century from Britain to build the fortress at Dockyard, there was virtually no respite from the horrors of their existence.

Crowded in prison hulks off Ireland Island, these men -- whose crimes often amounted to no more than petty pilfering -- worked long hours in blistering heat. Constant exposure to the dusty, glaring white limestone caused ophthalmic disease, and yellow fever was rife.

But Mr. Chriss Addams and his partners, Mr. Mike Davis and Mr. Alex Davidson, who have spent almost eight years in extensive underwater exploration of the areas where the hulks were moored, have found touching evidence that the spark of self-preservation still flourished in these men. "It was like diving through a time capsule,'' says Mr. Addams, explaining that they had to dive through 11 metres of "foul'' muddied water and another two metres of accumulated Dockyard garbage.

Just above the original coral heads, they found fascinating relics from the hulk era. Probably the most intriguing of these artefacts were the carvings made by the men during their brief moments of respite. Some of them show superb workmanship. Above all, they provide a unique record of an era when human life was a cheap commodity.

Painstaking research by the two men has unearthed a unique record of the lives and beliefs of the prisoners who were incarcerated here.

"A lot of them came from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the west of England and were of Celtic origin.'' This is the reason, he says, why so many of the prisoners, poor and uneducated, clung to Christian beliefs which intermingled with the superstitions of their pagan ancestors.

Mr. Addams says that, at first, he was puzzled to find carvings known as armulets (from the Arabic word, `hamala', meaning `to carry') or talismen, which he subsequently discovered, were indeed of Celtic origin, and were carried to ward off evil spirits.

One of the most common of these is the "clenched fist'', used to protect the prisoners from "the evil eye'', several examples of which have been excavated by Mr. Addams' group. They are still to be found today in South America and countries bordering the Mediterranean.

"We have to remember that the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian area was the single most important crossroads of the Mediterranean trade routes and included those who were to take Christianity to the coastal areas of the Celtic people,'' says Mr. Addams, "so some of the talismen which we think of as being Celtic are even older than that.'' He and Mr. Davis have, in fact, found objects that have the Maltese cross carved on them -- a marking that harks back to the ancient Sumerians, about 5,000 years ago.

"The ring and the moongate are symbols of love and affection,'' says Mr.

Addams, "there's an ancient rhyme which describes the ring as `roundly flowing from one unto the other as in a circle, continually and forever'.'' In this aspect, he explains, the ring also serves as a form of protection.

The two divers have found many rings, some with carved hearts and some with a moongate design.

But, in spite of the many artefacts fashioned from Bermuda limestone, the most common items that have been excavated to date are clay pipe bowls.

"They are marked with a simple cross, presumably to give protection against the deadly outbreak of yellow fever. Hundreds of prisoners died, but at that time, it wasn't realised that it was the mosquito that carried the dreaded disease.'' Ironically, says Mr. Addams, the cross-marked pipes did ward off yellow fever, "but it was the acrid smoke that kept the mosquitoes away, rather than the crosses!'' Use of the cross as a form of protection goes back to the days of the Black Death and other plagues that have swept across Europe and Asia for thousands of years.

He has found markings that resemble the Maltese cross -- which represents four antelope running from hunting dogs around an oasis pool and dates, again, from around 5,000 years ago.

"One of the most sombre markings that we've found on the pipes is the sign of the gallows and cage,'' says Mr. Addams.

He points out that some of these artefacts must also have belonged to the sailors gathered at Dockyard: "They're the most superstitious of all,'' he notes.

This is borne out in the figureheads that decorated all of the ships at that time. A ship, after all, was a dwelling place, more dangerous than a house and therefore needing strong magic protection.

Mr. Addams says that a new site has been discovered at Dockyard, which is already showing new facets of the superstitions that existed amongst the prison-hulk and sailor population.

"It's such a rich source of excavation,'' he says, "there's at least another decade of diving work and research out there which will add to our knowledge of Bermuda's past and its connection with the ancient world.'' THE OLD DOCKYARD -- It is thought that this mid-19th century painting of Dockyard may have been painted by one of the convicts brought from Britain to build the fortress.

WARDING OFF THE EVIL EYE -- A "clenched fist'' lucky charm, carved from multi-coloured cave limestone by one of the Dockyard convicts, and excavated from the underwater site there.