14 



Mr. Cocq, intense rivalry eventuated and the divers 

 scored heavily. Each attempted to go one better than his 

 rival ; the divers had a present of Rs. lo each given them 

 at the beginning of the season, Rs. 5 at the new year and 

 8 annas at the feast of our Lady of the Snows on 5th 

 August besides a sheep to each canoe at Christmas. 

 Two casks of rum were always on tap in Mr. Barter's 

 compound, and each diver on reaching shore was allowed 

 to fill a small chatty from one of the casks. This spirit 

 is said to have been more powerful than arrack and prob- 

 ably one of its effects was to render the divers more 

 tolerant during the gauging of the shells than they are 

 now-a-days. When a marriage or a funeral took place, 

 the renter could always be squeezed for a considerable 

 sum, which he took his chance of recovering, in part at 

 least, when catches were good. The two rival farmers 

 had each his own particular set of divers and when Mr. 

 Cocq had the farm, the men under his competitor were 

 given by the latter some regular employment such as 

 collection of coral blocks from the reefs for buildinsf 

 purposes. When fishing took place on the far away 

 beds, and the men camped at some island convenient to 

 their work, they were given woollen cloths to protect 

 against dews and chill winds. The Cocq men are said to 

 have been distinguished by having red cloths, while the 

 Barterites were clad in sombre black. The story runs 

 that in one year the Government farmed the fishery by 

 taking a large fee as licence for each canoe allowed to 

 fish and so for this season Barterites and Cocquettes 

 both joined in the fishery. But, for this occasion only, 

 Mr. Barter paid his men Rs. 40 per 1,000 while Mr Cocq 

 paid only Rs. 30 with the result that the latter's men 

 would transfer at sea some of their catch to their friends 

 working for the rival who gave a higher price and adjust 

 the matter ashore to mutual satisfaction over a convivial 

 glass of arrack or more lengthy draught of toddy. 



Certain difficulty with the renters and the belief that 

 direct Governjnent management of the fishery would 

 result both In increased profit to Government and Improve- 

 ment in the conditions under which the divers worked, 

 led the authorities to abandon the renting system In 

 1876. Accordingly, during the season 1876-77 the 

 fishery was worked departmentally, the Port Officer of 



