The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-12 00:00:00

THE PEARL DIVERS OF CALIFORNIA•

The divers on the Californian coast use no weights in
order to sink more easily, as those of Ceylon and of the
Persian Gulf are said to do. It sometimes happens that the
diver is forced to come up without a single shell, either
from the difficulty of detaching from the bottom those old
rough ones in which alone there is any chance of finding
pearls of value, or from his having made the startling dis-
covery that a shark is watching his motions from above.
In the latter case he trusts to his quickness and agility in
swimming, and still more to audacity, The experience of
generations of divers has proved that the shark is a coward,
and that when met with resolution and presence of mind it
is not impossible to make him retreat. The Yaqui, if he
finds himself interrupted, swims directly towards the fish,
and strikes it with his spud. Generally, the shark becomes
impressed with the idea that he has caught a Tartar, and his
fright is increased by the plashing on the surface which the
companions of his antagonist make when they become aware
of what is going on. Fatal accidents are rare ; on the whole
coast, not one occurred during the diving season of 1859, al-
though in no part of the world are sharks more numerous.
A good diver will often bring up a hundredweight of shells
in one day. The process of opening them takes up a con-
siderable time. The oyster is carefully examined for the
pearls which may exist in part of it. Sometimes very large
ones are found in it, adhering to the inside of the shell; but
being necessarily imperfect, they are less valuable than
smaller ones unattached. The oyster itself is cooked and
eaten by the Indians, but:few other persons ever acquire a
taste for them. When a large and valuable pearl is found,
the fortunate diver receives a gratuity from the Armador of
20 or 30 dollars, and is allowed a holiday of a week, to en-
able him to go to town and spend it. These are the glorious
moments of the Yaqui-Indian's existence, and it is the
remembrance of them which brings him across the Gulf
year after year. Haclothes himself in graceful and flowing
garments of white calico, he drinks mescal and sings wild
songs in the streets, smokes innumerable cigarritos, and
dreams away long hours in the shade, lulled by the plea-
sant notes of his three-stringed guitar. The music of the
Yaquis is livelier and more varied than that of the gene-
rality of American tribes, and when performed on instru-
ments more melodious than their own, many of their
airs are not without beauty. They are quite sensible
of the superiority of the instruments of the civilised man,
and I have seen Indians thrown into an ecstatic state when
one of our party played one of their festival airs with varia-
tions, on the harmonium. An eager crowd soon collects in
front of the verandah, and a dance, full of complicated
figures and graceful movements, is executed by the white
robed children of the sea. The holiday joviality of the divers
occasionally brings them into trouble, and a few of them
may sometimes be seen chained together by the ankle, en-
gaged in what are supposed to be " government works."
The punishment is a mere joke; the culprits pass their time
chiefly in making fun of their guard, and grinning at the
passers-by; and in a day or two they are allowed to return
;o their little wigwam on the beach,—St James's Magazine.

PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN.