Chap. XI.] 
PEAEL-DIVEES. 
377 
the examination of the banks. 1 The persons engaged 
in this calling are chiefly Tamils and Moors, who are 
trained for the service by diving for chanks. The pieces 
of apparatus employed to assist the diver in his opera- 
tions are exceedingly simple in their character: they 
consist merely of a stone, about thirty pounds' weight, 
(to accelerate the rapidity of his descent,) which is sus- 
pended over the side of the boat, with a loop attached 
to it for receiving the foot ; and of a net-work basket, 
which he takes down to the bottom and fills with the 
oysters as he collects them. Massoudi, one of the 
earliest Arabian geographers, describing, in the ninth 
century, the habits of the pearl-divers in the Persian 
Grulf, says that, before descending, each filled his ears 
with cotton steeped in oil, and compressed his nostrils 
by a piece of tortoise-shell. 2 This practice continues 
there to the present day 3 ; but the diver of Ceylon 
rejects all such expedients ; he inserts his foot in the 
"sinking stone" and inhales a full breath ; presses his 
nostrils with his left hand ; raises his body as high 
1 Detailed accounts of the pearl 
fishery of Ceylon and the conduct 
of the divers, will be found in 
Pebctvae's Ceylon, ch. iii. ; and in 
Cordiner's Ceylon, vol. ii. ch. xvi. 
There is also a valuable paper on 
the same subject by Mr. Le Beck, 
in the Asiatic Bcsearches, vol. v. p. 
993 ; but by far the most able and 
intelligent description is contained 
in the Account of the Pearl 
Fisheries of Ceylon, by James 
Stetjart, Esq., Inspector of the 
Pearl Banks, 4to. Colombo, 1843. 
2 Massoudi says that the Persian 
divers, as they could not breathe 
through their nostrils, cleft the root 
of the ear for that purpose: " lis 
se fendaient la racine de I'oreille 
pour respirer ; en effet, ils ne 
peuvent se servir pour cet objet des 
narines, vu qu'ils se les bouchent 
avec des morceaux d'ecailles de 
tortue marine ou bien avec des 
morceaux de corne ayant la forme 
d'un fer de lance. En meme temps 
ils se mettent dans l'oreille du 
coton trempe dans de l'huile." — 
Moroudj-al-Dzeheb, §-c, Eeinaud, 
Memoire sur VInde, p. 228. 
3 Colonel Wilson says they com- 
press the nose with horn, and close 
the ears with beeswax. See Memo- 
randum on the Pearl Fisheries in 
Persian Gidf. — Journ. Geogr. Soc. 
1833, vol. iii. p. 283. 
