134 Thirty-Third Annual Meeting 
divers remain down is a little less than a minute, and the maxi- 
mum about 144 minutes, during which time they collect four to 
six oysters. One girl will gather 300 to 500 shells in a day, in 
water four to six fathoms deep. On coming up and preparing. 
to make another plunge, they make a prolonged, shrill whistling 
sound, produced by the deep and rapid inspiratory effort. When 
fifty or more divers are in the water at one time in a small area, 
their peculiar whisthng is almost incessant. 
Not the least interesting thing about these women ?s their 

WOMEN DIVERS, PROVINCE OF SHIMA. 
personal appearance. They are extremely hardy and powerful, 
and even the responsibilities of maternity interfere with their 
occupation for only a short time; but they age very quickly ; their 
skin becomes rough and coarse; their hair turns red; and ex- 
treme ugliness is their inevitable lot. When not in the water, 
they are attending to their scarcely less arduous work in the 
fields. They support the male members of their households, who 
pass their days in lazing, smoking, and chess-playing, and are in 
all respects inferior to the women. 
