Sponge Fisheries of the Mediterranean. 19! 



where there is a rocky or other firm bottom ; but the Arabs 

 search along the coasts, feeling for the sponges with their 

 feet beneath the masses of tangled weeds. The sponges 

 which they find are generally of an inferior kind, as they 

 cannot go into any depth of water. The success of the 

 work of sponge-getting depends upon the sea being calm. 

 There are not more than 40 or 50 days during the winter 

 season which are favourable. 



The Arabs who inhabit the coasts, the Greeks, and 

 principally those of Kranidi, near Nauplia, and the Sicilians, 

 all engage in the sponge fishing, but the Greeks are con- 

 sidered the most adroit and the Arabs the least so. 



The gathering is performed by means of a trident, or 

 " artJi" a kind of dredge, similar to that used for taking 

 oysters. The Arabs employ boats called " sandah," with 

 crews of four to seven persons, one of whom only uses the 

 harpoon. As soon as this man sees a sponge the boat is 

 brought to a stand ; the work is carried on to the depth 

 of 15 to 35 feet. The Greeks, although very expert divers, 

 also use the harpoon, but they employ small and very light 

 boats, carrying only the harpooner and the sculler. The 

 former explores the bottom of the sea by means of a 

 kind of telescope a tin tube about 14 inches in diameter 

 and 20 inches long, with a thick glass at the lower end. 

 The object of this tube is to get rid of the surface 

 oscillations and allow the fisherman to see the bottom. 

 The Greeks exhibit sometimes extraordinary dexterity 

 in getting sponges from a depth of 60 feet with short 

 harpoons ; they hold in their hands three or four harpoons, 

 which they throw with such extraordinary rapidity and 

 precision, that scarcely has one harpoon disappeared be- 

 neath the water, when the second strikes its upper end 

 and adds to the force of the propulsion ; the third is in 



