would allow of its being lowered into the sea and raised again, according as circumstances might require. Preparations for this were accordingly made, while, at the same time, the small diving-bell was kept at work as usual from the launch, which on more than one occasion was nearly lost, by being exposed to the roughness of the sea, produced by the sudden shifting of the wind. In the course of these proceedings with the small bell, considerable progress was made in clearing away such of the loose pieces of rock among which the fragments of the ship were buried, as its limited size would allow, and quantities of dollars were occasionally recovered.
“The arrangements for working the large diving-bell were completed by the 6th of May, previous to which time Commander Dickinson had obtained a reinforcement of his party from the Warspite, at Rio. The various fastenings of the derrick were completed, the stage for the air-pump was ready, and the large diving-bell was taken out of the harbour, and suspended from the derrick. Nothing, however, could be done with it on this day, in consequence of the rough state of the sea in the cove; and it was not before the 11th May that the first descent to the wreck was made with it. On this occasion it was found to answer every expectation, and it continued in operation with success. Large masses of rock, beneath which pieces of the wreck lay buried, were removed, and many dollars, besides some stores, were saved.
“On the 13th May, H.M.S. Eden, commanded by Capt. W. F. W. Owen, arrived at Cape Frio on her way to England; and by her, Commander Dickinson had the satisfaction of sending home 123,995 dollars.
“The launch belonging to the Warspite had hitherto been kept at work, whenever it was possible, with the small diving-bell; but that ship requiring her boat, she left the Cove for Rio Janeiro on the 16th May, with all her crew. The small bell, however, was not to remain unemployed at such a momentous period, and a Brazilian boat was ordered to be substituted immediately for that of the Warspite.
“On a retrospect of the whole proceedings, from their commencement to the time that the first shipment of treasure was made in the Eden, and on contemplating the numerous dangers to which the party employed in this hazardous service were continually exposed, it is a matter of surprise that some fatal accident had not yet occurred.
“On the 18th May, a gale of wind came on from the south-west, which the following day had increased so much that apprehensions were entertained of the whole proceedings being stopped for some time. An inspection of the plan[1] will shew the exposed situation of the cove and it may easily be imagined that the smallest breeze would produce a commotion in the surface of the water; but when this increased to a- ↑ By Lieutenant Augustus Henry Kellett, of the Eden. It exhibits the localities of Cape Frio, and the various points where the Thetis struck before she finally drifted into the cove, to which, with her remains, she has left her name. See Naut. Mag. for April, 1832.
