564 



THE Is^ORTHEEX FORESTS. 



[Part IX. 



tliere to the present day ^ ; but the diver of Ceylon re- 

 jects all such expedients ; he inserts his foot in the 

 " sinking stone " and inhales a full breath ; presses liis 

 nostrils with his left hand ; raises his body as high 

 as possible above water, to give force to his descent ; 

 and, hberating the stone from its fastenings, he sinks 

 rapidly below the surface. As soon as he has reached 

 the bottom, the stone is di^awn up, and the diver, 

 throwing liimself on his face, commences mth alacrity 

 to fill his basket with oysters. This, on a concerted 

 signal, is hauled rapidly to the sm^face ; the diver 

 assisting his own ascent by springing on the rope as 

 it rises. 



Improbable tales have been told of the capacity which 

 these men acquire of remaming for prolonged periods 

 under Avater. The divers who attended on this occasion 

 were amongst the most expert on the coast, yet not 

 one of them was able to complete a fidl minute below. 

 Captain Steuart, who filled for many years the office 

 of Inspector of the Pearl Banks, assured me that he 

 had never known a diver to continue at the bottom 

 longer than eighty-seven seconds, nor to attain a greater 

 depth than thkteen fathoms ; and on ordinary occasions 

 they seldom exceeded fifty-five seconds in nine fathom 

 Avater.^ 



The only precaution to Avhicli the Ceylon diver de- 

 votedly resorts, is the mystic ceremony of the shark- 

 charmer, whose exorcism is an indispensable prehmin- 

 ary to every fishery. His power is beheved to be 



^ Colonel WiLSOX says they com- 

 press the nose ■v\-ith horn, anH close 

 the ears with beeswax. See 3Iemo- 

 randitm on the Pearl fisheries in 

 Persian Gulf. — Joiirn. Geoqr. Soc. 

 183.3, vol. iii. p. 283. 



"^ RiBEYUO says tliat a diver could 

 remain below whilst two credos were 

 being repeated : " II s"y tient I'espace 

 de deux credo^ — Lib. i. ch. xxii. p. 



169. Percival says the usual 

 time for tbem to be imder water was 

 two minutes, but that some divers 

 stayed four or Jive, and [one six 

 minutes. — Ceylon, p. 91 ; Le Beck 

 says that in 1797 he saw a Caftre 

 boy from Karical, remain down for 

 the space of seven minutes. — Asiat, 

 Pes. vol. V. p. 402. 



