COMMERCIAL SPONGES 747 



in a few cases 5 minutes' immersion has been recorded. The Syrians, Tripolitans, 

 and Tunisians also practice nude diving. 



To carry them quickly to the bottom the divers carry flat stones attached to a 

 line, the other end of which is held in the boat. When the diver reaches the 

 bottom, he drops the stone, but retains hold of the hne, or has it attached to his 

 arm by a short lanyard or becket. The sponges are deposited in a net bag attached 

 to the diver's waist; when he is ready to ascend, he jerks on the life line and is 

 rapidly hauled to the surface. 



Although nude diving requires more skill and training than "machine" diving, 

 and is not so productive, it is not attended by the serious physical effects of that 

 practice. This method is most useful on bottom too rough for dredging, where 

 the sponges are hidden in crevices or under ledges which hide them from har- 

 pooners, or where sharp rocks are liable to injure the diving suit or hose. 



Hooking and Harpooning. These methods are essentially the same although 

 their instruments diflFer. Neither can be used when the sea is rough or the water 

 turbid, and those employing them often lose much time by enforced idleness. 



The harpoon is used in the Mediterranean sponge fisheries only. It resembles 

 the ancient trident, but may have from 2 to 5 barbed points or prongs, the type 

 varying locally and with the nationality of the user. The steel heads are attached 

 to poles about 20 feet long and IM inches in diameter. At the free end of the pole 

 a short piece of wood is lashed; this is so notched as to leave a space between 

 itself and the pole into which the head of a second harpoon may be thrust and 

 held in place by a rope ring or becket. In this manner 3 or 4 harpoons are some- 

 times lashed together in order to reach sponges in deep water. 



The sponges are sighted by means of a "water telescope," a cylinder of sheet 

 iron about 8 to 10 inches in diameter, and 15 inches long, with a sheet of glass 

 closing one end. When the closed end is thrust a few inches beneath the surface 

 of the water, the bottom becomes clearly visible in moderate depths. 



The apparatus is used from small boats about 20 feet long, each usually pro- 

 vided with a lateen sail and 2 pairs of oars, the latter being the means of propul- 

 sion when sponging. A man crouches in the bow watching the bottom, and when 

 a sponge is sighted signals to the oarsman to maneuver the boat into proper posi- 

 tion. He then inserts the harpoon into the sponge, which is detached by a series 

 of gentle jerks, accompanied, if necessary, by a rotation of the pole. 



Hooking is the American variant of this method, the differences in practice 

 being that the instrument of capture is a hook, with 3 recurved unbarbed points, 

 that the water telescope is an ordinary wooden bucket with a circle of glass re- 

 placing the wooden bottom, and that the boat or dinghy carries only 2 men 

 instead of 4 and is propelled by a single oar skulled over the stern. The length 

 of the poles varies with the depth of water, the longest being 50 feet, used in 

 depths of 40 to 45 feet. Very few men have the strength, eyesight, and skill to 

 work in such deep water. 



Hooking was the only method of sponging practiced in Florida until the intro- 

 duction of the diving dress on the west coast, and it is, or was until recently, the 

 exclusive practice in Cuba and the Bahamas. 



Machine Diving. The diving suit has been employed in the fisheries of the 

 Mediterranean since about 1866, but it was not until 1905 that it was success- 

 fully introduced in Florida. Its advantages are that it permits the exploitation of 



