Pearling Life at the Present Day, 171 



on his way to New Guinea. Seven days were 

 spent at Dobbo, in Aru, and here a strange inci- 

 dent happened, worth mentioning. On attempting 

 to heave up the anchor, it was found to be foul ; 

 on sending a man down to report (in 12 j fathoms), 

 it was discovered that the anchor had dropped into 

 a small hole in a rock, standing solitary on a smooth 

 bottom, and that the flukes were firmly fixed below 

 the overhanging edges. The following device was 

 resorted to in order to clear the anchor : a man 

 having gone down, and made fast a small line to 

 the fluke of the anchor in the hole, all chain was 

 veered out to ensure the safety of the ship ; four 

 candles of dynamite were bound together with a 

 fuse inserted, and attached to a thimble on the line. 

 The line was then held quite taut and vertical, the 

 fuse lit and the charge dropped, the line being 

 held until the charge was felt to have reached the 

 bottom. The dingy then paddled away from the 

 spot and the charge was exploded. The result was 

 that the anchor came up with a broken fluke, and 

 the rock was shattered to pieces. 



On April 4th, when the New Guinea coast was 

 sighted, a Solorese diver was suddenly taken ill. 

 His pulse being very weak indeed, it was thought 

 that a spoonful of brandy might revive him, but on 

 its being given, the man died in less than a minute. 



