Saf 
~. mins and conjurers, whom they implicitly 
« 
*% 
: 
“PERCIVAL’s ACCOUNT OF CEYLON. 
id bra and at sun-rise commence fishing. 
In this they continue busily occupied till the 
~ sea-breeze, which arises about noon, warns 
hem to return to the bay. As soon as they 
appear within sight, another gun is fired, 
and the colours hoisted, to inform the an- 
-xious owners of their return. When the 
¥ boats come to land, their cargoes are im- 
_ mediately taken out, as it, is mecesssary 
have them completely unloaded before 
night. Whatever may have been the success 
of their boats, the owners seldom wear the 
- looks of disappointment; for, although 
they may have been unsnecessful one day, 
they look with the most complete assurance 
tter fortune to the next; as the Brah- 
imist, in defiance of all experience, under- 
stand too well the liberality of a man in 
hopes of good fortune, not to promise them 
all they can desire, * 
‘i Each of the boats carries twenty men, 
with a Tindal or chief boatman, who acts 
as pilot. ‘len of the men row and assist 
the divers in re-ascending. The other ten 
are divers ; they go down into the sea by 
five at atime; when the first five come up 
the other five go down, and by this-method . 
of alternately diving, they give each other 
fime to recruit themsclyes for a fresh plunge. 
** In order to accelerate the descent 
of the divers, large stones are employed: 
five of these. are brought in nee ‘boat 
for the purpose; they are of a@ reddish 
granite, common in this country, and of a 
pyramidal shape, round at, top and bottem, 
witha hele perforated through the smaller 
end sufficient to admit a rope. Some of the 
divers use a stone shaped like a half-moon, 
which. they fasten round the belly when 
they mean to descend, and thus keep their 
feet free. 
«“These people are accustomed to dive from 
their very infaney, and fearlessly descend to 
the bottom in from four to ten fathom water, 
in search of the oysters, The diver, when 
he is about to plunge, seizes the rope, to 
which one of the stones we have described 
-jsattached, with the toes of his right foot, 
while he takes lie!d of a bag of net-work 
with those of his left; it being custemary 
auiong all the Indians touse their toes in 
yorking or holding as well as their fingers, 
uch is che power of habit that they can 
up even the smallest thing from the 
nd wiih their toes as nimbiy as an Eurc- 
could with his fingers. The diver thus 
repared, seizes another rope with his right 
hase, and holding his nostrils shut with the 
‘Jeft, plunges into the water, and by the as- 
My Atte . . 4 
Be ce of the stone specdily reaches the 
ttom. He then hangs the net round his 
neck, and with much dexterity, and all pos- 
_ sible dispatch, collects us many oysters as 
he can while he is able to remam under 
water, which is usuaily about two minutes. 
‘He then resumes his former position, makes 
@ signal to those above by pulling the rope 
39 
in his right hand, and is » immediately by 
this means drawn up and brought into the 
boat, leaving the stone to be pulled up after- 
wards by the rope attached to it. 
« The exertion undergone during this pro-- 
eess is so violent, that upon being brought 
into the boat, the divers discharge water 
from their mouth, ears, and nostrils, and 
frequentlyteven blood. But this does not 
hinder them from going down again in their 
turn. hey will often make from forty to 
fifty plunges in one day ; and at each plunge 
bring up about one hundred oysters. Some 
rub their bodies over with oil, and stuff their 
ears and noses to prevent the water from 
entering; while others use no precautions 
whatever, Although the usual time of re- 
maining under water does not much exceed 
two minutes, yet there are instances known 
of divers who could remain four and even 
five minutes, which was the case with a 
Caffree boy the last year I visited the fishery, 
The longest instance ever known was that of 
a diver who came from Anjango in 1797, 
and who absolutely remained under water 
fuli six minutes,” f 
The chief terror and risque of the In- 
dians in diving, arise from failing in 
with the ground-shark while at bottom: 
this animal is 2 common and terrible in- 
habitant of all the seas in these latitudes, 
and 4 source of perpetual uneasiness to 
the adventurous Indgan, who is always 
guaranteed from hatm by priests or con- 
jurers kept in pay for the occasion. If 
an accident happens, these fellows are 
singularly dexterous in accounting for 
itr they are known in the Malabar lan- 
guage by the name of Pullal-kerras, or 
binders of ‘sharks. Oyster lotteries are 
carried on to a great extent ; they con- 
sist of purchasing a quantity of the 
cysters unopened, and running the 
chance of finding pearls in them: they 
are much encouraged by European of- 
ficers. 
«« As soon as the oysters are taken out of 
the boats, they are carried to the diferent 
people to whom they belong, and placed in 
holes cr pits dug in the ground to the depth 
of zboat two feet, or in small square places 
cleared and fenced round forthe purpose ; 
each person having his own separate divi- 
sion. Mats are spread below them to pre- 
vent the eysters from touching the carth , 
and here they are leftto die and rot. As 
soon as they have passed through a state of 
putrefaction, and Pave become dry, they are 
easily opened without any damyer of injur- 
ing the pearls, which might be the case if 
they were opened fresh, as at that time to 
do so requires great force. On the shell being 
opened, the oyster is acnueg, | xamined for 
the pearls: it as usual even to boil the oy ster, 
as the peal, though commonly found in the 
D4 
