THE PEARL FISHERY. 79 



natives sitting near, or sleeping under two or three 

 palmyra leaves, supported on one side to the height 

 of three feet ; to such a shelter is given the name of 

 a house, and lines of the same are miscalled streets. 

 No wonder, then, at the disappointment of the traveller, 

 who has heard that the people assembled at the fishery 

 cause a large town to start up as if by magic from the 

 barren plain. Such disappointments, however, are not 

 uncommon. 



Very few of the assembled multitude appear to pos- 

 sess much property, but every one speculates as far as 

 he can command either money or credit. Two or three 

 natives were observed by Major Forbes ; they had come 

 from the continent of India, and were reputed to be rich, 

 the signs of which were gaudy palanquins ; one of them 

 had moreover a gorgeous umbrella, covered with purple 

 velvet and embroidered with gold. 



The arrangements for each day's fishing commence 

 at midnight, at which time a gun is fired as a signal, 

 and all the boats start, having the land-breeze to waft 

 them to the fishing-bank ; on reaching which they anchor 

 until the day is sufficiently advanced and the water 

 smooth, in which state it remains during the interval 

 between the land and the sea-breezes. The diving 

 then commences, and is continued with extraordinary 

 exertion and perseverance until the sea breeze sets in ; 



