Scuttles or Spaces open, whereby to de&longs;cend, aud for other
u&longs;es: And all this being done, you are to tow or hall the&longs;e Ve&longs;&longs;els
to the place where the Ship is that did &longs;ink, and to lay them Board
and Board in &longs;uch fa&longs;hion, that the one may lie on one &longs;ide of it, and
the other upon the other, as in the Scheme is apparent.
This being done, fill tho&longs;e two Ships as full of water as they can
hold or &longs;wim, (the way to free them with great facility and expe
dition, &longs;hall be &longs;hewn in the twelfth Explanation;) and being full,
wait the time of low water; that is, when the Tide returning, the
Sea doth low as much as it can do; and at that in&longs;tant of time,
make the Ship very fa&longs;t with tho&longs;e ends of Cords or Cables (with
which it was Swite or bound) to tho&longs;e five, or more Tires of Beams,
wherewith the fore&longs;aid two Ships were imbreecht or grappled: And
having well belayd or fa&longs;tned tho&longs;e Cables, you mu&longs;t bale or take
out a &longs;mall part of the water out of one of the two Ships, and then
let it re&longs;t &longs;o, till &longs;uch time as you have baled or taken a little more
than that quantity out of the other Ship; and then again take a
little more out of the fir&longs;t Ship, and leave it &longs;o till you have taken
another &longs;uch a quantity from the other Ship, and thus proceed gra
dually, till you find the Foundered Ship, water-born or loo&longs;ned
from the bottom: but being water-born (if it be in a Showle bot
tom, as was that at
equally from both the Ships, at one and the &longs;aid time, to the end
the Ship may ri&longs;e evenly without &longs;wagging or &longs;haking; and thus you
are to proceed till you have taken all the water from the one & the
other of the two Ships: In &longs;o doing, you &longs;hall &longs;ee the two Shpis lea
&longs;urely and gently rai&longs;e the Ship that was &longs;unk, &longs;o high above the
Surface of the water, that you may commodiou&longs;ly free it, and
di&longs;charge it of its lading, as appeareth in the following Figures.
And if you would not keep the two Ships &longs;o long imploy'd, you may
where it may lie a-ground: and by that means upon the Ebbe or
Rece&longs;&longs;ion of the Tide, it will lie much more above water; and then
you may &longs;afely unfa&longs;ten it from tho&longs;e five or more Tires of Beames,
to which it was at fir&longs;t tyed, to hall it to a place of &longs;afety, as it was
our purpo&longs;e to do; and this &longs;hall &longs;ucceed as well in an ouzie bot
tom, as in a Stony, This though you may take notice of, that if
the Cargo of this new Foundred Ship was &longs;uch, that the things more
grave than the water, did not much exceed the le&longs;s grave, it would
be ea&longs;ie to effect the recovery with two Ships, very much le&longs;s than
tho&longs;e which we have &longs;poken of above; yet neverthele&longs;s it will be
good prudence to take them rather bigger than le&longs;&longs;er, that &longs;o they
may exceed 200000 pounds in Power, rather than want one only
ounce in Act; e&longs;pecially in ca&longs;e you would in a deep place at the
fir&longs;t motion hoi&longs;t it by meer Force &longs;omewhat above the Surface of
the water, for in that point alone it will require incomparably much
more force, than in all the other operations.
How you are to preceed, in ca&longs;e the Ship &longs;hould be &longs;unk in a
place very deep, &longs;hall be declared in the &longs;eaventh Explanation. The
Figures of this Explanation are the&longs;e two that folllow.
is &longs;unk
rai&longs;ed up above water.
But if it &longs;o fall out, that you cannot on &longs;nch an in&longs;tant, finde
two Ships of the &longs;ame Bulk with the Ship &longs;unk, you may take
four &longs;maller; provided, that all the four together hold twice
as much burden as the Ship &longs;unk, and rather more than le&longs;s. Which
four &longs;mall Ships being all fir&longs;t cleer'd of their lading, and well &longs;topt
in all their Skuppers and Portholes (as was &longs;aid in the two) you mu&longs;t
couple them with Beams and good Planks, by two and two, as you
u&longs;e to do with two Lighters, when you would make a Bridge of
them: and the&longs;e two pair of Hoys or Barkes thus coupled together,
you mu&longs;t afterwards fa&longs;ten one pair to another, with &longs;even of tho&longs;e
Tires or Rows of thick and &longs;trong Beams tripplicated, as was &longs;aid in
the precedent Explanation; and place them at &longs;uch a di&longs;tance one
pair from another, as that you may leave berth or &longs;pace enough for
the &longs;unk or foundered Ship to ri&longs;e between them, and &longs;ome what
more, (as was &longs;aid of the two.) And though this conjunction of the
two pair of Ships, may be made three &longs;everall wayes, yet I will have
you make the two Poops or Hin decks of the one couple, to lie op
po&longs;ite to the two Poops of the other couple. And to make this
conjunction, you are to place two Tires of tho&longs;e great Beams along
the upper parts of the &longs;aid Poops, &longs;o, that they may re&longs;t in the in
&longs;ide on tho&longs;e le&longs;&longs;er Beams and Planks, where with each of tho&longs;e two
pair of Ships were coupled: and each of the&longs;e Orders or Tires of
wayes, as was &longs;aid in the precedent Explanation; and make two of
the Tires lie upon the Ships; and to tho&longs;e Tires, let that &longs;unk Ship
be grappled: and another Tire of the &longs;aid Beams is to be placed in
the mid&longs;t between the one and the other couple; and two other
Tires of the &longs;aid Beams ought to be fa&longs;tened upon the one and other
&longs;ide, that is, upon the Rifings or Bends of tho&longs;e two couples of
Ships; and that being done, there will be in all &longs;even Tires or Or
ders of Beams; which &longs;eaven Orders of Beams ought conjunctly to
be prolonged, on the one and on the other &longs;ide. almo&longs;t to the
length of the Hull of each Ship, as in the Figure is represented: and
&longs;mall Ships
this being done, you are to proceed, as hath been &longs;hewn in the two,
that is, fill them top full of water, and at low water, imbreech the
Ship &longs;unk very well, withall tho&longs;e ends of Ropes or Cables, that
you did belay to tho&longs;e &longs;even Tires of Beams: and when tho&longs;e
Grapplings &longs;hall be well made fa&longs;t; you &longs;hall at high water bale or
free the water by little and little out of the Ships, one pair after a
nother, till you feel the foundered Ship is di&longs;engaged from the bot
tom, and water-born, as was &longs;aid in the two. And having &longs;epera
ted it from the bottom (if it be in a &longs;hallow place, as was that where
the Ship was foundered neer
out the re&longs;t of the &longs;aid water, but take it equally and gradually from
the one and the other pair, that they may de&longs;cend evenly, and with
out heeling, as was &longs;aid of the two; and in &longs;o doing, the &longs;aid Ship
&longs;hall not only be hoi&longs;ted up to the Surface of the water, but much
and di&longs;charge it of the Cargo. But if you cannot &longs;o long &longs;pare
tho&longs;e four Ships from other u&longs;es, then you may at high water tow
it to &longs;ome place, where running it on ground, you may at the ebbe
of the Tide (for that then there will lie much more of it above wa
ter) &longs;afely loo&longs;e it from tho&longs;e Beames, as was al&longs;o &longs;aid in the prece
dent Explanation of the two Ships.
But in ca&longs;e the Foundered Ship &longs;hould chance to be in a very deep
Sea, in the &longs;eventh Explanation (to be the briefer in this place)
&longs;hall be &longs;hewn how you are to proceed.
