290 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



dissatisfied with what they receive they seek other employment. 

 Mr. Chester is of opinion that the competition for their services 

 is of such a character as to secure for them fair treatment. All 

 the available adult population of the island are employed as 

 swimming divers, under the " Masters and Servants Act," and 

 while their pay is small, it is made in the presence of the local 

 authorities, and all the old men, women, and children receive food 

 in seasons of scai'city. Mr. Chester admits, however, that the 

 occupation of a diver is dangerous, and not at all conducive to 

 longevity, but adds that the loss of life among the natives from 

 such causes is more than counterbalanced by the abundant 

 supply of wholesome food given them, and by the decrease in 

 infanticide and other savage practices to which they were formerly 

 addicted. 



Methods of Fishing. — The method pursued in pearl fishing 

 is for a number of vessels to start out together and fish on the 

 same ground. Each vessel carries supplies to last a fortnight. 

 When in about eight fathoms of water, if the tide is slack, the 

 diver will jump overboard. His boots are heavily weighted with 

 lead, so as to hasten his descent. Upon reaching the bottom he 

 walks leisurely along until he comes to a patch of shells ; then 

 he signals to the boat to cast anchor. He carries with him a 

 sack or bag to hold the shells, and as soon as it is filled it is 

 lifted up, emptied out, and sent down to him again, he being able 

 to remain under water several hours at a time. Some divers 

 remain down from nine o'clock in the morning until five in the 

 afternoon. The Pearl-oysters lie on the ground, with the shells 

 partly open, and great care is required in handling them, for if 

 touched in the wrong way they will close upon the hand like a 

 vice. Accidents of this kind not unfrequently happen to inexpe- 

 rienced divers, who are obliged to signal those above to lift them 

 up and remove the Pearl-oyster from their hands. The monsoons 

 which blow in the Strait from May until the end of September 

 are often so severe that boats have to lay up for as much as ten 

 days at a time. The average catch for each boat is from one ton 

 to a ton and a half shells per month. Unlike the fisheries in 

 Cej'lon and the Persian Gulf, there is little or no difficulty in 

 collecting the shells, for they either lie loose on the ground or 

 are only partially buried in the mud or sand. The fisheries off 

 the coast of West Australia, and especially at Shark Bay, produce 



