Coral and the Coral Fisheries. 451 



a "patron " or captain, the bark having a poop, with a crew 

 of eight or ten sailors ; and, in the season, the fishery is 

 continued night and day. 



When the patron thinks that he has reached a coral 

 bank he throws his engine overboard. As soon as the 

 apparatus is attached, the speed of the vessel is retarded, 

 the capstan is manned by six or eight men, while the 

 others guide the helm or trim the sails. Two forces are 

 thus brought to act upon the lines — the horizontal action of 

 the vessel and the vertical action of the capstan. In con- 

 sequence 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 unheard-of labour. The engine long resists the 

 most energetic and repeated efforts of the crew, who, ex- 

 posed almost naked to the burning sun of the Mediter- 

 ranean, work the capstan to which the cable and engine 

 are attached, while the patron urges and excites them to 

 increased exertion, and the sailors trim the sail and 

 sing, with a slow and monotonous tone, a song the 

 words of which improvise in a sort of psalmody the names 

 of the saints most revered among the seafaring Italian 

 population. 



The lines are finally brought home, tearing and breaking 

 blocks of rocks, sometimes of enormous size, which are 

 brought on board. The cross is now placed on the side of 

 the vessel, the lines are arranged on the deck, and the crew 

 occupy themselves in collecting the results of their labour. 



