ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 533 
Kastelloriso with 6,000, Halikarnass with 3,000, Tschesmé with 3,500, Aivali 
with 20,000, Moschonisia with 3,000, and Marmara with 2,000, also villages and 
cities of Syria. Before the introduction of the diving apparatus there were 
some sponge fishermen also in the islands of Patmos, Leros, and Telos. In 
Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, and Kastelloriso all four kinds of fishing methods are 
represented, in Halikarnass and Tschesmé, only the dragnet; in Aivali, Mos- 
chonisia, and Marmora, only the diving apparatus, though in limited numbers; 
in Syria there are only naked divers. The first six places and the villages of 
Syria have always depended entirely upon sponge fishing for a livelihood. Since 
the introduction of the diving machine there has been a marked emigration, 
especially to Russia and the United States of America. The famous naked 
divers, who have inherited this skill from many generations of forefathers and 
have perfected it by practice, live at Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, Kastelloriso, and 
on the coast of Syria. 
A law prohibiting the scaphander was promulgated in 1902, but is not 
effectively enforced. 
EGYPT. 
I went to Egypt in 1901, after successful visits to Samos, Crete, Cyprus, and 
Tunis. I encountered considerable opposition, but a beneficent law was at 
length promulgated in the spring of 1902, to be followed in the autumn by a 
similar decree for the whole Ottoman Empire. The Egyptian Government has 
always shown great interest and care for its sponge fishermen, having founded 
a colony for them near the excellent harbor of Marsa Matruh, 160 kilometers 
west of Alexandria, and having also rigorously enforced the law by means of the 
coast guard. 
In 1906 a rich new bank, extending 110 miles from Abukir and having a 
width of 1 to 3 miles in a depth of 20 to 60 meters, was discovered by some 
Italian fishermen, who found sponges in their nets. This El Dorado, known as 
the bank of Port Said, after a most successful cruise thither by a vessel from 
Syme, attracted sponge fishermen from everywhere. The sponges were of the 
finest quality, and conditions were most favorable, for the diving apparatus 
was entirely excluded. 
In 1908, however, word began to be circulated that the Egyptian Govern- 
ment could not enforce its law outside the 3-mile limit. The sponge fishermen 
following the three good methods had meantime begun to assemble near Marsa 
Matruh, in Alexandria, where a fleet of 350 vessels with 3,000 men waited two 
weeks for decision from the Egyptian Government. Requests and petitions 
with thousands of signatures were of no avail. The advocates of the diving 
machine proved the more powerful, although they possess legal rights only in 
Greece. The Egyptian Government refused to assert control of the banks out- 