And if it happen that it &longs;hould be in a place where there are
no Ships to be got, either great cr little; you may take of
other kind of Pinaces, Barks or Barges, but endeavour to
get &longs;uch as are floaty, and highe&longs;t built in there Rifings, that &longs;o they
may, at &longs;uch time as they are full of water, de&longs;cend very far under
water, (or according to the Mariners phra&longs;e, may draw much wa
ter) and of the&longs;e you mu&longs;t &longs;top all the Skuppers, Haw&longs;es, Cat-holes
and Port holes, that you finde, as in the Ships, that they may hold
the more water, and con&longs;equently draw the more water, or be de
pre&longs;&longs;ed deeper into the &longs;ame; and take &longs;o many couple of the&longs;e
Botes, that they may all together contain double the burden of
the Ship to be recovered, and rather much more, than any thing
le&longs;s. And of all the&longs;e Boats or Barks, make two Squadrons, conjoyning
each Squadron with good &longs;mall Timbers & Planks, as you u&longs;e to do,
when you would make a Bridge of Boats: And the&longs;e &longs;ame Ve&longs;&longs;els of
the one and other divi&longs;ion, &longs;hould be placed board and board, that &longs;o
the great Beams, which are to conjoyn one Squadron to the other,
may bear upon the Rifings, Bends or Wales, of the &longs;aid Ve&longs;&longs;els. And
this being done, you are to couple the&longs;e two Squadrons, to each other
with tho&longs;e thick and &longs;trong Tires of Beams, mentioned in the former
Explanations, which Orders of Beams &longs;hould be fixed between two &
two of tho&longs;e Botes, as is &longs;aid above, to the end, that they may bear or
re&longs;t upon the Bends of tho&longs;e Boats; and place another Tire upon the
out&longs;ides of both the Divi&longs;ions, upon the ends of the cro&longs;s &longs;mall Beams
which hold the &longs;everall Ve&longs;&longs;els together: So that if the Squadrons con
&longs;i&longs;ted each of four Barks, the Tires of the &longs;aid Beams would come to
be five,; and if there &longs;hould be five in a Squadron, the Tires of
Beams would be &longs;ix, and &longs;o forwards; that is, the Orders of Beams, by
this means, &longs;hall be alwayes one more than the number of Botes in
each Squadron. But in the Ships you mu&longs;t ob&longs;erve another method,
becau&longs;e of tho&longs;e two Orders, which are placed in each Poop; by
which means in every two Ships to a Divi&longs;ion (which in all make
four Ships) there mu&longs;t be &longs;even Orders of Beams, and in three Ships
to a Squadron, there mu&longs;t be ten Orders of Beams, and in four
Ships to a Squadron thirteen; and thus proceeding forwards to a
greater number of Ships in a Squadron. And having under&longs;tood the
way of coupling many Barks or Wherryes in Squadrons; as al&longs;o the
manner how to joyn or fa&longs;ten them to each other, and with how
many Orders of Beams; you are to proceed in the re&longs;t, as in the
precedent Explanations hath been demon&longs;trated in &longs;howle bottoms,
but the directions how to manage this affair in deep places, &longs;hall be
declared in the &longs;eventh Explanation.
To remove this inconvenience of taking Ships or other Ve&longs;&longs;els;
and of &longs;tanding to lighten them of their Guns & lading, and of
&longs;topping their Loop-holes; you may in&longs;uch a misfortune cau&longs;e
to be made two great Ve&longs;&longs;els, almo&longs;t in form of ^{*} Che&longs;ts without co
vers, the length of each to be equal to the Hull of a middle rate Ship,
and the breadth equall to that of the &longs;ame Ship at the Main-ma&longs;t,
and the height al&longs;o the &longs;ame with that of the Ship in the Bow, &longs;o
that each of the&longs;e Plat forms or Che&longs;ts, &longs;hall hold much more than
a common Ship, and thus both will contain more than the double
burden of &longs;uch a Ship. And for the making of the&longs;e Ve&longs;&longs;els, you
mu&longs;t fir&longs;t make the Models in Carvel-manner of thick and &longs;trong
Timber, with their Eutertaces, Tran&longs;omes and Knees, to hold their
&longs;ides and ends together: and this done, &longs;pike down to them certain
calked in the Seames or Strakes by a Calker, with Okum, and paid
with Pitch, as you u&longs;e to do Ships or Gallyes, and then apply them
to your purpo&longs;e. And when you would u&longs;e them, you need only
fa&longs;ten them together with tho&longs;e five or more Orders of thick and
lu&longs;ty Beams, trippled lengthwayes, that is, prolonged both wayes,
&longs;o as that they may lie athwart the Decks of the &longs;aid two Ve&longs;&longs;els,
and place the &longs;aid Ships &longs;o far di&longs;tant from each other, as you gue&longs;&longs;e
the bredth of the Foundered Ship to be, and &longs;omething more: And
then make upon the Deck of each of them, that is, upon tho&longs;e
Beams, a Plat-form of Planks, as was &longs;aid in the two Ships of the
&longs;econd Explanation, and afterwards proceed as in tho&longs;e two Ships.
&longs;els Cardinall
u&longs;e at the Siege
of
up the Haven.
And inca&longs;e you think the making of a couple of &longs;uch great
Modles or Ve&longs;&longs;els, as we mentioned in the foregoing Ex
planation, would be too great a trouble or expence; you
may make two pair of &longs;uch Che&longs;ts, each of them but of hal&longs; the
bulk of one of the former: but if you judge the&longs;e two pair too
trouble&longs;ome, you may make three, four, or more pairs; alwayes
provided, that among&longs;t them all they hold about twi&longs;e the burden
of the Ship &longs;unk; and the&longs;e Frames when you would u&longs;e them, mu&longs;t
be joyned together in two Ranks, with le&longs;&longs;er Beams and Planks,
as was &longs;aid of the four Boats or Wherryes; and then fa&longs;ten the&longs;e
two Ranks to each other at the requi&longs;ite di&longs;tance, with great and
&longs;trong tripplicated Beams, as was &longs;aid of the Ships, Barks and Boats;
and then operate as you was to do with tho&longs;e: alwayes remembring
in the freeing or emptying the &longs;aid Ve&longs;&longs;els, to bale out the water by
little and little fir&longs;t from one Rank, and then from the other; and
&longs;o proceed interchangeably till you percieve that the Ship is clear of
the bottom: and being di&longs;engaged, if it be in a &longs;hallow place,
continue taking the water equally out of the one and other Divi&longs;i
on of Ve&longs;&longs;els, till all the water be drained out of them, as was requi
red upon the former Explanations: but if it be &longs;unk in a deep Sea,
the next Explanation &longs;hall &longs;hew how you are to proceed; and that
briefly.
And in ca&longs;e the &longs;aid Ship newly &longs;unk, chance to be in a very
deep bottom; It will be nece&longs;&longs;ary fir&longs;t to fix upon tho&longs;e
two or four Ships, or upon tho&longs;e two Squadrons of Barks,
Fly-boats or Wherryes, at lea&longs;t &longs;ix or eight Cap&longs;tains, Ship-Cranes
&longs;nch a weight: and you may ea&longs;ily accomodate the&longs;e Pullies, to tho&longs;e
Orders of great Beams, wherewith the &longs;aid Ve&longs;&longs;els were conjoyned.
And having prepared the&longs;e Cap&longs;tains, you are to proceed in all
things, as hath been directed you in the precedent Explanations,
excepting only in this, that whil&longs;t you are freeing the water alter
nately by degrees out of the two or more Ships, or from the two
Squadrons of Barks, Fly-boats or Wherryes, as &longs;oon as you finde
the Foundered Ship to be water-born or got clear of the bottom of
the Sea, I would have you cea&longs;e to take any more water forth of
the &longs;aid Ships, or le&longs;&longs;er Ve&longs;&longs;els before filled; and I would have you
with tho&longs;e Cap&longs;tains, attempt to draw the &longs;aid Ship that was funk
unto the Levell or Surtace of the water, or to lie Horizontal unto it,
which may be ea&longs;ily done, for that its pondero&longs;ity will be much di
mini&longs;hed. And when you have drawn it to the Surface of the water,
then I would have you di&longs;charge all the other water out of the two
Ships, or the two Squadrons of &longs;mall Ve&longs;&longs;els. And this &longs;econd wa
ter, I would have raken equally, and at the &longs;ame time, from the one
and the other Ship, or from each Rank of Barks or Boats, as hath
been &longs;aid of the other. And thus tho&longs;e Ships or Squadrons of Boats
&longs;hall hoi&longs;t the &longs;aid Foundered Ship, &longs;o high above the Superficies of
the water, that you may free it of the water which was got into it,
and unlade its Cargo, which was our purpo&longs;e.
You mu&longs;t note, that all that hath been hitherto &longs;aid of a Ship
newly &longs;unk, ought to be under&longs;tood of all other kind of Foundered
Ships, proceeding alwayes proportionately as was directed in that
Ship. And again, I give you no Figure how you are to fit and fix
the Cap&longs;tains and Pullies, as being a thing common and manife&longs;t.
