CHAPTER IV. 



SPONGE FISHERIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 



Sponge trade of the Ottoman Islands — Market prices of sponge — Number of 

 boats employed — Fishing grounds on the eoast of Candia, Syria, and 

 Barbary — Statistics of the fisheries — Operation of diving — Diving-bells 

 and dresses now used — Imports of sponge from the Mediteiranean — Total 

 imports of sponge into the United Kingdom — French trade in sponge — 

 Silicious sponges. 



The Sponge Trade of the Ottoman Islands. — It appears 

 that, with few exceptions, in which the owners of sponge 

 boats have capital, all the funds required for the equipment 

 of these boats are furnished by native money-lenders, and 

 that important foreign capital, especially British and 

 French, has latterly been invested in diving apparatus 

 since the introduction of this new mode of fishing for 

 sponges in these islands. It is noticeable, too, that a large 

 French firm, whose operations in this trade were on a very 

 extensive scale, have of late somewhat reduced their trade, 

 while on the other hand the use of British-made machines 

 continues to increase, and it is mentioned that there is a 

 decided preference on the part of the natives to work with 

 British rather than with French diving apparatus. The 

 whole of the machines now employed in the Ottoman 

 islands is upwards of loO. Owing to the depressed prices 



