ong, the agent of the
owners sent off to see what could be done in the way of recovering the
treasure on board--there being no less than fifty thousand pounds
sterling in gold in her treasure-room, besides valuables belonging to
passengers. A Lloyds' agent also visited the place, and both came to
the conclusion that it was utterly impossible to recover anything from
such a depth by means of divers. This being so, and I happening to be
on the spot, offered to purchase the right to recover and appropriate
all the gold I could fish up. They laughed at me as a wild
enthusiast, but, regarding the thing as hopeless themselves, were
quite willing to let me have the wreck, etcetera, for what you would
call `an old song.' Now, although nominally a `penniless man,' I do
happen to possess a small property, in the form of a block of old
houses in Newcastle, which were left to me by an uncle, and which I
have never seen. On these I have raised sufficient money for my
purpose, and I intend to make the venture, being convinced that with
the new and almost perfect apparatus now turned out in London by our
submarine engineers, bold divers may reach even a greater depth than
twenty fathoms. My proposal then is, that you should come to my aid.
I will divide all we bring up into three equal portions. One of these
you shall have, one I'll keep to myself, and the third shall be shared
equally by such divers as you think it advisable to employ. What say
you? Do the prospects and terms suit, and will you come without
delay? If so, reply at once, and send all the requisite material to
this place. Be particular to bring dresses made by the first makers
in London. I wish this to be a sort of semi-scientific experiment--to
recover property from a great depth, to test the powers and properties
of the various apparatus now in use and recently invented, and, while
so doing, to make my fortune as well as yours, and that of all
concerned! Perhaps you think the idea a wild one. Well, it may be
so, but wilder ideas than this have been realised. Remember the noble
house of Mulgrave!--Yours truly,--

"Edgar Berrington."

The last sentence in the letter referred to a fact in the history of
diving which is worthy of mention. In or about the year 1683 a man
named Phipps, the son of an American blacksmith, was smitten with a
mania, then prevalent, for recovering treasure from sunk