But if it &longs;o fall out, that the &longs;aid Ship or other Ve&longs;&longs;el hath been
&longs;unk many Months; albeit that there might have been many
matters in the Cargo of a lighter nature than water, yet you
mu&longs;t &longs;uppo&longs;e the ca&longs;e as if the Ship were as heavy as if it had been
fil'd with Sand or Gravel; yea and much heavier, for many Rea&longs;ons,
as hath been alledg'd in the fir&longs;t Explanation. Therefore that you
may not deceive your &longs;elves in the de&longs;igned recovering of it, you
would do well to double the Forces required to the recovery of a
new &longs;unk Ship; that is, you mu&longs;t take four Ships, each as big as
the Foundered
quired to joyn the four &longs;mall And
if you cannot procure them of that burthen, take eight le&longs;&longs;er, pro
vided that altogether they be quadruple in contence to the
two
rected in the four Ships in the third direction. And if you cannot pro
cure
or Wherryes, that in all they may at lea&longs;t contain four times the bur
then of the Foundered
Wherryes into two Divi&longs;ions, as you are taught in the fourth Ex
planation: and in all other particulars, proceed according to the
method pre&longs;cribed in the recovery of the
that as well in deep, as &longs;hallow places; that is, placing in a deep
&longs;ixteen Cap&longs;tains, which it will be ea&longs;ie to do, for that you will have
a large &longs;pace upon tho&longs;e
not want room to fa&longs;ten their Pullies to tho&longs;e Tires of Beams, which
combine the &longs;aid In all things el&longs;e proceed
preci&longs;ely according as you have been directed in the &longs;econd, third,
fourth, fifth, &longs;ixth and &longs;eventh Explanations.
This indeed mu&longs;t be granted, that inca&longs;e the &longs;aid
&longs;hould be in a
which current &longs;uffereth not any great bed or &longs;helves of Mudd to
gather about the &longs;aid
tom, with the &longs;ame Forces as were imploy'd in that newly &longs;unk, to
recover it; and al&longs;o may as ea&longs;ily be drawn to the Surface of the
water: But whether you can rai&longs;e it with part of its Hull above
the
yet if it &longs;hould prove &longs;o upon the Experiment, namely, that you
cannot elevate its Hull above the
&longs;uch a ca&longs;e hall it at high water to &longs;hore, or to &longs;ome place where it
may lie a ground, whereby at the retreat of the Tide, it will lye with
part of its Hull above water, &longs;o that you may commodiou&longs;ly clear
it of the imbibed water and Cargo.
And to the end that this invention may be of generall u&longs;e
for the re covery or rai&longs;ing any kind of Collo&longs;&longs;us, that may
happen to be &longs;unk, to wit, of all
whether of
may have many occa&longs;ions voluntarily to &longs;ink them in time of war, to
pre&longs;erve them) and then that you may know how to get them up
again, you mu&longs;t ob&longs;erve this Rule: If the
ged were of Brick; &longs;o &longs;oon as it is imbreecht, you mu&longs;t take &longs;o ma
ny couple of
contents put together, may exceed the
of the &longs;ubmerged
ded together, mu&longs;t not be le&longs;s than Septuple to the Solid Content
of the &longs;ubmerged Body; namely, &longs;even times as much. And if
that long &longs;unk Solid chance to be of Iron; you mu&longs;t make the Solid
Content of all the
Aggregate than 12 3/2 times as much as the Solid Content of that &longs;ub
merged Solid: and the like mu&longs;t be done, if the &longs;ubmerged Solid
be of Pewter, for that Iron and Pewter differ not much in Gravity.
But and if the drowned
thirteen times as much as the And if the &longs;ubmerged
the
be no le&longs;s than twenty times as much as the
drowned
proportion ought to be ob&longs;erved, if the &longs;ubmerged Solid were of fine
Silver, for that Lead and pure Silver differ not much in Gravity:
truth is, that Lead is &longs;omewhat more weighty than Silver, but not
much.
But if the Solid which was &longs;unk, &longs;hould chance to be of pure
Gold, you mu&longs;t for its recovery take &longs;o many couple of Barks or
Boats, that the Solid Content of their
may be no le&longs;s than 34 times as much as the Solid content of the
&longs;aid Golden Solid &longs;ubmerged. And that you may the better under
&longs;tand me, I will put an Example, that you were to recover or rai&longs;e
out of the water, a Solid Body re&longs;embling a great Tower, which I
imagine to be in length an 100 Paces, and in breadth 10, and in
thickne&longs;s al&longs;o ten: and I &longs;uppo&longs;e that it is all one
&longs;ay, not hollow within. And fir&longs;t we put the ca&longs;e that this Tower
were made of Brick. Now becau&longs;e the
po&longs;ed
if you would recover this &longs;ame Body, that is, not only loo&longs;en it from
the bottom of the
it will be requi&longs;ite, as is &longs;aid above, to take &longs;o many pair of Ships,
Barks, Boats, or other Ve&longs;&longs;els, (as hath been &longs;hewn in the 5 and 6
Explanation) that the
together, be not le&longs;s than four times the &longs;aid &longs;um of 10000 cubick
Paces; that is, it mu&longs;t not be under 40000 cubicall Paces, as was
above determined. And &longs;o ìf it happen that the &longs;aid &longs;ubmerged So
lid &longs;hould be all of Marble, the
of the &longs;aid
namely Septuple, as was before concluded. And thus if the &longs;unk.
tent of all tho&longs;e And in ca&longs;e the Solid were all of
Copper, the Solid Content of the &longs;aid
130000 cubick Paces. And likewi&longs;e if the Solid were all of Lead
or Silver, the Solid Content of all the &longs;aid
200000 Paces cubical. La&longs;tly, if &longs;uch &longs;ubmerged Solid be pro
pounded all of fine Gold, the &longs;um of tho&longs;e Cavities ought to be no
le&longs;s than 340000 cubick Paces.
The manner how to proceed in the recovery of tho&longs;e &longs;everall
kinds of Solids, is to be under&longs;tood to be like to that which was
pre&longs;cribed in the recovery of the Ship: and that as well in deep, as
&longs;hallow waters. And the greater number of Ships or Boats are re
quired to opperate in the recovery of the &longs;aid &longs;ubmerged Solid in a
deep Channell, &longs;o much the more room mu&longs;t yon take upon the
one and the other Squadron, for to be able to pitch &longs;uch a number
of Cap&longs;tens as &longs;hall be needfull, and more if occa&longs;ion be. Yet you
mu&longs;t ob&longs;erve, that in the taking the water alternately from the one
and other Squadron, when you perceive the &longs;aid Solid to be di&longs;
engaged from the bottom, you are to forbear taking out any more
from either of them; as was appointed touching the Ship, in the
&longs;eventh Explanation. And make u&longs;e of as many Pullies as you &longs;hall
&longs;ee cau&longs;e for, not only to lift it to, but al&longs;o to draw it above the
waters Surface: and that if notwholly, yet for the greater part:
and when it is lifted as high as is po&longs;ible, then take the remaining
water by equall mea&longs;ures, out of the one and other Squadron, or
Rank of Ships; which being done, it &longs;hall be hoi&longs;ted &longs;o high out of
the water, that you may put under it as many Lighters or Flat-boats,
as &longs;hall be &longs;ufficient to bear it up, and to carry it to any place, as
occa&longs;ion &longs;hall require.
Albeit
dry wayes to carry water up on high, many whereof may
&longs;tand us in much &longs;tead in this our Invention, for the commo
dious filling and emptying all the &longs;everall kinds of Ve&longs;&longs;els &longs;poken of
above; of which al&longs;o, many are very well known and familiar to
every one; to wit, with Bur-pumps, Chain pumps, common-pumps,
and many others: yet neverthele&longs;s to fill the &longs;aid Ships or other
Ve&longs;&longs;els with water, with great facility and dexterity; I judge this
more expedient than any of them; namely, to make a Hole in the
bottom of each of tho&longs;e Ships or other Ve&longs;&longs;els, of two or three inches
Diameter at lea&longs;t, and for every Ship to appoint a Boome or long
tapered Pole like a Plugg or Tapp, &longs;o that being thru&longs;t into the &longs;aid
Hole, it will &longs;top it &longs;o clo&longs;e, that unle&longs;s you con&longs;ent thereto, no
than to reach from the Keel to the upper deck of the &longs;aid Ship; and
near the other end, put another piece of a Pole cro&longs;s wayes; that
you may be able by means of that to rule it; namely, to pull it up,
when you would un&longs;top the Hole, to let in the water that &longs;hould
fill the Ship, and to thru&longs;t it down when you would &longs;top the Hole
that no more water may enter; and this &longs;ame Pole &longs;hould pa&longs;s
through two Rings, fixed in the Hold of the Ship, which are to
keep the &longs;aid Pole directly over the Hole, that if you would &longs;top it,
the Plugg or Spiggot may not go be&longs;ides the Hole, when you thru&longs;t
the Pole downwards. And that I may be the better under&longs;tood, I
have here below drawn the &longs;ame Pole, with its Tapp or Plugg at the
end. And when you go about to recover any Ship, you mu&longs;t &longs;top
the &longs;aid Holes, till &longs;uch time as the &longs;aid Ships are carried
and fitted upon the place, as is &longs;hewn above. And
when you would fill them with water, it is but with
drawing the &longs;aid Poles, and opening the Holes; and
fa&longs;ten them at that &longs;tay, till you have a mind to &longs;top
the Holes; and then look downwards, and ob&longs;erve
when the Ships are as full as they can &longs;wim, or when
they are full enough, which will be in a very &longs;hort
time: and then let down tho&longs;e Poles, and &longs;top the
Holes very clo&longs;e. And when they are as full as they
need, in the ebb of the Tide, combine the Ship with the Pullies, to
tho&longs;e five or more Orders of Beams often mentioned: and then draw
out the water with Pumps by little and little, and one while out of
one, and another while out of the other Ship, as was appointed in
the &longs;econd Explication: and in all other particulars proceed, as was
al&longs;o there directed But if the Gravity of tho&longs;e Ve&longs;&longs;els, cau&longs;eth
them not to fill fa&longs;t enough, you mu&longs;t fill them at the top, that is
by baling in water by the Deck (I mean the &longs;aid Poles being fir&longs;t
thru&longs;t down) to make the &longs;aid Ve&longs;&longs;els to de&longs;cend fa&longs;ter, and to rai&longs;e
the Matter &longs;ubmerged with more Force; many other new wayes
might be &longs;hewn, as well to empty, as to fill the&longs;e Ve&longs;&longs;els; but for
the pre&longs;ent this &longs;hall &longs;uffice.
