\){ I SEALE. 



are required to take out a liceiipe, for which the charges are oOo pesus 

 a year for a first-class license, or a three naonths' license may be secured 

 for one-fourth of this amount. These are obtained from the provincial 

 treasurer at Jolo, Zamboanga, or Davao. The divers are usually natives 

 or Japanese. Each boat is equipped with one complete diving outfit, 

 consisting of armor, pump, tubes, weights, etc. The diver receives a wage 

 ol' fr(ini :20 to 80 pesos per month, in addition to a percentage of the shell, 

 but the teiins upon which both men and divers are hired vary with 

 almost every pearler. 



The treasurer of Davao reports that nine first-class licenses have been 

 tal^en out at that place since January, 1!)IJ8, chiefly bv local firms, and for 

 the purpose of working the newly opened Davao pearl bed. 



It costs about 55 pesos a month, aside from wages, to navigate a pearling 

 boat. The divmg armor used is nearly all of a modern type, and of 

 English manufacture. The air pumps used are worked by hand, two 

 men being stationed constantly at the pump when diving is in progress. 

 The diver has from 18 to 20.4 kilos (40 to 50 pounds) of weight attached 

 to him 111 order to reach the bottom. Divers ii.sually remain under water 

 until they fill the net basket whieli the}- carry, this requiring from ten 

 minutes to an hour. The diver of a boat on which I was a guest for 

 some time, usually made about three descents in one hour ; this was on 

 the Davao bank in a depth of 20 fathoms and where the man experienced 

 great difficulty in working because of strong currents. The length of 

 time during which an armored diver can remain under water is very 

 indefinite, depending on the de]ith of water, .-trength of current, strength 

 of the diver, and other Factors. In calm water, but a few feet in depth 

 and of an even temperature, a man should be able to remain for almost an 

 indefinite period. The naked diver scarcely ever stays down for more 

 than one minute. Fisliing is carried on at all seasdns of the year. 



THE PHILIPPINE I'BARLING HANKS. 



Practiuaily the entire region from Sibutu Passage to Basilan Straits 

 and around tlie southern shore of Mindanao Island is a continuous 

 potential pearling bank. However, the greater number of the known 

 localities have so constantly been fislied that they have had small chance 

 to recover, and, as a result, much of the pearlers' time is lost in pros- 

 pecting for new l)eds in various parts of this wide area; but the ground 

 never seems to become completely exhausted, for we found pearling boats 

 operating successfully directly in front of the town of Jolo, within half 

 a mile of the beach. Fishing for shell had doubtless been carried on at 

 this point for over a hundred years. 



Occasionally, a pearler will locate a bank on which the ovsters are 



