Underwater art

Halley's diving clock. Leeghwater may have used a large inverted barrel. Taken from J.T. Desaguliers, A Course of Experimental Philosophy (London 1744).

Leeghwater first gained fame for his 'underwater art'. This probably involved a primitive diving bell. In April 1605, he and two friends gave a demonstration in a pond near The Hague for Princes Maurits and Frederik Hendrik. A year later, Leeghwater and his friends repeated this stunt at the Amsterdam fair. Leeghwater even played a piece of music on a wind instrument underwater, ate half a number of pears, and wrote something on a piece of paper. Between 700 and 800 spectators came to watch the spectacle, including Dirck van Os, a wealthy merchant. Afterwards, his name was on everyone's lips.