June i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL 
AQRI0ULTURI8T. 
895 
suffering intense pain the while. Afterward I learned 
that staying down a couple of hours after a bite will 
stop any further discomfort, the pressure of water 
causing much bleeding at the bitten part, andi thus 
expelling the poison. 
One of the strange effects that diving has upon those 
who practice it is the invariable bad temper felt while 
working at the bottom ; and as this irritability passes 
away as soon as the surface is reached again, it is only 
reasonable to suppose that it is caused by the unusual 
pressure of air inside the dress, affecting probably the 
lungs, and through them the brain. My experience 
has been that while below one may fly into, the most 
violent passion at the meiest trifle ; for instance, the 
life-line held too tight or too slack, too much air or too 
little, or some imaginary wrong-dping on the part of 
the tender or the boys above, will often cause the 
temper to rise. I have sometimes become so angry in a 
similar way that I have given the signal to pull up, 
with the express intention of knocldng the heads off 
the entire crew ; but as the surface was neared, and 
the weight of air decreased, my feelings have gradually 
undergone a change for the better, until by the time X 
reached the ladder, and had the face-glass unscrewed, 
I had forgotten for what I came up." It is evident from 
the number whom I have known to make a first 
descent, and who afterward positively refused to try 
again, that all men are not born to be divers. At 
one time I had for my tender a brawny young 
Scotchman named Eob, a six-footer, about twenty- 
three years of age, and as fine a specimen of the 
genus Homo as I ever came across. As was to be 
expected, Kob had a sweetheart in the " auld coun- 
tree," and the one aim and end of his life was to 
make a fortune wherewith to return and marry the 
girl of his choice. He had tried the Kimberley gold- 
fields, and the Silverton silver-fields, without success, 
and was now anxious to try his luck at diving. I 
told Bob that I would put him down the first slack 
day we had to see how he liked it, and when that 
day arrived, with a few parting injunctions from me 
as the face-glass was put on, down he went, I. acting 
as his tender. I felt him land on the bottom and 
begin walking from the boat ; he answered the sig- 
nals all right, and I anticipated no trouble, but before 
he had been down three minutes he was foul of the 
anchor-chain, and I had to pull the anchor and Rob 
up together. By this time he had become thoroughly 
frightened, and was screaming inside the dress to 
be pulled up; he had also lost his presence of mind, 
and had screwed the used-air escape-valve at the 
side of the helmet the wrong way, thus keeping 
in the constant supply of air fronr the pump above, 
and the dress was in danger of bursting. As soon 
as we got him alongside 1 unscrewed the valve, and 
he was soon on deck, laughing over his mistakes. 
About a week after this he made a second attempt, 
and this time nearly lost his life. As before, he 
became alarmed, thought that there was too much 
ajr in the dress, and tried to let it out by the escape- 
valve, but screwed it up the wrong way again, shutting 
in the air ; and then, finding the air still increasing 
in pressure, his presence, of mind again deserted 
him, and Le began to take off' the face-glass. For- 
tunately for Rob, his girl, and my apparatus, he lost 
consciousness before he quite got it ofi, and we hauled 
him to the ladder, kicking and yelling like a madman. 
He remained delirious for several hours, and when at 
length' he came to his senses, and recovered from his 
fright, we concluded that diving was not his forte, 
and that his fortune would have to be made in 
some other way. 
Though pearl-diving, if the fates are propitious, 
is a lucrative occupation, its dangers are manifold. 
In the coummnity in which one has to live may 
be found some of the " toughest" men on earth. 
