150 Pearls. 



the Dutch government to return the divers, and 

 pay their wages punctually. A banker's guarantee 

 has been offered to the Australian government for 

 the due payment of the duty in order to retain 

 possession of the ship's papers, but the dispensation 

 has been denied. 



The crews of all the vessels, except in the case 

 of the ^* Sree Pas Sair," and her fleet, consist of the 

 owners and other white men who work as dingy 

 hands, each dingy carrying six to eight divers, 

 either Australian aborigines, or Malays. The vessels 

 anchor near together, often ten or fifteen miles 

 from the land, and are left during the day with 

 only the cook on board, or sometimes entirely 

 deserted, dipping bows under in the rough sea. 



At dawn the men are astir, and by 6. a.m., the 

 shells that were obtained the previous day are all 

 scraped, opened, and stowed away. Then comes 

 breakfast, which consists of salt beef and bread, 

 varied occasionally by fish, dugong, or turtle ; 

 perhaps the gristly part of the oyster is discussed. 

 Eight hours' diving is allowed ; and these hours vary 

 between 7. a.m. and 6. p.m., according to the state 

 of the tide. On their return to the vessel, the shell 

 IS taken out of the dingies, and each man's " tally " 

 being taken down in a book, the dingies are cleaned 

 out and made fast for the night. Dinner of the 