If you would attempt to recover a Ship or other Ve&longs;&longs;el by the
wayes here pre&longs;cribed: you mu&longs;t go about the &longs;ame, when the
Moon is in the Auge of the Excentrick, for at that time the Sea
ebbeth and floweth more than at any other time in the Moneth;
and this happens in her Coujunction and Oppo&longs;ition, which is a
matter of great avail in the&longs;e operations: and herewith we conclude
this our fir&longs;t Book.
tide, which is
greate&longs;t the third
day after the fuil
and change.
THE
Indu&longs;trious or Trouble&longs;ome
INVENTION
OF
Nicholaus Tartalea:
In which are taught, &longs;ome artificial wayes of
and &longs;taying long under Water: whereby one may
ea&longs;ily de&longs;cend to the Bottom, to finde out, not on
ly a Ship &longs;unke, but al&longs;o, any other &longs;mall thing of
Value: And the place being darke, many wayes
are &longs;hewn how to enlighten it: And the thing
&longs;unk being found, &longs;everall wayes and means are
pre&longs;cribed how to imbreach them, as well in a
Deepe, as Shallow Channel.
Having under&longs;tood,
dry Sea men, that there are many now adayes,
who without any particular Artifice or help, do
upon occa&longs;ion dive and continue a long time
under Water, and in places very deep; I had
thought to have added nothing touching the
way of Artificiall Diving, and &longs;taying under
water, to &longs;eeke and finde out a Ship, Boare,
or other thing of Value &longs;ubmerged, and that for two Rea&longs;ons. Fir&longs;t,
Fearing that I &longs;hould be derided by tho&longs;e kinde of men, it being to
them a &longs;uperfluous thing to go about to do tho&longs;e things by Art,
which they know how to execute without any arrificiall help.
Affairs, to incurre &longs;ome Soleci&longs;me: but there coming into my mind
an excellent expre&longs;&longs;ion of a famous Philo&longs;opher of this Renowned
City; who upon a time per&longs;wading me to write &longs;omething that
was new, and I having an&longs;wered (it being incident for humanly to
erre) that I was afraid lea&longs;t my &longs;o great de&longs;ire to publi&longs;h my fund y
new Conjectures, might run me into &longs;ome fanta&longs;tical conceits, that
might make me become the &longs;ubject of vulgar di&longs;cour&longs;e, this excel
lent per&longs;on replied: That if Nature &longs;hould forbear her operations for
fear of producing &longs;ometimes &longs;ome mon&longs;trous things, the worlds de
&longs;truction would en&longs;ue, for that they onely are free from erring who
do nothing, who&longs;e &longs;peech hath emboldened me to &longs;peak of a point,
which I never thought to have medled with; namely, To declare
&longs;ome of my conjectural wayes of artificial diving, and continuing
under water, to &longs;eek out any thing that was &longs;unk in the &longs;ame, though
in places very deep. And I judge the&longs;e the mo&longs;t expedient that can
be devi&longs;ed: and becau&longs;e the&longs;e and the like wayes may be varied
into &longs;everal forms, and &longs;orts, one more ingenious, and artificial than
another; the prettie&longs;t, and mo&longs;t ingenious is this, I would have you
get, made at
ameter of which I would have to be at lea&longs;t two foot, with a round
mouth, that the Diameter of the &longs;aid mouth may be at lea&longs;t one
foot, or wrather more; that is, &longs;o much as one may ea&longs;ily put his
head therein, and at plea&longs;ure draw it forth; and next you mu&longs;t
make two round Boards of a Diameter &longs;omething bigger then that
of the &longs;aid Globe, and with the&longs;e two round Boards, and four &longs;len
der pieces of Wood, as long as a man is high, and a little more, you
mu&longs;t make a little Modell for a man to &longs;tand betwixt the&longs;e four pie
ces of Wood; and with one of the round Boards above, and the o
ther beneath; and the&longs;e round Boards are to be very fa&longs;t nailed or
otherwi&longs;e fa&longs;tened to the four pieces of the Frame, and in the top of
this Machine, you mu&longs;t fit and fix the &longs;aid Sphere of Gla&longs;&longs;e with the
mouth downwards, &longs;o, that if a man &longs;tand upright in the &longs;aid Frame,
he may hold his head in the &longs;aid gla&longs;&longs;e without &longs;tooping. And this
being done, take neer upon as much Lead as all this Machine weighs,
and make it into a round figure, of the compa&longs;&longs;e of the round
Boards, and then fa&longs;ten and nail it to the bottome of the &longs;aid Mo
dell, namely, underneath the lowermo&longs;t Board on which your feet
&longs;tand when you put it into the Water: And then, (or before)
make an hole as big as a Shilling in the Centre of this Lead and
Board, pa&longs;&longs;ing through them both; and this &longs;ame Lead will be able
to draw almo&longs;t all the Machine together with him that &longs;hall be
therein under Water. Truth is, that the Experiment requireth that
the &longs;aid Lead be &longs;o limitted that it may be able to draw the Ma
per part of the &longs;ame, that is the uppermo&longs;t round Board, may &longs;tay at
the Superficies of the Water; that is, if the Lead chance to be &longs;o
ponderous, that it cau&longs;e the Engine to &longs;ink lei&longs;urely to the bottome,
you mu&longs;t take away &longs;ome of the &longs;aid Lead; and on the contrary,
if it chance that the Lead be not able to draw it all in that manner
under Water, &longs;o as to make the &longs;aid upper round Board to lye and
&longs;tay exactly level with the Surface of the Water, but that a part of it
re&longs;ts vi&longs;ible above the Water, you mu&longs;t encrea&longs;e the &longs;aid Lead &longs;o,
that the upper Board may lye and abide preci&longs;ely, as was &longs;aid be
fore, in the Surface of the Water: and when you have thus adju
&longs;ted the &longs;aid Lead, I would have you take a Ball or Bullet of Lead
weighing two or three pounds, (that is to &longs;ay of &longs;uch a weight, that
it may be &longs;ufficient to make the Machine and per&longs;on diving to de
&longs;cend to the bottome as oft as it is interpo&longs;ed, or added,) with an
Iron Ring in the &longs;aid Ball, to which bend or fa&longs;ten a Rope as long as
the &longs;aid Water is deep, in which the Diver is to de&longs;cend, and &longs;ome
what more; and reeve or pa&longs;&longs;e the other end of the &longs;aid
Cord through the hole
made in the Board and
Lead through the bot
tom of the Model; and
fa&longs;ten that &longs;ame end
of the Cord in a place
of the Machine, &longs;o, that
the Diver may take it,
and draw it, or &longs;lack
it as he plea&longs;eth: and
this being done, the
&longs;aid Machine will be
fini&longs;hed. And that you
may better under
&longs;tand it, I have here in
&longs;erted it graphically:
yet I &longs;hould have told
you, that for many rea
ons you &longs;hould in the beginning have fa&longs;tened a Ring in the Cen
tre of the upper Board, on the out&longs;ide, to tye a Cord to the &longs;ame as
occa&longs;ion &longs;erveth.
famous Glahes
are made.
of an Houre
gla&longs;&longs;e.
