THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
65 
and is immediately by this means drawn up and brought into 
the boat, leaving the stone to be pulled up afterwards by the 
rope attached to it. 
The exertion undergone during this process is so violent, 
that upon being brought into the boat, the divers discharge 
water from their mouth, ears, and nostrils, and frequently 
even blood. But this does not hinder them from going down 
again in their turn. They will often make from forty to fifty 
plunges in one day; and at each plunge bring up about 
a hundred oysters. Some rub their bodies over with oil, 
and stuff their ears and noses to prevent the water from 
entering ; while others use no precautions whatever. Although 
the usual time of remaining under water does not much exceed 
two minutes, yet there are instances known of divers who could 
remain four and even five minutes, which was the case with 
a Caffree boy the last year I visited the fishery. The longest 
instance ever known was that of a diver who came from 
Anjango in 1797 ? and who absolutely remained under water 
full six minutes. 
This business of a diver, which appears so extraordinary 
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 groundshark 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 uneasi- 
ness to the adventurous Indian. Some of the divers, however* 
K 
