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 Ktbeyro 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; Le Beck says that in 1797 



s'y tient l'espacede 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. Bes. vol. v. p. 



under water was two minutes, but 402. 



