140 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
Tlie barks sent to the fishing range from six to fifteen tons ; they 
are solid, and well adapted for the labour ; their rig is a great lateen 
sail, and a jib or staysail. The stern is reserved for the capstan, 
the fishers, and the crew. The fore part of the vessel is reserved for 
the requirements of the patron or master. 
The lines, wood, and irons employed in the coral fisheries are called the 
engine : it consists of a cross of wood formed of two bars, strongly lashed 
or bolted together at their centre ; below this a great stone is attached, 
which bears the lines, arranged in the form of a sac. These lines have 
great meshes, loosely knotted together, resembling the well-known swab. 
The apparatus carries thirty of these sacs, which are intended to 
grapple all they come in contact with at the bottom of the sea. They 
are spread out in all directions by the movement of the boat. The 
, coral is known to attach itself to the summit of a rock and to develope 
itself, forming banks there, and it is to these rocks that the swab 
attaches itself so as to tear up the precious harvest. Experience, 
which in time becomes almost intuitive, guides the Italian fisher in 
discovering the coral banks. The craft employed in the great fishery 
have a patron or captain, the bark having a poop with a crew of 
eight or ten sailors, and in the season it is continued night and day. 
The whole apparatus, and mode of using it, is shown in Pl. II. 
When the patron thinks that he has reached a coral bank, he 
throws his engine overboard. As soon as the apparatus is engaged, 
the speed of the vessel is retarded, the capstan is manned by six or 
eight men, while the others guide the helm and trim the sails. Two 
forces are thus brought to act upon the lines, the horizontal action of 
the vessel and the vertical action of the capstan. In consequence of 
the many inequalities of the rocky bottom, the engine advances by 
jerks, the vessel yielding more or less according to the concussion 
caused by the action of the capstan or sail. The engine seizes upon 
the ragged rocks at the bottom, and raises them to let them fall again. 
In this manner the swab, floating about, penetrates beneath the rocks 
where the coral is found, and is hooked on to it. To fix the lines upon 
the coral and bring them home, is a work of unheard-of labour. The 
engine long resists the most energetic and repeated efforts of the 
crew, who, exposed almost naked to the burning sun of the Mediter- 
ranean, work the capstan to which the cable and engine are attached, 
while the patron urges and excites them to increased exertion, and 
