386 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



The author of " Rovings in the Pacific " thus speaks of 

 the pearl divers in the South Seas : — " It is a curious sight 

 to watch the divers : with scarcely a movement they will 

 dart to the bottom like an arrow, examine beneath every 

 protruding rock, and on continuing their investigations, by 

 a simple movement of the arm will propel themselves 

 horizontally through the water, and this at the depth of 

 seven and eight fathoms. I timed several by the watch ; 

 and the longest period I knew any of them to keep beneath 

 the water was a minute and a quarter, and there were only 

 two who accomplished this feat. One of them, from his 

 great skill, was nicknamed by his companions the ' Ofai ' 

 (stone). Rather less than a minute was the usual duration. 

 In fine weather they can see the shells, when if the water is 

 deep, they dive at an angle for them ; and as the shells ad- 

 here firmly to the coral by strong beards, it requires no little 

 force to detach them. I was astonished on one occasion at 

 witnessing a diver, after one or two inefifectual attempts to 

 tear away a large oyster, sink his legs beneath him, and 

 getting a purchase with his feet against the coral, use both 

 his hands and fairly drag it off. When they dive in very 

 deep water, they complain of pains in the ears, and they 

 sometimes come up with their noses bleeding; but it is 

 rarely that you can get them to attempt such diving, as, let 

 the shells be ever so abundant, they will come up and swear 

 there are none : the exertion from the great pressure is too 

 painfully distressing. It has frequently happened, after a 

 set of worn-out divers have sworn that no shells could be 

 obtained, that a fresh set has come and procured from 50 

 to 60 tons without difficulty." 



The diving for pearl shells is one of the principal oc- 

 cupations among the natives of the Oceanic Islands in the 

 Pacific. A diver will collect from 20 to 40 shells per day 



