CORALLIN 2. 239 
assassin. The saying is a gratuitous insult to the sailor, but conveys 
a good idea enough of the occupation. 
The barks sent to the fishing range from six to fifteen tons; they’ 
are strong, and well adapted for the labour; their rig is = great 
lateen ‘sail, and a jib or staysail. The stern is reserved for the 
capstan, the fishers, and the crew. The fore part of the vessel is 
reserved for the requirements of the padrone or master. 
The lines, wood, and irons employed in the coral fisheries are 
called the engine: it consists of a cross of wood formed of two bars, 
strongly lashed or bolted together at their centre ; below this a great 
stone is attached, which bears the lines, arranged in the form of a 
sac. These lines have great meshes, loosely knotted together, re- 
sembling the well-known swab. 
“ The apparatus carries thirty of these sacs, which are intended to 
grapple all they come in contact with at the bottom of the sea. They 
are spread out in all directions: by the movement of the boat. The 
coral is known to attach itselfto the summit of a rock and to develop 
itself, forming banks there, and it is to these rocks that the swab 
attaches itself so as to tear up the precious harvest. “Experience, 
which in time becomes almost intuitive, guides the Italian fisher in 
discovering the coral banks. The craft employed in the great fishery 
have a “ padrone,” or captain, the bark having a crew of eight or ten 
sailors, and in the season it is continued night and day. The whole 
apparatus, and mode of using it, is shown in Piate VII. 
When the padrone thinks that he has reached a coral bank, he 
throws his engine overboard. As soon as the apparatus is fairly at 
the bottom the speed of the vessel is slacked, the capstan is manned 
by six or eight men, while the others guide the helm and trim the 
sails. Two forces are thus brought to act upon the lines, the hori- 
zontal action of the vessel and the vertical action of the capstan. In 
consequence of the many inequalities of the rocky bottom, the engine 
advances by jerks, the vessel yielding more or less, according to the 
concussion caused by the action of the capstan or sail. The engine 
seizes upon the rugged rocks at the bottom, and raises them to let 
them fall again. In this manner the swab, floating about, penetrates 
beneath the rocks where the coral is found, and is hooked on to it. 
To fix the lines upon the coral and bring them home, is a work of 
very great labour. The engine long resists the most energetic and 
repeated efforts of the crew, who, exposed half naked to the burning 
sun of the Mediterranean, work the capstan to which the cable and 
engine: are attached, while the padrone urges and excites them to 
increased exertion; the sailors meanwhile’ trim ‘the sails’ arid sing 
