618 Observations on Divers, 



here a famous diver from Batavia, whose maintenance depends 

 upon what he earns by fishing up anchors and cannons which 

 have been lost in the roadstead. I have frequently seen him 

 dive ; and, endeavouring to hold my breath as long as I pos- 

 sibly could, he has remained under water more than twice as 

 long. In short, as Chardin observes, the pearl-fishers are 

 sometimes immersed as long as half a quarter of an hour, ex- 

 hibiting an inconceivable power in this arduous exercise. 

 Assertions so different prove, as Haller says in his Grande 

 Physiologie, that they are owing to travellers whose observa- 

 tions have been inaccurately made, or who have been deceived 

 by information obtained from ignorant men; and, consequently, 

 no importance can be attached to them." 



The fruitlessness of my researches into the exaggerated 

 accounts of the earlier travellers induced me to consult those 

 of more recent date, in the hope of finding something more 

 satisfactory. Subjoined are the observations of Percival, in 

 his narrative of a voyage to Ceylon, on the subject of the 

 pearl-fishery, and the time which those employed in it can 

 remain under water. It is open to remark, by the way, that 

 the details which he has given have been transcribed almost 

 literally by Felix De Roissy, into the sixth volume of his 

 History of Molluscous Animals ; as well as by M. Blainville, 

 under the word Perle in the Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle 

 ofLevault; and that neither of these naturalists have acknow- 

 ledged the source from which their information was derived. 



" The Bay of Condatchy is the most central rendezvous of 

 the boats employed in the pearl fishery. They arrive there 

 in February, and the fishing ends in April. The divers de- 

 scend to a depth which varies from 20 ft. to 50 ft. Habituated 

 from childhood to this exercise, the ordinary time during which 

 they remain under water is two minutes ; but divers have been 

 pointed out to me who stay longer. When they emerge from 

 the water, they sometimes emit blood from the mouth, ears, 

 and nostrils. They can take the plunge forty or fifty times a 

 day. Some rub the body with oil, and plug the nose and 

 ears, to prevent the water from penetrating. Others use 

 no such precaution ; but they very generally perform certain 

 ceremonies previously to immersion, which they consider ne~ 

 cessary to preserve them from the dangers to which they expose 

 themselves." 



The facts reported by Percival greatly resemble those 

 which, for some years past, I have, had the opportunity of 

 observing in the divers of the Levant; and prove that the 

 time during which it is possible to remain under water is 

 much shorter than has been stated. When I was in the 