Having under&longs;tood the manner how to make this &longs;ame En
gine, it remains to &longs;hew how it is to be u&longs;ed; And for your
direction therein, I &longs;ay, That he that would dive or go under
Water to &longs;eek any thing that was &longs;unk, &longs;hould carry the &longs;aid Ma
chine to the place where he re&longs;olves to de&longs;cend, and fir&longs;t to let that
Ball of Lead with the Line go to the bottome, and then to put in
the Machine it &longs;elf, which by means of its heavy bottome of Lead
will re&longs;t upright in the Water, with almo&longs;t all the Globe of Gla&longs;&longs;e
above Water, in &longs;uch &longs;ort, that he that would may ea&longs;ily enter into
the &longs;ame: yet you mu&longs;t be dexterous in going into it, that you do
not much &longs;way the Machine &longs;idewayes, for that, if it lye too oblique
the Water will enter into the Globe of Gla&longs;&longs;e, and drive the Aire
thence that was in the &longs;ame, or at lea&longs;t in part, but holding it up
right when you enter the &longs;ame, the Water &longs;hall keep in the Aire on
all &longs;ides, whereby the water will be kept from entring. And therefore
if he that &longs;hall enter into the &longs;aid Machine, do nimbly thru&longs;t his head
into the &longs;aid Globe by the hole thereof, he &longs;hall finde it quite fil
led with Ayre; in which place he may breath for verry many Re
&longs;pirations, without the lea&longs;t ob&longs;truction from the Water: And be
cau&longs;e this Machine will &longs;tay with its upper end level with the Wa
ters &longs;urface (the affixed Lead having been &longs;o limited) therefore
de&longs;iring to de&longs;cend to the bottom, the Diver &longs;hould hale the Ball
and Line upwards, which was &longs;ent before to the Bottom, in haling
of which the &longs;aid Machine will de&longs;cend as much under Water as he
hales the Corde; and if he continue haling it, till there be none of
it left, he &longs;hall de&longs;cend to the Bottome; and in the de&longs;cent, and after
that he &longs;hall be got to the bottom, he mu&longs;t look round about him
through that tran&longs;parent Globe for to finde out the thing he &longs;eeks,
and &longs;eeing it, he may many wayes with ca&longs;e transferre him&longs;elf
thither without ri&longs;ing again to the top; And when he would re
turn upwards to the toppe of the Water, he needs do no more but
&longs;lacken that corde fa&longs;tned to the Ball of Lead, for thereupon the
Machine &longs;hall begin to ri&longs;e upwards, and letting the &longs;aid Corde goe,
it &longs;hall not &longs;tay till the Machines upper parte arrive at the &longs;urface of
the Water; and being a&longs;cended thither, the Diver may come out
thereof, and &longs;wim to the top, and provide him&longs;elf afterwards of
&longs;uch things as are nece&longs;&longs;ary for embreching the &longs;aid Ship or other
matter &longs;unke: And in ca&longs;e the Diver cannot &longs;wim, it will be nece&longs;&longs;a
ry to fa&longs;ten a Corde to the Ring placed in the Centre of the upper
Board, and thereby to draw the Modell above the Surface of the
de&longs;cend of him&longs;elf, without any help.
But if you chance to be in a place where you cannot procure
the &longs;aid Globe to be made of Gla&longs;&longs;e, it may be made of Wood;
but then you mu&longs;t make therein great Sights, or Eyeholes of
clear Gla&longs;&longs;e of each &longs;ide to look four &longs;everall wayes; and pay it
without, and al&longs;o within if you &longs;ee cau&longs;e with Pitch. And if you
cannot get &longs;uch a Ball of Wood, you may make &longs;hift with a little
Cubicall Che&longs;t or Boxe, like one of tho&longs;e Che&longs;ts wherein they plant
Ceaders, which mu&longs;t be well joyned graved and pitch't, with four
&longs;uch Sights of Gla&longs;&longs;e as before, namely one upon every lateral flat
or plain, &longs;o placed, that the Diver may &longs;ee through them every way,
and be able to look downwards, it would be good to make the
Box &longs;omewhat narrower towards the mouth, that &longs;o the four late
rall Planes may look &longs;omewhat &longs;loping: and in the entrance, de
&longs;cent, a&longs;cent, and coming forth, you are to u&longs;e the &longs;ame Rules as be
fore; aud if you have a de&longs;ire to de&longs;cend fa&longs;ter, you mu&longs;t make the
Ball of Lead &longs;omewhat heavier, that was tyed to the end of the
Corde, and this done the Machine &longs;hall de&longs;cend fa&longs;ter to the bottom
upon halling the &longs;aid Corde and Ball; and when you vere or let
loo&longs;e the Cord, the Engine will re-a&longs;cend but according to its former
&longs;peed: But if you would al&longs;o make it &longs;wifter in its a&longs;cent you are
to proceed quite contrary, that is, you mu&longs;t &longs;omewhat dimini&longs;h the
Lead, which is under the Ba&longs;e of the fiame; and the more you di
mini&longs;h the &longs;aid Lead, the &longs;wifter &longs;hall it be in a&longs;cending. But you
mu&longs;t remember withall to encrea&longs;e the Ball of Lead, &longs;o that it may
be able to draw the &longs;aid Machine to the bottome &longs;peedily or lei&longs;ure
ly according as occa&longs;ion requires.
But if there be any likelihood of any obnoxious Fi&longs;h in the place
where the Diver is to de&longs;cend, that may hurt him, being quite na
ked; though that in the former kind of Machine with four pillars you
may &longs;e u e him with a wire Grate, made in the manner of doors to the
&longs;ame, yet to the end that you may know that this Invention may be
varied &longs;undry ways; you may in this ca&longs;e have a Globe of tran&longs;parent
gla&longs;s made at
or el&longs;e &longs;itting, may be contain'd therein, having amouth or round hole
of capacity &longs;ufficient for a man, commodiou&longs;ly to enter and goe out
thereby, and &longs;omewhat larger: & then coffin or enclo&longs;e the &longs;aid Globe
the Globe, with four pillars, as in the en&longs;uing figure doth graphically
appear. But in the round Board which is put over the hole or mouth
of the &longs;aid Globe, you mu&longs;t al&longs;o make a round hole &longs;omewhat nar
rower than that of the Globe, but yet big enough for a man to pa&longs;&longs;e
in and out thereat. Afterwards under this round Board &longs;o bored,
you mu&longs;t place and fix another round bored piece of Lead of &longs;uch
thickne&longs;&longs;e, as that it may be able to draw the &longs;aid Ball or Globe of
Gla&longs;&longs;e, together with the Diver in &longs;uch manner under Water, that
the upper round Board do re&longs;t in the Surface of the Water, namely,
that it may not be &longs;o heavy as to &longs;ink the Globe and Diver to the
bottome, but only to retain it beneath the Surface of the Water,
which by tryal may be ea&longs;ily proportioned, namely, by adding or
taking away Lead from the Ba&longs;e, according as occa&longs;ion &longs;hall require.
Next you are to frame a &longs;eat for the Diver to &longs;it commodiou&longs;ly in
the &longs;aid Ball or Globe, and next fa&longs;ten a Ball of Lead to the end of
a Rope, as many fathom long as the water is deep into which you
would de&longs;cend, and &longs;omewhat more, as was &longs;aid in the preceding
Explanation. And that Ball of Lead &longs;hould be of &longs;uch bigne&longs;&longs;e, that
applied to the &longs;aid Model, it may be &longs;ufficient to make it de&longs;cend to
the bottome lei&longs;urely, or &longs;wiftly, as he &longs;eeth cau&longs;e who is to dive.
And make an handle or peg in the &longs;aid Globe whereat to fa&longs;ten or
belay the other end of
the &longs;aid Rope, and to
draw it ea&longs;ily upwards,
or let it loo&longs;e at the
plea&longs;ure of him that is
within, and this may be
ea&longs;ily done by joyning
and fa&longs;tening four
pieces of wood upright
in the mouth or hole of
that bored Board and
Lead, which &longs;hall be
about the mouth of the
&longs;aid Globe; and that
I may be the better
under&longs;tood, I will give
it you in figure with the
Diver &longs;itting therein.
If you would de&longs;cend to the bottome of &longs;ome deep water by help
of this Machine, you are to proceed according to the directions gi
ven in the precedent Explanation.
