Pearling Life at the Present Day. 177 



they treated the latter with the utmost contempt 

 as unclean animals. The Australians, however, 

 proved themselves by far the best shell-getters. 



In order to avoid the excessive cold, the " Sree 

 Pas-Sair " and another boat went north, to the 

 Montebello group, where the water was quite warm 

 and clear. This was the first time the group had 

 ever been dived, and magnificent shells were found 

 averaging 380 pairs to the ton. (The West Aus- 

 tralian technical term is " a pair of shells," i.e, one 

 oyster). Six weeks of steady diving went on, and 

 after "their ears were broken," the Sooloo men did 

 fairly well. If a man ceases to dive for a few 

 months, he experiences great pain in his ears on 

 again commencing, and this is slightly alleviated 

 by oil and laudanum. After persevering from four 

 to six days, something suddenly appears to give 

 way in the ears when under water, and then all 

 pain disappears ; the man can at once proceed to 

 greater depths, and will suffer no inconvenience for 

 the rest of the season. There is no discharge of 

 blood, neither is the sense of hearing impaired. 



Christmas day was spent at the Montebellos ; 

 and on Boxing day a magnificent Pearl weighing 

 40 grains was found. This is the finest and best- 

 shaped Pearl yet obtained from this coast. As 



the fresh water was now running short, a likely 



M 



