202 SI'OLTA ZEYLANICA. 



their strength collapse at the bottom and are brought up dead. 

 There were several such cases in March, 1903, which, as I was the 

 only European on the banks, I had to deal with as best I could with 

 the " Shipmaster's Medical Guide " as my authority for the action 

 to be taken. 



One day a man came to me with a fearful sting from a jellyfish. 

 He was in great pain , and the whole of the left side of his body was 

 discoloured where the fish had stung him. I seized a bottle of castor 

 oil, the only thing I could think of, and painted the spot with a copious 

 covering of oil, and much was my pleasure when not only did it 

 instantly reUeve him, but he was even able to go on with his work. 



Arab divers use a sort of horn clip with which to close their nostrils 

 when under water, but the local and Indian diver holds his nostrils 

 with his hand only until such time as he reaches the sea bottom. 



I have timed many native divers, and the average time that a 

 Tamil remains below is between fifty and sixty seconds, whilst an 

 Arab remains under water between eighty and ninety seconds. 



The diver signals to his attendant when he wishes to ascend, and 

 is partially pulled up with his basket and rises partially by his own 

 initiative. Diving bells were imported for the pearl fishery by Sir 

 Edward Barnes in 1825, but neither they or a European diver in a 

 diving dress can compete with the naked native. 



The first fishery that we have any record of is I believe that of 

 1661, but no record of what the fishery brought in is to be found. 



A fishery in 1808 appears to have resulted in £90,000, and one in 

 1804 in £75,000. 



A table that I looked up in Steuart's book gives the amount of 

 oysters fished in one boat in seven consecutive days as : the first day 

 25,000 oysters, second 23,000, third 55,000, fourth 10,500, fifth 

 19,000, sixth 20,500, and the seventh 25,200. 



Of course , there was a certain amount of theft and rascality at the 

 washing. To get the pearls, one favoured method was for one man, 

 when he found a valuable pearl, to secrete it, whilst another man in 

 the know would secrete an inferior pearl ; when the first man would 

 inform against the second, who would be beaten, whilst in the 

 commotion the other man would safely secure the good pearl. 



The pearl oyster apparently selects, if he has any power of 

 selection, the most suitable banks off the mouths of rivers. For 

 this predilection there may be several causes, but I personally am 

 inclined to the view that the oyster has no control over his move- 

 ments in his buoyancy stage, and just drifts as the current wills ; in 

 this stage there is probably an enormous loss of young oysters. The 

 more fortunate survivors at the period when they lose their buoy- 

 ancj^ are in the vicinity of suitable banks, and in any case those that 

 sink on sand, or where there is no food, perish ; now it is usual for 

 a bank to form from principally flood materials off the mouths of 

 rivers, and here oysters settle free of sand and other dangers, whilst 