In ca&longs;e you &longs;hould be in a place where you could not have &longs;uch
a Globe made of Gla&longs;&longs;e, you may procure one of Copper or
Lead, round in fa&longs;hion of a greater ^{*} Churne, wide in the bot
tome and narrow in the mouth, and at lea&longs;t five foot high, and four
foot broad. It may indeed be made quadrangular, that is, &longs;o that
the mouth be at lea&longs;t three foot &longs;quare every way, and the bottome
at lea&longs;t four foot every &longs;ide, and not under five foot high, and this
&longs;ame ve&longs;&longs;el, making it of Lead, mu&longs;t be &longs;o contrived, or proportio
ned, that the corporeal or &longs;olid
cuity, or &longs;pace, be about
which is imployed in making the &longs;aid Ve&longs;&longs;el; that is, make the Lead
of &longs;uch a thickne&longs;&longs;e, that the Ve&longs;&longs;els vacuity may be nine tenths of
the &longs;olid Area of all the whole Frame, which may be ea&longs;ily done by
any one that is not ignorant of practical Geometry: and this Ve&longs;&longs;el
being made, you &longs;hould place or &longs;et therein four great Fye holes or
Sights of tran&longs;parent or cri&longs;taline Gla&longs;&longs;e, &longs;o placed as to &longs;ee any way
as you &longs;hall need or de&longs;ire: and furthermore, in the framing of this
&longs;ame Ve&longs;&longs;el, you mu&longs;t make &longs;ome provi&longs;ion for the &longs;etling or &longs;tay
ing your feet, and to &longs;it down, and likewi&longs;e you mu&longs;t make a
Pulley to hall the Ball of Lead up, or let it down, which is fa&longs;tened
to the end of the long cord, as was &longs;aid in the two precedent ca&longs;es.
And moreover, in the making of this Ve&longs;&longs;el, you are to fa&longs;ten four
Rings of Iron to the bottome without, namely, to the four Angles,
it being Quadrangular; (and being round, let them divide the Cir
cumference into four equal parts) and betwixt the&longs;e four Rings,
you mu&longs;t place a &longs;quare or round Deal Board. And this Ve&longs;&longs;el thus
modellized &longs;hall be &longs;o contrived, that putting it into the water with
the mouth downwards, with him in it who is to Dive, it &longs;hall but ju&longs;t
&longs;tay in the Surface of the water with that bottome of wood; but if
it chance that it &longs;hall not &longs;tay at the Surface of the water by helpof
that bottome of Board, but that it will de&longs;cend, you mu&longs;t upon that
bottome fa&longs;ten another, or two, or more &longs;quare or round Boards to
the four Rings, in &longs;uch wi&longs;e, that by means of the &longs;aid Boaids it may
be reduced to &longs;uch a quality, that it may re&longs;t with the &longs;aid round
Boards in the Surface of the water, and de&longs;cend no farther. Having
with judgement and experience provided all the&longs;e things, and the
Diver being de&longs;irous to de&longs;cend of him&longs;elf, and likewi&longs;e to return
to the top when he plea&longs;eth, this may be performed with that Ball
of Lead tied to the end of that long Rope, as hath been &longs;aid in the
precedent Explanations, that is, to &longs;end the Ball fir&longs;t to the bottom in
he place where the Diver would de&longs;cend, and then to enter into the
upwards, which &longs;hould be of that Gravity, that it may be apt to
make &longs;uch a Ve&longs;&longs;el or Machine de&longs;cend together with the Diver; and
if the Machine chance to be ju&longs;tly contrived, as hath been &longs;aid a
bove, I hold that a Ball of &longs;ive or &longs;ix pounds may be &longs;ufficient to
make it de&longs;cend nimbly upon the pulling of the Cord, and lifting
the Ball from the bottome, and continuing to draw the &longs;aid Cord,
as long as there is any remaining, he &longs;hall arrive at the bottome; and
whenever he would return upwards, he need but only vere or &longs;lack
en that Cord, and letting it all go he will not cea&longs;e a&longs;cending till the
Machine attains with its top (covered with tho&longs;e &longs;quare or round
Boards) unto the Surface of the Water, as hath been &longs;aid of the o
thers. I will not &longs;tand to &longs;hew you the many particularities which
might be in&longs;erted for the tran&longs;porting your &longs;elves from one place to
another, keeping at the bottome, that is, without returning to the
top, for that they are almo&longs;t infinite, but it &longs;hall &longs;uffice to let you
know, that he may ea&longs;ily do it, carrying with him a long Hitcher, or
a Boom, or a Spike with a Hook at the end.
in which they
in Italy carry
Grapes to the
Pre&longs;s.
Many other particulars there might be in&longs;i&longs;ted on, and e&longs;pecially
how many may &longs;imply (that is, without any of the forsaid Ma
chines) go to the bottome, and &longs;tay for many hours under Water,
which, be&longs;ides the many profitable conclu&longs;ions that might from
thence be inferred for Diving in indifferent depths, being accompa
nied with the helps pre&longs;cribed in the foregoing Explanations, they
would be much to the purpo&longs;e, for that the Liver being once condu
cted with the Machine near unto the thing &longs;unk, he might come out
of the &longs;aid Machine, and go and &longs;tay for a long time about the &longs;ame,
to fa&longs;ten, or prepare tho&longs;e things that are nece&longs;&longs;ary for the rai&longs;ing
it: And farthermore, there is &longs;omething to be &longs;aid, when the thing
&longs;unk is in a muddy or dark Water, how the Diver may in &longs;undry
wayes, kindle there a great and flaming light, which flaming fire,
be&longs;ides that it would make him di&longs;cern the thing &longs;unk, it would al&longs;o
&longs;ecure him in his going forth of the Machine from any devouring
Fi&longs;hes, for that all &longs;uch as &longs;hould chance to be near that place would
be affrighted at &longs;uch an unu&longs;ual &longs;pectacle, and would make far
from it. I might al&longs;o &longs;hew many wayes to embreech and grapple a
Ship when it is found, as well in deep as &longs;hallow Channels, which
particulars I &longs;hall re&longs;erve for another time.
I will not &longs;tand to &longs;hew how this kind of Diving Machine might
be made of Boards, and that in &longs;undry fa&longs;hions, well calked and
pitcht, with four Lights or Sights, fa&longs;tening about the mouth of the
&longs;ame as much Lead as &longs;hould be nece&longs;&longs;ary, ora&longs;inuch as by what
hath been &longs;poken in the third Explanation, it is &longs;ufficiently manife&longs;t.
A
SUPPLEMENT
OF THE
Indu&longs;trious or Trouble&longs;ome
INVENTION
OF
Nicholaus Tartalea:
In which is &longs;hewn a general and &longs;afe way to im
breech Cables, and hitch Grappling irons to any
Ship that's &longs;unk, a&longs;well in a deep as &longs;hallow Bot
tome, provided you know the exact place where
the &longs;aid Ship is. Together with another new way
of rai&longs;ing or recovering the &longs;ame.
Flaming Matter, unto the Bottome of the Water, to enlighten, upon oc
ca&longs;ion, any dark Bottome, for the di&longs;covery, not onely, of a Ship or Bark,
but al&longs;o any &longs;mall thing of value that is &longs;unk, and that in the night as
well as in the day.
To the Mo&longs;t
Illu&longs;trious and mo&longs;t Serene
PRINCE
France&longs;co Donato,
Duke of
VENICE.
Illu&longs;trious Prince, publi&longs;hed under the Glorious
Name of your Highne&longs;&longs;e, &longs;undry and diver&longs;e
way storai&longs;e a Ship &longs;unk, with its Cargo in it (when once
find a way to imbreach or grapple the &longs;aid Ship (though
it is nece&longs;&longs;ary to be known) and the cau&longs;e thereof was, for
that I concluded that among&longs;t Mariners there were a
thou&longs;and means to effect it, and I was loath to enquire af
ter &longs;uch things as are commonly known to many, although
I be ignorant of them; but delight to &longs;earch into tho&longs;e
things which none el&longs;e can do. Now, having been &longs;ince
told and a&longs;&longs;ured by many, that Mariners, and all other
per&longs;ons of ingenuity find far greater difficulty in imbrea
ching and Grappling &longs;uch a Ship, than they do, (when
once they have hold of it) to rai&longs;e the &longs;ame: I under&longs;tan
ding the &longs;ame, pre&longs;ently deliberated upon &longs;ome way that
&longs;hould be general and &longs;ecure, and to adde it in the end of
my Treati&longs;e, that &longs;o it might not, for want thereof, be vain
and u&longs;ele&longs;s. And thus; of many that I have found, that
which to me hath &longs;eemed mo&longs;t univer&longs;al and ea&longs;y to be
explained by writing; I have here &longs;ubjoined, together
with another new way to recover the &longs;aid Ship: and the
manner how to illuminate the bottome of a dark Water,
but still under the Illustrious Name of your Serene
Highne&longs;&longs;e, at who&longs;e feet I once more humbly throw my
&longs;elf
NICOLO TARTAGLIA.
A Supplement.
