568 
MUSCLE. 
Each boat carries twenty men, ten of whom are 
employed as rowers and to assist the others who 
are engaged to dive. They go down into the sea 
by five at a time, and each set relieves the other 
alternately, so that by this method the party just 
come up is allowed time to breathe and prepare for 
a fresh plunge. Five stones are brought in each 
boat for the purpose of accelerating the descent of 
the divers. These stones are of a pyramidal shape, 
and have a hole through the smaller end, of a 
sufficient size to admit a rope. The divers, who 
are accustomed to this employment from their in- 
fancy, descend to the depth of from four to ten 
fathom water, in search of oysters, without the least 
fear of being drowned. When one of these fellows 
is about to plunge, he seizes the rope, loaded with 
a stone, with his right foot, while he takes hold 
of a bag of net-work with his left *. The diver, 
thus prepared, takes another rope in his right hand, 
and holding his nostrils with his left, plunges into 
the water, and immediately sinks to the bottom. 
He then hangs the net round his neck, and collects 
as many oysters as he can while he remains under 
water, which is usually about two minutes. He 
then makes a signal to those above, who draw him 
up, while the stone is left at the bottom to be pulled 
up afterwards by the rope attached to it. 
* It appears from Mr. Percival’s account, that all the Indians 
use their toes in working or holding as well as their fingers, and 
that from habit they can pick up even the smallest thing from the 
ground, with their toes, as nimbly as an European could with his 
fingers. 
