THE CORAL-FISHERY. 481 



this pursuit the padrones, or owners, acquire, through 

 long experience, a remarkable degree of skilfulness. 

 Without any chart or instrument, their knowledge of 

 the character of the sea-bed and the irregularities of the 

 neighbouring coasts is so complete, that it is said they 

 can fish up from the depths an engine which they may 

 have lost in the previous season. 



Having arrived at a convenient spot, the padrone 

 throws his engine overboard. The rope supporting it is 

 liberally paid out, so that it may float freely on the 

 waters. One end is fastened to the centre of the wooden 

 cross ; the other is coiled round the capstan of the fishing- 

 boat. Seated on the gunwale, the master throws one leg 

 over the side, the rope passing across his thigh, which is 

 covered with a small thick piece of leather. According 

 to the varying pressure of the rope, he judges of the state 

 of the ground he is fishing, and determines the proper 

 moment for abandoning the engine to the weight which 

 tends to drag it downwards. The moment comes. He 

 calls to the man at the capstan to let go ; away flies the 

 engine to the bottom, where it quickly entangles itself in 

 the projections and fissures of the rock. Now comes the 

 tug of war. As the boat flies onward, the men toil at the 

 lumbering capstan to haul in or let go the rope according 

 to circumstances : half-naked, in the glare and glow of a 

 Mediterranean sun, with the bead-drops trickling down 

 their swarthy bodies, they ply their unremitting toil. 

 Again and again the engine is brought to the surface, and 

 the broken coral collected from its meshes. The weight 

 is enormous, and as the capstan raises it through the 

 opposing waters, the men are compelled to exercise all 

 their strength, under the stimulus supplied by the blows 



