DIVERS AND Tli FAR PETiTLS. 2^5 



to the painful and laborious occupation to which 

 we have referred on the coasts of Persia, are either 

 the negroes or the poorest of the inhabitants. Divers 

 not only run the risk of drowning, and of being de- 

 voured by sharks, but they are also in danger of 

 being suffocated in consequence of having to hold 

 their breath for a protracted time ; and if no worse 

 effects ensue, this condition often results in blood- 

 spitting. The most robust and healthy young men 

 are chosen for this trade, but they can seldom con- 

 tinue in it for more than five or six years. Their 

 fibres stiffen, the pupils of their eyes become red, 

 and they often die of consumption. . . . They deposit 

 the pearls, or rather the oysters which contain them, 

 in boats 28 feet long, of which there are often 300 

 or 400 at sea at one time. Each of these boats has 

 seven or eight stones, which serve it as anchors, and 

 on board are from five to eight men, who dive by 

 turns. They are all naked, hut have a net sus- 

 pended from their necks, into vhich they throw the 

 oysters; their hands are gloved, to preserve them 

 from the wounds which they might otherwise get in 

 detaching the shells from the rocks. They descend 

 with the help of a cord, to which is attached a weight 

 of about 50 pounds. They place their feet in a kind 

 of stirrup ; with the left hand they hold the cord, 

 and with the right they close the nostrils, to prevent 



