June i, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
899 
Buffering 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, and thus 
expelling the poison. 
One ot the strange effects that diving has upon those 
who practice it is tne invariable bad Minper teit 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 iB 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 merest trifle ; lor instance, the 
life-line hold too tight or too slack, too much air or loO' 
little, or some imaginary wrong-doing on the part of 
tho tender or the boys above, will often cause the 
temper to rise. I have sometimes become so angry in a 
similar way that 1 have given the signal to pull up, 
with tho express intcution of kiiookiiig the heads off 
tho entire crew' ; but as the surface was neared, and 
the weight of air decreased, my feelings have gradually 
uiidorgono a change for the better, until by tho time I 
reached tho ladder, and had the face-glass unscrewed, 
I had forgotten for what I came up.” It is evident from 
tho number whom 1 have known to make a first 
descent, and wuc afterward positively refused to try 
again, that all men are not born to be divers. At 
one time X had for my tender a brawny young 
Scotchman named Xtob, a six-footer, about twenty- 
three years of age, and as fine a specimen of tho 
genus Homo as 1 over came across. As was to bo 
expected, Ilob had a sweetheart in the “ auld coun- 
treo, " and the one aim and end of his life was to 
mako a fortune wherewith to return aud marry tho 
girl of his choice. He bad tried the Kimberley gold- 
fields, aud the bilvorton silver-fields, without success, 
and was now anxious to try his luck at diving. I 
told Itob that 1 would put him down the first slack 
day wo had to see how ho liked it, and when that 
day arrived, with a few parting inj unotious from me 
as the face-glass was put on, down ho wont, I acting 
as his tender. I felt him land on the bottom and 
begin walking from the boat ; he answered tho sig- 
nals all right, and I auticii>ated no trouble, but liefore 
ho had been down three minutes he was foul of tho 
anchor-chain, and I had to pull the anchor and Itob 
up together.. Hy this time he had become thoroughly 
frightened, and was screaming inside the dress to 
bo pulled up ; ho had also lust his presence of mind, 
and had screwed tho used-air escape-valve at the 
side of tho helmet the wrong way, thus keeping 
in tho constant supply of air from tho pump above, 
and tho dress was in danger of bursting. As soon 
as we got him alongside i unscrewed the valve, and 
he was soon on deck, laughing over bis 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 
air in the dress, aud tried to let it out by the escape- 
valve, but screwed it up the wrong way again, shutting 
in tho air ; and then, finding tho air still increasing 
in pressure, his presence, of mind again deserted 
him, and be began to take off tho face-gloss. For- 
tunately for Itob, his girl, and my apparatus, he lost 
consciousness before he quite got it oft, and we hauled 
him to the ladder, kicking and yelling like a madman. 
IXe 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 arc propitious, 
IS a lucrative occupation, its dangers aro manifold. 
Xn the community in which one has to live may 
bo found some of tho “ toughest” men on earth. 
A mixture of all nationalities far worse than one 
nieets ou a gold-field, aud an exciting calling, 
Without restraint or law, are not likely to form a 
peaceful community. A diver is always at the 
* Another proof of how largely dependent our 
moral nature is ou our physical, and of tho importance 
pf a good supply of oxygon or pure air.- Eu. 2'. ,X. 
tender mercies of his Malay crew, and the slightest 
accident to his apparatus, suoli as the breaking of 
the pump or the air-pipe, ripping the dress, getting 
entangled 6n 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 mouths, while deafness and in- 
cipient paralysis are common features. Hut 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, who praised Chi na tea to his 
students at the London Hospital and deprecated 
the use of Indian, is having his opinions pro. 
minently brought before the good folks of Now 
Zealand by traders who go in for blends. This is 
bow it is done : — 
LBCTURF. OTV TEA TO THE STUDENTS OK THE 
r.ONDON HOI-PITAI,. 
Extract from tlie 2‘aH Mall Budget. 
‘‘Tfa, to b" useful, shonld be first ot all black 
Cliiiia lea, Tho liidisu Tea which is being cultivated 
has bee ime so powerful in its efiects upon the nervous 
Bjstfm that a ciip of it taken eaily in the morning 
as many people do, so disorders the nervous sysiem, 
that there who take it actually got into u slate 
of tea inloxicalioii, and it preducei a form of iiocve 
disturbance which is most paiuliil to witness.” 
Although we are the largest dialers in India and 
Ceylon 'lois in the colouics, we have always strongly 
advheil Ihe public to drink our Blended Teas in pre- 
fer, noe to Indian or Ceylon alone. We maintain ihey 
are too sici ly for IK) per cent, of the tes-driuking 
public : and in E gland, whore snob large quantities are 
shipped, over 80 per cent, are mod for Biendmg with 
China I'eus, wiiich areuudoubtoiy ns pure as Indiau aud 
Ceylon, and far more refreshing wlieu properly blended. 
Many inexperienced firms pnsU Indian and Ceylon, ou 
the nublio bocansn it is beyond llioni to produce a 
regular, true blend, aud tho profit is Isrgcr, tor 
cheap common Indians give out a strong, coarse l,qnor, 
without any qua ily, and make people for a time 
fanci they aro getliog a bargain, till they find out 
to their cost that Sir A. Clark is right. The leading 
m' dical men in England are onodemuing the use of 
Indian and Ceylon Tea alone, and the above extract 
from Sir A. Clark’s lecture must conviucu all that a 
taste lor Indians, which has tube acquired by lorco nt 
first, is a serions and dangerous thing. 
Wo arc puhlishing tho above extract for tho benefit 
ol those who have not seen it, and support what we 
have always maintained. This is against our own 
luteroB's, for the profit on those Teas is equal if not 
more than that on other kinds. 
XilwSvf AlUWwVi-la WXiU 
. . — mo ooiontea are aware 
that authority does not carry very much weight 
among the masses; and that there Jack is not 
only as good ns his maalcr, but a groat deal 
bottor. Sir Andrew Clark may bo a power among 
the dyepfptic and worn-out in the old country, but 
in New Zealand where the strongest aud healthiest 
specimens of the Anglo-Saxon race are to be seen, 
it will amuse them to bu told ol “ tea intoxication. *' 
The following is the reply from another trader who 
believes in pure Ceylon teas, and is very amusing. 
It is uott^wurthy that the London physician’s name 
is slightly altered, and that there are more letters 
to his name than be u&ually rt juices in. 
ANOTHEB CITV fMPHOVKMBNT. 
The Ocylou ai.d Ind aa Ten Aneocidtioo have under- 
t iken to provi de the poblio with a means of testing 
tie various grades of tta eupplioii by them. Their 
idea ia to coxifltract— and tho carpentera and dtooiatore 
are now at work— a largo and hamlsomcly fun.ished 
aroom at tho bark of thoir commodious premieea 
PriocuH blreet, where at a nominal cost a oun of 
y class of tea or coffcu-a» supplied by the Aseo. 
