The sensation of submarine diving has so often been described that I will not attempt to state what my feelings were at the outset of the operations; suffice it to say that they were far from pleasant, but with practice I soon became expert, especially as the deepest part of the water was not more than twenty feet, so that I did not suffer much from compression. I quickly discovered that the bed of the river was somewhat muddy, that is to say, there was a deposit of several inches of mud or soft earth, resting upon a substratum of gravel. In some parts large beds of weeds were to be seen sailing their long fronds upward to a height of several feet: these I quickly cut away, and with great labour at length succeeded in clearing away the upper layer of soft ooze nearly from bank to bank, and for a width of perhaps twenty yards near the centre. We worked four “turns” per night of an hour each, with an interval of half-an-hour between each dive, so that we were occupied from 10 p.m. till 4 a.m., when we went to bed and slept till 10 o’clock, beside obtaining several little daylight snoozes when all was quiet. The Sunday was to us a true Sabbath, and no manner of work was done, not even cooking; we reserved that day for prayer, meditation, conversation, and much-needed rest. We had now been working for six whole weeks, but though everything was in perfect working order, and the river-bed was being cleared, we had no more knowledge of the exact location of the spoil than when we arrived three months previously. The real toil now commenced; for digging in the river-bed had to be undertaken at depths varying from fifteen to twenty feet beneath the surface. To dig on dry land a hole of four or five feet in depth is a comparatively easy task, but to dig a hole of like depth _under water_ is a most arduous undertaking, a task requiring strength, perseverance, and much patience. Tools used under water are difficult to manage, and by reason of the resistance of the water lose half their efficacy. For instance, a strong man wielding a heavy hammer under water, although he may strive his hardest, and exert his full strength, can only make his blow of the same force that a child of ten could strike on _terra firma_, because the water resists his arm and the fall of the hammer, in proportion to the area of surface of his arms and the implement. I also found that when using a spade I could only remove a portion of a spadeful each time, as the current and swirl of water floated the lighter particles off, leaving only the heavier pieces upon the blade of the spade; thus digging holes in the expectation of finding the treasure was a wearisome task, especially as I had to cease my work at frequent intervals, to allow the turbid water, thick with sediment, to become clear enough for me to see what I was about. Thus toiling on, another five weeks passed wearily away, without the least trace of our quest being discovered.