To hitch therefore, and &longs;ling, or grapple fa&longs;t a laden Ship
that is &longs;unk, being in a &longs;howle bottome, as was that broken
up near to
Sheat-anchor Cable, of &longs;uch a length as is &longs;ufficient for
the U&longs;es hereafter to be under&longs;tood, and at one end of
&longs;uch a Cable you are to &longs;eiz or fa&longs;ten very well a thick and &longs;trong Iron
Ring, big enough for the other end of the Cable to pa&longs;&longs;e through with
ea&longs;e, and make thereof a running Parbunckle: and then, near to this
Ring (that is under this Cable at the place where it &longs;hall be bent to
the Ring) you mu&longs;t &longs;eiz or fa&longs;ten one of the Flooks of a thick and
&longs;trong Anchor, and about three fathoms &longs;pace from that fir&longs;t An
chor hitch the Flook of another &longs;econd Anchor into the &longs;aid Cable,
&longs;eizing or fa&longs;tening it that it &longs;tir not: and about two fathoms di
&longs;tance from this &longs;econd Anchor, &longs;eiz, as before the Flook of a third
Anchor, and &longs;o two fathom from that a fourth Anchor; and &longs;o pro
ceed, placing in that manner as many Anchors as &longs;uffice to go round
the Hull of the &longs;aid Ship under its Wails, and rather le&longs;&longs;e than more,
to the end the la&longs;t Anchor may be no hinderance to the running of
the Parbunckle at the Ring at &longs;uch time as it is to be rou&longs;ed or vered,
that is, to be drawn or let &longs;lip. The truth is, that in the part of the
Cable marked E, in the Figure following, and in the oppo&longs;ite
part marked G (which parts you are to place &longs;o that they may fall
one at the Stem, the other at the Stern) no Anchor is to be placed,
but you mu&longs;t leave at lea&longs;t three fathom interval betwixt tho&longs;e An
chors at G, as was required to be done betwixt the fir&longs;t and &longs;econd
at E. And then form the &longs;aid Running Parbunckle, that is, reeve the
other end of the Cable through the Ring of Iron; and, that being
made, you are to place many per&longs;ons upon Flat-bottome Boats fa
&longs;tened in an Oval Figure round the place where the Ship lyeth: and
then vere or &longs;lacken the Parbunckle, but in an Oval Form, to that
widene&longs;&longs;e, that it may at four or five foot di&longs;tance, inviron the foun
dered Ship: and this done, you mu&longs;t let all the Anchors, together
with this Girdle or Parbunckle, (being kept at that widene&longs;&longs;e) gent
ly and equally fall to the bottome of the Sea, keeping the Ship in
the mid&longs;t of the Ovall: and when you perceive all the Anchors de
&longs;cended to the bottome, you mu&longs;t vere there &longs;everal Cables, that
they may &longs;ink deep into the &longs;and or Ouze; and then after this you
the Ve&longs;&longs;el, and then hall or &longs;train hard the end of the Sheat Anchor
Cable which was reeved through the Ring; and begirt the Hull
of the Ship therewith, as with a Girdle (and to &longs;train it very taught, it
would not be ami&longs;&longs;e to make u&longs;e of a Cap&longs;tan) and when this
Girdle is drawn to its due exactne&longs;&longs;e, to the end it may not &longs;lip (in
the elevation of the Ship) fa&longs;ten to that part which you hold above
Water another Ring of Iron, and pa&longs;&longs;e through this Ring one of
the Anchor-Cables that is on the &longs;ame &longs;ide as the fir&longs;t Ring is on,
and almo&longs;t as far from the &longs;aid Ring, as the &longs;econd Ring is di&longs;tant
from the fir&longs;t; whereupon making this &longs;econd Ring to &longs;lip along
the &longs;aid Anchor Cable, and then in the Elevation halling the &longs;ame,
it &longs;hall make the &longs;aid Girdle taught under the &longs;aid Ship: and that I
may be the better under&longs;tood, I have here underneath repre&longs;ented
the &longs;aid Girdle pul'd together in an Oval Figure as it is to lye under
the Rake of the Ships Hull with fourteen Flooks of fourteen An
chors under the &longs;ame (except in the part inked E, and in its oppo
&longs;ite part G,) well &longs;ea&longs;
ed; of which Girdle, or
Parbunckle, the fir&longs;t
Ring &longs;hall be A,
through which the
Sheat-Anchor Cable
pa&longs;&longs;eth, namely, the
Cable A B, to which
Cable was fa&longs;tened a
&longs;econd Ring in the
point B, through which
&longs;econd Ring, (to the
end the Girdle might
not &longs;lio) we will reeve
the Cable of the An
chor C; which Anchor
C we &longs;uppo&longs;e to be
&longs;omewhat farther from
the Ring A, than the &longs;econd Ring B is from the fir&longs;t Ring A, and
then make the &longs;aid Ring B to &longs;lip along the Cable of the &longs;aid
C, till it come to the point C.
and &longs;trongly grappled and begirt.
directed in the fir&longs;t Book of our
cute your purpo&longs;e; That is, when the two or more coupled Ships
&longs;hall be full of water, at the ebbing of the Tide you are to fa&longs;ten
and belay to tho&longs;e Tires of Beams that couple the &longs;aid Ships, all
tho&longs;e fourteen Cables, taking a little more care in tying, and belay
in the Elevation.
But if you doubt that that &longs;ingle Cable, to which the Anchors
are fa&longs;tened, is not &longs;ufficient for &longs;o great a weight, you may above
that, place another with a Ring al&longs;o, through which (as before) the
end of it may pa&longs;&longs;e, by that means begirting the Ship with two of
tho&longs;e Girdles, and ob&longs;erving the &longs;ame Rules you may take three or
four of tho&longs;e &longs;lipping &longs;heat-anchor Cables, each with its Ring
wherein to run in the manner of a Noo&longs;e.
Girdle is pulled &longs;trait and clo&longs;e to the Ship, fa&longs;ten to the &longs;aid Cable,
(or to each of them if you u&longs;e more) another &longs;econd Ring, to gird
and hold the &longs;aid Noo&longs;e fa&longs;t, that it &longs;lip not with the Cable of the
&longs;ion.
to bear &longs;o great a burden, you may take twenty or thirty of them, or
as many as you plea&longs;e, tying them clo&longs;er to one the other, under
the running Cable, and make half of them to be placed on one &longs;ide,
and the other half on the other &longs;ide of the &longs;aid Ship.
C s not able to hold the Noo&longs;e fa&longs;t, you may take two or three of
them, for you may judge what the &longs;tre&longs;s of that anchor is by means of
the height of the water. Truth is, this office might be di&longs;tributed
among&longs;t more
as far from the &longs;econd, as the
C, &longs;o that the Cable of the
Ring, and &longs;lipping the &longs;aid Ring along till it come to D, it will fol
low that tho&longs;e two Cables of tho&longs;e two Anchors C and D, will keep
the Parbunckle &longs;traight; aud in this manner you may proceed by ad
ding new Rings, and imploying more Anchor-Cables, for the great
er &longs;ecurity.
The &longs;ame method may al&longs;o be ob&longs;erved when the Ship is in a
deep place, provided that the depth exceed not the length of the
Hull of the Ship, becau&longs;e then there may be alwaies found &longs;ome one
or more Cables &longs;ufficient to reeve through the &longs;econd and follow
ing Rings of the Main Cable to &longs;ecure the Noo&longs;e from &longs;lipping, or
growing &longs;lack, as in the preceding declaration hath been &longs;aid. But if
it chance that the depth of the place be far greater than the length
of the Ship, you can no longer &longs;ecure the Noo&longs;e with that &longs;econd
Ring, but mu&longs;t find out &longs;ome other way, and though there might be
many found out, I &longs;hall in&longs;tance but in this one.
After you have &longs;trained, drawn the &longs;aid Girdle as taught as you
can, you may take the Cable thereof, and the Cable of the anchor
next adjoyning on the &longs;ame &longs;ide that the fir&longs;t Ring is on (namely,
the Cable marked F,) and twi&longs;t and wind them together, and then
reeve the &longs;ingle Cable of the Girdle
Sheat-anchor, (without its Cable) and let the anchor &longs;lide down
wards along the &longs;aid Main Cable, which by rea&longs;on of its weight will
run almo&longs;t clo&longs;e to the Ring
of the two Cables clo&longs;e at
twi&longs;t a little the two former Cables, namely the Sheat anchor-cable
B, and the le&longs;&longs;er Cable F, and then &longs;ea&longs;e tho&longs;e two Cables &longs;everally
to the Orders of Beams, that is, one to one Order, and the other to
another at &longs;ome di&longs;tance from the former, to the end they drive
down the twi&longs;ting near to the Ring of the anchor: which twi&longs;ting
will keep the Noo&longs;e from &longs;lipping or opening in elevating the Ship.
&longs;eventh Explanation of the fir&longs;t Book) you mu&longs;t always take care
to &longs;train the&longs;e two Cables equally, and much a&longs;under, which doing,
the Girdle &longs;hall be kept &longs;trait. Many other ways might be &longs;hewen
for to keep the &longs;aid Grand Cable from &longs;lipping, but e&longs;teeming them
&longs;uperfluous, I omit them.
