CHAP. II. J MADEIRA TO THE COAST OF BRAZIL, 73 



depths between GO and 100 fathoms, a mile or so from the 

 shore. Large, clumsy fishing- boats are used, with a crew of 

 from six to eight or nine men, A frame of two crossed bars 

 of iron, weighted in the centre wdtli a large stone, and hung 

 with abundant tangles, some of them of loose hemp and others 

 of net, is let down with a thick rope (one and a half or two 

 inch), and eased back and forward on the ground till it has 

 fairly caught ; the rope is then led to a rude windlass in the 

 middle of the boat, and it often takes the whole strength of the 

 crew to bring the frame up. The branches of coral stick in 

 the tangles and in the meshes of the net. It was a fearfully 

 hot day — the hottest, I think, in its physiological effect on the 

 human body, which I have ever experienced. There was not 

 a breath of air, and the sea was as smooth as glass ; and the 

 vertical sun and the glare from the water w^ere overpowering. 

 We crouched, half sick, under our awning, muffled up to pre- 

 vent the skin being peeled off ; and even a few^ successful hauls 

 in the afternoon, which yielded perhaps twenty or thirty fair 

 branches of coral, scarcely restored our equanimity. A few of 

 our first hauls were unsuccessful, so we steamed up close to one 

 of the nearest fishing-boats. The coral-fishers, having no fear 

 of competition, were very civil ; indicating by signs when w^e 

 were on the right spot. They were active, sw^arthy Spaniards, 

 and had stripped themselves for their work to a pair of very 

 scanty draw^ers, and their lithe bronzed figures heaving round 

 the windlass were most picturesque ; they got several pieces of 

 coral while we were out. According to our experience, the 

 coral grows at Porto Praya in loosely sj^reading branches, from 

 two to perhaps eight inches high, attached firmly to ledges of 

 rock and large stones. It is bad dredging-ground ; our dredge 

 got jammed more than once, and was extricated with difficulty. 

 The Cape Verde coral is not of fine quality ; it is dark and 

 coarse in color, and it does not seem to be so compact in text- 

 ure as the Mediterranean variety. 



