734 Pearls and Pearl Fisheries. (July, 
sion, until all have had an equal number of chances. About 250 
boats are actually engaged, and 10,000 people directly or indi- 
rectly interested in the fisheries. 
The fisheries begin early in March and last about six weeks, 
_the weather and currents being at this time of the year most mild 
and suitable. 
Each boat has its complement of rowers, five diving stones 
weighing about forty pounds each, and ten divers. Each boat 
and all the men are numbered, and the government shed or enclo-. 
sure, in which the catch is placed on the return, is divided into 
similarly-numbered compartments, so that each man knows ex- 
actly where to put the result of his day’s work. 
The boats start about midnight in order to reach the banks by 
sunrise. As soon as the boats have arrived on the beds a signal 
gun is fired and the diving stones go over the side with a rum- 
bling noise. Each stone is attached to its boat by a long cord 
with a little numbered buoy to mark it, and in a loop near the 
stone in this cord the diver puts his foot and is carried to the bot- 
tom, which otherwise his own buoyancy would hardly permit him 
to reach. The divers are all orientals of various nations, and g0 
in pairs, one tending the cord while the other dives. The one on 
board watches the motions of his comrade, draws up the stone, 
then the basket of oysters collected, then the diver himself. 
Ordinary divers remain under water fifty to eighty seconds, 
rarely much longer. It is related, however, that some have bers 
` able to remain as long as five minutes under the surface; this s 
probably an exaggeration. They seldom take any precautions 
against injury except to put a little oiled cotton in the outer ear. 
The most painful part of the operation is not thẹ being obliged to 
hold the breath, but the sensation of great pressure to which the 
diver is subjected from the water. This in beginners often sai 
blood from the vessels of the mucous surfaces and even ruptures 
the drum of the ear. ae 
They strip for their work. They have a girdle or & = 
around the neck to which a basket is attached, into which the 
shells are put as they are gathered. Into the girdle are stuck onf 
or two spikes of iron wood, about a foot long and an ae 
diameter. They are made very sharp at both ends and gee! 
defense against sharks and rays. If a shark approaches the ich 
endeavors to thrust one of the spikes into his open mouth, W 
