150 PilAKL FISHERY. 



Instances have however occurred, when neither the natural noise kept up 

 by the boats, nor the supernatural protection, has deterred the shark, and 

 the diver, by means of his knife and great dexterity, has killed the 

 monster, and escaped unhurt. 



Alternately plunging and reposing, the divers continue their occupation 

 until 10 o'clock in the forenoon, when the sea breezes begin to blow, and 

 one of the Government vessels fires a gun, which is a signal for the whole 

 flotilla to return to shore. As soon as the boats touch the beach, an 

 immense number of labourers, men, women, and children, rush to them, 

 and carry off the produce of the day's fishing. Every speculator has 

 his own group of huts, and in the midst of each of these is a coutiti, or 

 space of ground enclosed with poles and transverse pieces of bamboo, 

 but open to the air. In these couttd's are deposited the oysters as they 

 are landed, and there they are left to putrefy, which they soon do under 

 a burning sun. It is a curious fact, that though these numerous coutto's, 

 each containing an enormous mass of oysters, all putrefy together on a 

 narrow extent of soil, and emit the most destestable odours, yet the health 

 of the precarious but crowded population is by no means affected. As 

 soon as the putrefaction is sufficiently advanced, the oysters are taken 

 from the couttd and placed in troughs made of the trunk of trees 

 hollowed ; sea water is then thrown over them. In their putrid state 

 the oysters easily render the pearls they contain ; and a number of men, all 

 standing on the same side of the trough, rapidly shake them out and wash 

 them. Inspectors are appointed, who stand at each end of the trough to see 

 that the labourers secrete none of the pearls, and others are in the rear to 

 examine whether the shells thrown aside as worthless may not contain some 

 of the precious substance. The workmen are prohibited, under penalty of a 

 beating, to lift their hands to their mouths while they are washing the 

 pearls. Yet, spite of these precautions and the vigilance of the inspectors, 

 a man sometimes contrives to swallow a pearl of value. After all the 

 shells are thrown out, the pearls they may have contained remain in the 

 sand at the bottom of the trough. The largest of these pearls are 

 carefully picked up and washed with clean water ; the next in size and 

 quality are merely taken from the trough, and spread out on white 

 napkins to dry in the sun ; it is not till this is done, that any attention is 

 paid to the smallest pearls, which are generally left to the care of the 

 women who pick and dry them. To assort the pearls afterwards, they 

 make use of three sieves placed one above the other. The apertures in 

 the uppermost sieve are the largest, and those of the second are larger 

 than the third. Thus the pearls, which do not pass through the first 



