378 
SHELLS. 
[Chap. XI. 
as possible above water, to give force to his descent ; 
and, liberating the stone from its fastenings, he sinks 
rapidly below the surface. As soon as he has reached 
the bottom, the stone is drawn up, and the diver, 
throwing himself on his face, commences with alacrity 
to fill his basket with oysters. This, on a concerted 
signal, is hauled rapidly to the surface ; the diver 
assisting his own ascent by springing on the rope as it 
rises. 
Improbable tales have been told of the capacity which 
these men acquire of remaining for prolonged periods 
under water. The divers who attended on this occasion 
were amongst the most expert on the coast, yet not one 
of them was able to complete a full minute below. 
Captain Steuart, who filled for many years the office of 
Inspector of the Pearl Banks, assured me that he had 
never known a diver to continue at the bottom longer 
than eighty-seven seconds, nor to attain a greater depth 
than thirteen fathoms ; and on ordinary occasions they 
seldom exceeded fifty-five seconds in nine fathom water. 1 
The only precaution to which the Ceylon diver de- 
votedly resorts, is the mystic ceremony of the shark- 
charmer, whose exorcism is an indispensable preliminary 
to every fishery. His power is believed to be hereditary ; 
nor is it supposed that the value of his incantations is at 
all dependent upon the religious faith professed by the 
operator, for the present head of the family happens to 
1 Etbeyeo says that a diver that some divers stayed four or 
could remain below whilst two five, and one six minutes. — Ceylon, 
credos were being repeated: "II p. 91 ; Lb Beck says that in 1797 
s'y tient l'espace de deux credo."— he saw a Caffre boy from Karical, 
Lib. i. ch. xxii. p. 169. Percival remain down for the space of seven 
says the usual time for them to be minutes. — Asiat. Ees. vol. v. p. 
under water was two minutes, but 402. 
