92 
The Pearl Fishery. 
and full of danger to an European, becomes quite familiar to 
an Indian, owing to the natural suppleness of his limbs, and 
his habits from his infancy. His chief terror and risque arise 
from falling in with the ground-shark while at the bottom. 
This animal is a common and terrible inhabitant of all the 
seas in these latitudes, and is a source of perpetual uneasiness 
to the adventurous Indian. Some of the divers, however, are 
so skilful as to avoid the shark even v/hen they remain un- 
der water for a considerable time. But the terrors of this foe 
are so continually before their e}^es, and the uncertainty of 
escaping him so great, that these superstitious people seek for 
safety in supernatural means. Before they begin diving, the 
priest, or conjurer, is always consulted, and whatever he says 
to them is received with the most implicit confidence. The 
preparation which he enjoins them consists of certain ceremo- 
nies according to the cast and sect to which they belong, 
and on the exact performance of these they lay the greatest 
stress. Their belief in the efficacy of these superstitious rites 
can never be removed, however different the event may be 
from the predictions of their deluders : Government therefore 
wisely gives way to their prejudices, and always keeps in pay 
some conjurers to attend the divers and remove their fears. For 
though these people are so skilful and so much masters of 
their art, yet they will not on any account descend till the 
conjurer has performed his ceremonies. His advices are reli- 
giously observed, and generally have a tendency to preserve 
the health of the devotee. The diver is usually enjoined to 
abstain from eating before he goes to plunge, and to bathe 
himself in fresh water immediately after his return from the 
labours of the day. 
