1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIES 21 



' back a thousand oysters. These are opened in presence of the 

 " merchants and the pearls found in them are examined by the 

 " whole party and their value estimated, as the pearls are much 

 "finer in some years than in others; and accordingly as the 

 "merchants find the pearls to be large, clear, round and of good 

 "water, they bargain with the King for the fishery of that year: 



'When the bargain is made the King usually gives them four ves- 

 sels of war to defend them from the Malabar and other pirates. 



' Then each merchant goes to the sea-side and constructs a sort of 

 " enclosure with stakes and thorns, only leaving a narrow passage 

 " for the boats to enter and go out again, which come there to 

 " discharge the oysters they have fished up. 



"On the Ilth of March, at four in the morning, the officer in 

 "command of the four vessels of war fires a gun as signal, and 

 " immediately all the boats put off to sea, steering for the place 

 " which they have selected to fish at and casting anchor there. 



' Each of these boats has on board stones of the weight of 60 lb. 

 " each, fastened with strong ropes, of which one end is attached to 

 " the boat. The diver places his foot on one of the stones, and 

 " passes another rope round his body, to which is tied a basket or a 

 " small wovan bag like a net ; this second rope is held by two of 

 " the sailors, and the diver thus secured descends into the sea ; he 

 " remains there whilst two credos can be said, and fills his little 



' bag or basket with oysters which he sometimes finds in heaps on 

 " the rocks ; as soon as his basket is full, he makes a sign by 

 " pulling the rope held by the sailors in the boat, and one end of 



' which is round his waist, and they draw him quickly out of the 

 '' water; but if in the time he is below, he can contrive to open an 

 "oyster and finds a pearl in it, it is considered his own*; as 



' soon as his head is above water another diver goes down, and 

 " thus they descend by turns. This fishery lasts till four in the 

 " afternoon, when the officer in command fires another gun as a 

 " signal to cease the fishery for the day. Then all the boats go to 

 " their several enclosures, and the noise and confusion that ensue 



' in the two hours that are allowed to discharge and pile up the 

 "oysters cannot be described. 



* This is an error in translation and in fact. In translation from the original 

 Portuguese it reads, " the diver as soon as he rises to the surface is at liberty, until 

 he who is at the bottom of the sea ascends, to open with a knife as many oysters 

 as he can and whatever he finds therein is his." 



