90 
The Pearl Fishery. 
of disappointniant ; for, although they may have been unsuc- 
cessful one day, they look with the most complete assurance 
of better fortune to the next ; as the Brahmins and conjurers, 
whom they implicitly trust in defiance of all experience, under- 
stand too well the liberality of a man n hopes of good fortune* 
not to promise them all tliey can desire. 
Each of the boats carries twenty men, with a Tindal or chief 
boatman, who acts as pilot. Ten of the men row and assist 
the divers in re-ascending. The other ten are divers; they go 
down into the sea by five at a time ; when the first five come 
up tiie other five go down; and, by this method of alternately 
diving, they give each other time to recruit themselves for a 
fresh plunge. 
In order to accelerate the descent of the divers, large stones 
are employed : five of these are brought in each boat for the 
purpose ; they are of a reddish granite, common in this coun- 
try, and of a pyramidal shape, round at top and bottom, 
with a hole perforated through the smaller end sufficient to 
admit a rope. Some of the divers use a stone shaped like a 
half-moon, which they fasten round the belly when they mean 
to descend, and thus keep their feet free. 
These people are accustomed to dive from their very infancy, 
and fearlessly descend to the bottom in from four to ten fathoms 
water, in search of the oysters. The diver, when he is about 
to plunge, seizes the rope, to which one of the stones w^e liave 
described is attached, wdth the toes of his right foot, while he 
takes hold of a bag of net-v/ork with those of his left ; it 
being customary among all the Indians to use their toes in 
working or holding as wtU as their fingers; and such is the 
power of habit, that they can pick up even the smallest thing 
o 
