PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 99 



almost invariably carried on in conjunction with 

 pearl-shell fisheries. Few fisheries could be made to 

 pay if they were operated for pearls alone. In some 

 fisheries the shells yield ninety per cent of the value 

 of the total product. For these reasons the shell 

 fisheries and pearl fisheries will be considered 

 together. 



Marine pearl shells are always gathered by divers, 

 either naked or dressed in diving-suits. For some 

 reason dredges are almost never used, probably 

 because the oysters seldom are thick enough to make 

 dredging pay. Where the pearl shells are found in 

 relatively shallow water, they are usually taken by 

 naked divers ; but if the oysters are found at depths 

 of more than fifty feet, the divers must dress in 

 scaphanders, as native naked divers cannot work 

 long enough at such depths. Naked diving is the 

 common method followed throughout the Orient and 

 has been practised in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, 

 and the Gulf of Manar for many centuries. Naked 

 divers need few accessories. They merely grease their 

 bodies, put greased cotton in their ears, and place 

 some sort of clamp — a forked stick or a tortoise- 

 shell clip — upon their nostrils. A wicker basket or 

 net, hung at the waist, serves as a receptacle for 

 the catch. 



The Malabar Hindus and some Egyptians dive 

 head first from a spring-board attached to the side 

 of the boat, passing smoothly and rapidly through 

 the water straight to the bottom. The diver gathers 

 quickly as many oysters as possible while his breath 



