July 13, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
25 
Unwashed sponges are exported to Malta and Sicily, 
realizing’ from £4 to £6 the cantaro (175 lb.) .at the 
former, and about £7 10s. the cwt. on the latter island. 
Occasionally the scarto thrown out Irom the v ashed 
lots, prepared by the Sfax merchants, is imported into 
Sicily and there sold at from £7» 1 os to £10 the 110 lb. 
This scarto, it must be understood,, is superior to the 
unwashed sponges mentioned as selling^ at £7. 10s. the 
cwt., for the sponges of which it is formed are only 
not of a sufficiently good quality for the Paris and other 
principal markets. The vast majority, however, of 
washed sponges is sent direct to Paris, where the 
large firms engaged in the trade have their head-quar- 
ters. Tunis sponges are sold there from 12 fr. to 13.fr. 
the kilogramme, so that the prices generally prevailing 
in the native markets leave a very fair margin to the 
advantage of the foreign merchant. 
The fishery is most actively carried on during the 
three months of December, January and February, for 
at other seasons the localities where the sponges exist 
are over-grown with sea-weeds. The storms during 
November and December destroy and sweep away the 
thick marine vegetation, and leave the sponges exposed 
to view. The fishery is divided into two seasons, i. e ., 
summer and winter, the former commencing in March 
and ending in November, and the latter as I have noted 
above. But the collection of sponges is not very pro¬ 
ductive in summer, as it is confined to the operations 
carried on with diving apparatus that can only be used 
on rocky and firm-bottomed localities, or to the success 
of native fishermen, who wade along the shores and feel 
for sponges with their feet amongst the masses of sea¬ 
weed. The sponges thus collected by the Arabs are also 
of an inferior quality, owing to the small depth of water 
in which they have grown. As, nevertheless, calm 
weather and a smooth sea are essential for the success 
of the fishermen, the winter season, although lasting 
three months, does not generally afford more than forty- 
five working days. The Arab inhabitants of the coast, 
Greeks—principally from Kranidi, near Nauplia (Napoli 
de Roumania)—and Sicilians are chiefly employed in 
the sponge fishery; the Greeks, however, being the 
most expert fishermen, whilst the Arabs are the least 
skilful. . . 
Sponges are either obtained by spearing witn a tri¬ 
dent, diving, with or without the assistance of an .appa¬ 
ratus, and by dredging with a machine somewhat similai 
to an oyster-dredge. The latter process, although only 
essayed in Tunisian waters this season (1871), promises 
to supersede all the others. The Arab fishermen, prin¬ 
cipally natives of Karkenah and Jerbab, employ boats 
called sandals, manned by four to seven persons,, one of 
whom onlv is the harpooner or spearman, whilst the 
others manage the sails, etc. The spearman watches 
for the sponges from the bows of the sandal, and the 
boat is lutfed round on his perceiving one, so. as to. enable 
him to strike it. The depth of the sea in which the 
Arabs fish is from 15 to 35 feet. 
Although the Greeks are most expert divers, the 
majority of them use the spear. They employ small and 
light boats sufficient to carry a spearman and a oarsman. 
The boat is rowed gently along whilst the spearman 
searches the bottom of the sea by means of a tin tube of 
14 inches in diameter by 19 inches in length, at one end 
of which is placed a thick sheet of glass. This tube 
is slightly immersed in the water and enables the fisher¬ 
man to view the bottom undisturbed by the oscillations 
of the surface. The spears used by. the Greeks, are 
shorter than those employed by the natives and Sicilians, 
but with wonderful adroitness they are enabled to reach 
sponges covered by 60 feet of water. They hold in their 
hands from three to four spears, and dart them so quickly 
and with such precision, one after the other, that befoic 
the first has time to disappear under the surface, the 
second strikes its upper extremity, and thus gi\es it 
additional impetus to reach the sponge aimed at. I have 
had no opportunity of witnessing personally the dex- 
terityjof the Greek fishermen ; but I am reliably assured 
that the above description of their method of fishing 
is correct and not exaggerated. 
The Sicilians also fish with a spear and in small row¬ 
ing boats, but do not understand tho employment of the 
tube, and have not acquired the knack of the Gieeks 
in using three or four spears, they consequently seldom 
secure an equal quantity of sponges, although they are 
always more successful than the Arabs. 
The European sponge merchants send to Greece and 
engage the Greek fishermen for the winter season, and 
they contract to fish in the shallows ot Ivarkenah and 
Jerbah, and to deliver up to the merchant all the 
sponges they may obtain, properly washed and dried, 
and free from stones and sand, at an approximate rate 
of 25 . 10 cl. a lb., all the local dues being borne by their 
employers. The spearmen receive an. advance of £20 
and the oarsmen £8 each before departing fiom Gieece, 
but as they have to find the means of transport for them¬ 
selves and their boats to the fishing grounds, the mer¬ 
chant is obliged to make a further advance of £S to each 
boat’s crew, which, during the season, is supplemented 
by another £8 to provide for the subsistence of the two 
men. From ten to forty of these boats are carried on 
board a single vessel, wffiich not only conveys them to 
the fishing grounds, but remains there during the whole 
of the season, acting as a depot for the fishermen and 
their produce, and ultimately, as a means of repatriating 
them. From the foregoing it results that the merchant 
advances for every boat £44, therefore, for him to rccovei 
his outlay, he must receive about 340 lb. of washed 
sponges from each boat; but the debt is seldom cleared 
in one season, and the men have to engage to fish for a 
second term. The average produce of a Greek boat, m a 
season of forty-five working days, is 200 lb. of washed 
sponges of the value of £28, and as the farmers dues 
are paid by the merchant, the boatmen have only to 
clear in the following season a balance against them ot 
£ 1G 
The Sicilian fishermen are also engaged by the Sfax 
sponge merchants in their own counti} ; iu , inseac 
of the agreement being made separately with each fishing - 
boat, the merchants contract with the owners of vessels, 
who have from two to six boats, properly manned and 
and equipped. For every six boats an advance of £o0 
has to be made before departure from Sicily, and the 
merchants have also to furnish the fishermen witl the. 
means of subsistence during the fishing season ; but if 
they happen to require more money than is absolute y 
necessary for their maintenance, it must e a vance , 
and a moderate charge is made tor interest. I he Greeks 
are only called upon to deliver their sponges on board 
their depots; but the Sicilians must land, theirs at 
Sfax, properly washed and dried, and consign them, 
without “scarti” (torn pieces), and free from sand and 
stones, to their employer, at the rate of £18 loa the 
cwt., after the farmer has withdrawn his quaiter share. 
This is of considerable advantage to the merchants, who 
can exercise a closer supervision as to the. manner m 
which the sponges have been washed and dned. Every 
cwt. of such sponges costs about £21, including the 
export duty of 16,? 9rf., and. all packing and shaping 
charts Owing to the vieminty of their home, and 
their* extreme frugality, the Sicilian fishermen. are 
seldom in debt to their employers at the end of a season. 
The native fishermen rarely enter into special agree^ 
ments with the merchants, but prefer selhn then- 
sponges unwashed, and by public auction, at 
The sponges collected by the Greeks- and Sicilians, 
as I have already observed, are washed before dehvery 
to the merchants ; but those bought from tho rmtu es 
have to be prepared by the purchasers. The process ot 
washing is very simple. The sponges are attached by 
wasning is wiy „ p . ir 
strings of a dozen each, to poles driven in the ** near 
the beach; and in two or three days tho wash of the 
