No. 34.— 1887.] PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON. 



27 



nights blue lights and rockets are burned to show her 

 position. 



The banks, distant from Salapatturai from ten to twelve 

 miles, are reached about three or four o'clock in the morning. 



Diving and Fishing for Oysters. 



At six in the morning a gun is fired for the boats to get 

 under weigh and follow the Inspector and headman to the 

 fishing ground buoyed out for each day's work ; and as the 

 sun rises, and the sea gets calm, the busy hum of two to 

 three hundred persons at work is heard. 



As before noted, each boat has ten divers and five diving 

 stones — three working on one side and two on the other. The 

 stones are suspended on a running rope over an outrigger 

 projected from the boat's side, in such a convenient position 

 as to allow the diver to place one foot within a loop affixed 

 to the stone ; these, of about fourteen pounds in weight, are 

 used to accelerate the diver's descent to the bottom, — a dive of 

 40 to 50 feet, — and I have seen a corpulent, and therefore 

 more buoyant, diver carry a stone affixed to his waist. 



The diver having placed himself with one foot on the 

 stone, with a coir net around his neck to hold oysters, draws 

 in his breath, closes the nostrils with one hand, and raises his 

 body to give force to the descent. The manduch in charge 

 of the stone and net lets go, and the diver rapidly reaches the 

 bottom, leaves the stone (which the manduck instantly 

 hauls up and refixes), throws himself on the ground, creeping 

 along, and fills his net with oysters. This done, he jerks the 

 rope, which is pulled up by the manduck in charge, and the 

 contents of the net discharged into the boat ; the diver mean- 

 while rises to the surface, ready to repeat diving until the 

 number of his turns is over, when the second five divers and 

 five manducks work in the same manner. Thus, under the 

 excitement of expected gain, the divers continue for six hours 

 at this most trying exertion. They remain under water about 

 50 seconds ; I have timed 60 to 70 seconds, but such time for 

 general work is, I believe, exceptional. 