He that is de&longs;irous to recover a foundered Ship laden with
Fraight, by other ways than tho&longs;e pre&longs;cribed in the fir&longs;t Book,
namely, without &longs;tanding to fill tho&longs;e two or more Ships, or other
Ve&longs;&longs;els with water, and then to empty them, may only by force of
Cap&longs;tains or Cranes ea&longs;ily effect the &longs;ame in the manner following,
(&longs;till making u&longs;e of the Parbunckle and flooks of anchors explained
in the fir&longs;t Explanation of this) namely: By taking from their an
chors Rings all their Cables, except that which is to make fa&longs;t the
Main-Cable Noo&longs;e that begirts the Ship, and in their places make
fa&longs;t to each Ring a &longs;trong Pulley or Block, in &longs;uch &longs;ort, that all the
&longs;aid Pulleys or Blocks have equal number of Shivers, or wheels, and
tho&longs;e as many as you can make them: and through the&longs;e Shivers or
wheels reeve their proper and convenient Cables or Ropes, incatena
ting each Pulley with its &longs;uperiour; and this done, make two &longs;qua
drons of Barks, or Lighters, or Flat-boats, according to the method
laid down in the fourth Explanation of the fir&longs;t Book, collated and
bound together with tho&longs;e Tires of thick and &longs;trong Beams tripled,
and with a great and &longs;pacious platform of thick Planks upon each
&longs;quadron, and upon tho&longs;e two &longs;pacious platforms place as many
Cap&longs;ters or Ship-cranes as you &longs;hall judge nece&longs;&longs;ary for &longs;uch a
fall the &longs;aid Anchors lei&longs;urely, with the Girdle opened in an Oval
Figure, untill they come to the bottome of the Sea, &longs;o that the Girdle
do encircle or &longs;urround the foundered Ship. And having once be
girt it carefully, approximate all the Anchors with the Girdle to the
Hull of the Ship, and then &longs;harpen or make taught the Girdle-cable
by halling it hard and &longs;treight to the Ships hull, and when it is
drawn clo&longs;e, belay it that it may not &longs;lacken, with that &longs;ingle An
chor-cable, or more, according to that &longs;ecure way &longs;poken of but
now, or by &longs;ome other than &longs;hall &longs;eem more expedient, (for many
more, if one think thereon may be found:) and this being done,
&longs;eek to loo&longs;en the Ship by degrees from its bed of Ouze, a little on
one &longs;ide, and a little on the other with the afore&longs;aid Cap&longs;ters, and,
being once water born, then draw it upwards equally on both &longs;ides,
and proceed in this manner till &longs;uch time as you have hoi&longs;ted it &longs;uf
ficiently above the Waters &longs;urface, and then pump out the Water,
and unlade its Cargo.
Having in the &longs;econd Book &longs;hewn &longs;everal ways of Diving under
Water in &longs;earch of things &longs;unk, in this place I have thought
fit to add, in ca&longs;e that &longs;ome little thing of value &longs;hould fall
into a Water in &longs;ome &longs;hady place, and where its bottome is ob&longs;cure
and dark, a way how to conveigh a Light thither that may give light
enough for the di&longs;cerning of that little thing, provided that it be not
buried in, or covered with the old Ouze. Now to perform this, and
that with expedition, we may in &longs;mall depths take one of tho&longs;e bra&longs;s
Buckets or Pails, which are u&longs;ed in carrying and keeping of Water
for hou&longs;ehold u&longs;es: and tho&longs;e of them that are &longs;haped long and
deep, with feet &longs;hall be better then tho&longs;e that are made round and
&longs;hallow, without feet; and the bigger and higher it is, &longs;o much the
better it &longs;hall be. And having made choice of &longs;uch a Bucket, you
are to fa&longs;ten to the Ears of it two &longs;mall Ropes of about two yardes
apiece, in &longs;uch a fa&longs;hion, as that they may one cro&longs;s the other at the
mouth of the Bucket, making upon it a perfect cro&longs;s, and that the
Knot of the Ropes may be in the mid&longs;t of the Buckets bottom with
out, making of the ropes a Hoop over the bottome whereat to fa&longs;ten
another Rope of greater length; &longs;o that the Bucket being held by
that la&longs;t Rope may come to hang with its mouth perpendicularly
downwards. And this done, fa&longs;ten as much Lead to the two Eares of
the Bucket as may ju&longs;t make it &longs;ink to the Bottome, and then &longs;et
and fa&longs;ten a little Wax candle lighted in the inter&longs;ection that tho&longs;e
two Ropes make over the mouth of the Bucket, that is, in the centre
in, and near the bottome of the &longs;aid Bucket. This being done, let
down the Bucket, with the candle in it gently unto the bottome,
which doing, you &longs;hall &longs;ee the burning candle clearly enlighten the
bottome of the Water. And this Bucket you may remove from
place to place, without drawing it upwards. The truth is, that this
candle will not long continue burning, but will &longs;erve for a little
while, and when it &longs;hall go out of it &longs;elf, it may be drawn up, re
lighted, and let down, as occa&longs;ion requires: but the greater that the
Bucket, and the le&longs;&longs;er that the candle &longs;hall be, &longs;o much the longer
time &longs;hall it keep its light under Water: and therefore if the &longs;aid
bottome were very deep, it would be requi&longs;ite to perform that e&longs;&longs;ect
with &longs;o much a greater Ve&longs;&longs;el, as a great Caldron, but yet of Brals,
or by that means the candle &longs;hall continue longer lighted.
But in ca&longs;e that a Ship or Bark were foundered in &longs;ome &longs;pacious
and profound Gulph, and that the exact place where it &longs;unk
were unknown, and that the bottome of the &longs;aid &longs;pacious Gulph
were very ob&longs;cure, it is manife&longs;t that &longs;o little a light as that &longs;poke
of in the precedent Explanation would hardly &longs;erve. And therefore
if you would convey thither one much bigger, you may do it &longs;eve
rall wayes, of which one is this. Take nine ounces of refined Salt
peter, &longs;ix ounces (Greek weight) of Brim&longs;tone that is clear and
tran&longs;parent, three ounces of Camphire refined, and one ounce of
Ma&longs;tick; and beat all the&longs;e things &longs;everally, not very &longs;mall; and
when you have beaten them, mix them all together in an Earthen
Pan; and when they are well mingled, put thereto three pounds of
common Gunpowder, and then remingle them very well together;
and afterwards put therein four ounces of oyl of Stone, and mix all
very well; and this done, take a Cartredge thereof, and give fire to
it; and if it burn too &longs;lowly, put a little more Gunpowder to it,
but if it burn too vehemently and &longs;uddenly, add thereto more oyl.
Put this Compo&longs;ition, after this, into a little Bag of double Canvis,
of &longs;uch a widene&longs;&longs;e, that when all the mixture is out, therein it may
be as broad, as high, and cram the Compo&longs;ition hard down into the
Bag; and then with very good Pack thread &longs;ew up the mouth of the
Sack, cutting away the &longs;uperfluous Canvas. Then winde a good
hempen cord round about it very hard every way, reducing it to the
form of a round Ball, and after it is very well bound and &longs;wathed a
bout many &longs;everall times, you mu&longs;t melt Brim&longs;tone into a great Ve&longs;
&longs;el, and when it is melted, roll the &longs;aid Ball therein &longs;o, as that it may
be covered all over with a cru&longs;t of Brim&longs;tone. And this being done
ry fa&longs;t, and frame in the top of the Ball a Bow or Noo&longs;e with the
&longs;aid Wire, and to that fa&longs;ten a long Rope, and then in the oppo&longs;ite
place where the Lead is fixed, make an hole with an iron rod into
the middle of the Ball, and &longs;top that hole with a little fine Gunpow
der, holding it &longs;u&longs;pended by the Rope: and when you would have
that Light de&longs;cend into the bottome of the Sea or Gulph, goe to the
place, and give fire to the little hole, and when it is inkindled, let
down the Ball and Lead, lengthwayes, almo&longs;t to the bottome, where
he &longs;hall be that would find the thing &longs;unk, and you &longs;hall find that
the &longs;aid fire will illuminate very much round about the &longs;aid bottom,
and &longs;hall la&longs;t a long time, and more or le&longs;s, according to the hole
made in the Ball. 'Tis to be noted, that the Ball is to be held over
the head of him that diveth, for that the &longs;moke proceeding from it
will much ob&longs;cure the Waters above it, &longs;o as that it will give Light
only downwards; and this fire will be a dreadful &longs;ight unto the Fi&longs;h,
&longs;o that they will fly from &longs;o new a &longs;pectacle.
of the Second TOME.