CORAL 611 



coral which for some time past has been obtained near the Cape Verde Islands, especially 

 from the neighbourhood of the Island of Sao Thiago, and also of that from the Canary 

 Islands. The coral-banks near Sao Thiago lie at a depth of from 90 to 190 metres, and at 

 a distance of from 400 to 1000 metres from the coast. The fishery was established in the 

 sixties by Antonio Lubrano, an Italian, from whom this coral takes its name. Coral of a 

 red colour, though lighter in shade than precious coral, is found near the Sandwich Islands. 

 It ranges in colour from pale rose-red to white, and the branches are sharply pointed, which 

 is not the case with Mediterranean coral. The material, which at the present time figures 

 in the trade as Japanese coral, is probably formed by a polyp of the same species, known, 

 however, as Corallium secundum (Dana). This differs in no essential particular from Coral- 

 Hum jolmstoni (Gray), found in the neighbourhood of Madeira. These and all corals other 

 than those living in the Mediterranean are so unimportant from a commercial point of view 

 that they need no further consideration. 



Coral-Fishing : Application of Coral : Trade. — The methods adopted for 

 coral-fishing ai'e unique, and cannot be compared with those employed in any other kind of 

 fishing. Coral-fishers pursue their occupation dm-ing the six summer months, and only in 

 exceptional cases all the year round. The arrival of the autumn storms makes their trade 

 too dangerous, and the ships then return to harbour laden with their spoils, to return to 

 the fishing-grounds in the following spring. 



These ships are constructed specially for coral-fishing, and are all of the same pattern 

 in external form and in general equipment, but of various sizes. They are very solidly 

 built, seaworthy, fast-sailing boats of 6 to 16 tons burden, and adapted for rowing when 

 necessity arises. The largest measure from IS to 14 metres in length, 3| in breadth, and 

 li in depth. They are manned by a crew of from 6 to 12 men, who work hard for 18 

 hours a day for miserable wages. There are just a few quite small boats engaged in 

 coral-fishing, with a capacity of less than six tons, and manned by no more than two or 

 three men. 



The fisheries lie, as a rule, from four to six nautical miles out to sea. Nearer the shore, 

 where the depth of water is at most only ten metres, a small amount of coral is collected 

 by divers ; but the largest and most beautiful coral grows only at the depths which are 

 inaccessible to the diver, even when provided with every possible appliance. 



For fishing up the coral from these greater depths, there is in use all over the Mediter- 

 ranean a special instrument, which in all probability has been employed by coral -fishers for 

 centuries, and is known to the Italians by the term " ingegno," and to the Provencals as 

 " engin." 



Its construction and method of use are almost identical in all parts of the Mediter- 

 ranean. Two massive beams of oak, with tapering ends and a length of from 2J to less 

 than 1 metre, according to the size of the boat to which the instrument belongs, are bound 

 firmly together crosswise. In order to make this sink in the water, a heavy weight is 

 attached to the centre of the cross, or its four arms are let into a centre-piece of iron. The 

 end of each of the four arms is grooved, and in each groove is fastened a strong line 6 to 8 

 metres in length, while a fifth, still longer line, is attached to the central point of the cross. 

 These lines carry the catching apparatus proper, which consists of a number of very coarse, 

 four-cornered nets, made of loosely twisted hemp-string of the thickness of a finger, and 

 with a mesh several centimetres in size. Each net is gathered together at one end and 

 bound firmly, so as to form a tassel-like bundle of string open at one end, similar to the 

 mops used for swabbing a shiji's deck. The length of the nets vary with the size of the 

 "ingegno" to which they are attached, but may measure 2 iv.etres, or even more. Each 