A mixture of all nationalities far worse than one 
meets on a gold-field, and an exciting caUiug, 
without restraint or law, are uot likely to form a 
peaceful community. A diver is always at the 
* Another proof of how largely dependent our 
moriil nature is ou our physical, and of the importauco 
pf a good supply of oxygen or pure air.- Ed. T. A. 
tender mercies of his Malay crew, and the slightest 
accident to his apparatus, such as the breaking of 
the pump or the air-pipe, ripping the dress, getting 
entangled on the bottom, or even losing his pre- 
sence of mind, may end fatally. Then, again, it is 
most injurious to the health, some dying from the 
effects after a few months, while deafness and in- 
cipient paralysis are common features. But worse 
than all these are the terrible cyclones that visit 
the coast, carrying everything before them, and 
leaving only a track of death and the flotsam and 
jetsam of wrecked hopes to mark their passage. 

CEYLON TEA IN THE ANTIPODES. 
Sir Andrew Clark, whc praised Chi na tea to his 
students at th6_ Loodon HoBpital and deprecated 
the uee of Indian, is having his opinions pro- 
minently brought before the good folks of New 
Zealand by traders who go io for blends. This is 
how it is done :— 
LECTURE ON TEA TO THE STUDENT-! OF THE 
LONDON HOSPITAL. 
Extract from the Pall Mall Budget. 
"Tea, to be useful, should be first of all bJack 
China Tea, The Imliun Tea which is being cultivated 
has Lecome Bo powerfnl in its tft'ects upon Ihe ntrvons 
sjstf m that a cup of it taken early in the morning 
aa many people do, so disorders the nervous system, 
that those who take it actually get into a slate 
of tea intoxication, and it producej a form of nerve 
disturbance which is most painful to witness." 
Although we are the largest dealers in India nnd 
Ceylon Teas in the cnlonies, we have always strongly 
advifed the pubho to drink our Blended Teas in pre- 
fer, nee to Indian or Oeylon alone. We maintain they 
Rro too fiio' ly for 90 per cent, of the tea-drmking 
pubho ; and in B glan.l, where such large quantities are 
shipped, over 80 per cent, are u.-ed for Biendiug with 
China Teas, which are uudoubldly as pure as Ind.au and 
Ceylon, and far more refreshing when properly blended. 
Many inf-xperienoed firms push Indian ajd Ceylon, ou 
the public bocauao it is beyond them to produce a 
regular, true blend, and the profit is larger, for 
cheap common Indians give out a strong, coarse liquor, 
without any quality, and make people lor a time 
fancv they are getting a bargain, till they find out 
to their cost that Sir A. Clark is right. The leading 
medical men in England are condemning the use of 
Indian and Ceylon Tea alone, and the abuve extract 
from Sir A. Clark's lecture must convince all that a 
taste lor Indiana, which has to be acquired by lorco at 
first, is a serious and dangerous thing. 
We are publishing the :.bove extra'ct for the benefit 
of those who have not seen it, and support what we 
have always maintained. This is against our own 
interests, for the profit on these Teas is equal if not 
more than th»tou other kinds. 
Those, however, who know the colonies are aware 
that authority does not carry very much weight 
among the masses ; and that there Jack is not 
only as good as his master, but a great deal 
better. Sir Andrew Clark may be a power among 
the dyspeptic and worn-out in the old country, but 
in New Zealand where the strongest and healt'hieet 
epeoimens of the Anglo-Saxon race are to be seen. 
It will amuse them to be told of " tea intoxication." 
The following is the reply from another trader who 
believes in pure Ceylon teas, and is very amusing. 
It is noteworthy that the Loudon physician's name 
is slightly altered, and that there are more letters 
to his name than he usually i-f juices in. 
ANOTHER CITY IMPROVEMENT. 
The Ceylon ai d Indian Tea Association have nuder- 
tHkm to provide the pablio with a moana of testing 
the various grade* of tea supplied by them. Their 
idea is to coustrnct— nud the carponlera and decorators 
are now at work— a lurgo and hani!sanioly furbished 
aroom at the bark of their commo.lious proiuitea 
Princes Hrect, whero at a nommiU cost a cup of 
y clauH of tea or coffye— as eupplied by the Aseo- 
