The Admiralty appointed 200 or 300 men for the purpose, but they never succeeded in getting it more than 1000 yards in a day. Behold! in the accounts submitted by his manufacturers Bauer had discovered a little error of 16,700 rubles! And instead of discreetly ignoring the national peculiarity—oh, cruel insult to the institutions of Holy Russia!—he denounced it as a fraud! Then, in his long supervision, he had exposed a hundred others of the same character. So he had raised up an army of martyrs against him, ready to go any length to avenge their wrongs.
A report was sent in to Prince Constantine (as Lord High Admiral), by the Marine Technical Department, representing the new hyponaut as “quite incapable of floating; that as soon as she touched the water she would sink to rise no more, and that every part of her mechanism was designed on incorrect principles.” The Prince inspected her, was convinced of the untruth of the accusation, and immediately gave to her inventor full power to order her plan of transport himself, placing 200 sailors and their officers under his command for the work. In twenty-four hours Bauer brought her triumphantly into Cronstadt harbour, May 26th, 1856, accomplishing a far greater distance in a day and a night than the whole Admiralty of all the Russias had managed in many months. He immediately set to work for her first experiment; took in the 45,000 lbs. of water for sinking her, and to obtain any specific gravity more easily, fixed the cast-iron ballast at various points along the vessel’s bottom. The arrangements were just concluding when Prince Constantine arrived, not a little surprised at what Bauer had done since yesterday, and heartily congratulating him on bringing “all the evil prophecies to naught.” As soon as the specific gravity with the displaced water was obtained, an additional 5 lbs. ballast immediately secured an equable descent; double that weight pumped from the vessel she would rise in the same ratio. An officer, ten sailors, and a smith went down with Bauer. He says he never saw men cross themselves with such unction as his sailors, when, after their first dip, they again got above water, crying “Staba Bochu!” (Thank God!) and meaning it too.
Daily trials at different rates of speed succeeded this first satisfactory experiment. The hyponaut’s horizontal locomotive power, both back and forward, her immobility when wished, and capability of descending either direct or at any given angle, were proved satisfactorily. Four men to work the treadwheels and pumps were found sufficient for short experiments. As the machine could contain but a small amount of air, it was not found practicable to make more than about three versts in one descent. The men were obliged to rest at intervals from the treadwheel, as sharp work under water as above, and Bauer was convinced that for deep sea investigations, it would be necessary to apply the motive power he had invented.
June 12th, 1856.—Bauer, fixing his vessel in midwater, wrote a letter of thanks to Prince Constantine, to King Max, of Bavaria (who, though unable to employ, had been interested in the invention, and assisted the inventor once with 200 florins), and a few lines to his parents. He begged his companion, Lieutenant Fedorowitch, to add his signature, but he would only do so for the first letter, declaring “the invention must be held as a state secret.”
The kindness of Prince Constantine enabled Bauer to secure the help of two learned academicians for several under-water voyages. Among many experiments they carried out, we may mention those of the 2nd July, 1856.
Bauer descended with eight sailors and a smith; as soon as the vessel was under the surface she was made to roll and pitch like an intoxicated porpoise; the exercise discontinued now and then to take observations on the temperature. Of course such “sea-legs” practice had caused an abnormal consumption of air. The temperature on earth stood at 35° Reau., and was at first 40° within the hyponaut, then gradually sunk to, and remained at, 18° or 20°. The burning power of tallow and stearine candles were tested; the first showed a diminution of light after two hours, and after four hours ten minutes went out; the flame of the wax candle began to fail at the same moment, and expired after five hours and five; minutes; the stearine held out for six hours, twenty-five minutes, and went out at last, leaving the wick quite black, quenched by the excessive moisture from the respiration. To the repeated inquiries as to “how they felt,” the sailors constantly answered, “Quite well.”
When lucifers were struck they only fizzed and sputtered, would not burn. German tinder succeeded better; for the exhausted atmosphere, hungering for oxygen, uniting with the atoms of saltpetre in the process of ignition, the tinder, instead of its usual dull glow, threw out a long bright flame, made as it were of electric sparks.
Though the eighteen windows of the hyponaut gave light enough for ordinary purposes, yet in the peaty water of Cronstadt they were insufficient to allow close inspection of the bottom at sixteen or eighteen feet. A reflecting lamp placed at one of the windows allowed an observer from another to perfectly well investigate the ground. The success of the attempt was slightly compromised by the fishes, who insisted upon swarming round the lighted windows to investigate in their turn this monstrous crustacea and its inhabitants. In such numbers came the fish sometimes, nothing but their close-packed heads could be seen behind the glass! And they followed their visitors in crowds as long as the vessel remained under water.
Bauer was not allowed to take a professional photographer with him, but mastering the art indifferently well, he actually succeeded in getting a carte de visite from the natives below. Unhappily the vessel was not maintained quite still, and the windows were badly placed for the purpose, but Bauer at least proved that the mysteries of the deep may be made to yield up their shadows to satisfy men’s curiosity. He ascertained he should be able to prolong the stay under water to any given period by furnishing his machine with; two tubes four inches in diameter communicating with the upper air, merely worked by a small force-pump within the vessel; they would indeed
