The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-04-19
Sponge and spOngIng.

AS Is well known, sponge Is marine
production; and the finer kinds have
long been an adjunct to the toilet, tn,
bath, the nursery, and in surgical ope'
rations. There are more than two hun.
dred and fifty species. Until within q
few years 1t has for a long time been
questioned whether to class 1t among
the animal or the vegetable kingdom.
Naturallsts now agree that it belongs to
the animal kingdom. The finest sponges
are always of pale color, very soft and
light, having very small holes. They
are found In great abundance in the
Mediterranean and adjacent seas, Tur-
key, Aleppo, and the Grecian Archi-
pelago. Sponge adheres to the rocks at
the bottom of the sea and the coast
where the water is comparatively shall
low. All the finer spOnges are pro-
cured by diving. The fshing-grOunds
of Florida cover a wide extent of sur
face along the coast among the "keys"
and adjacent islands. The principal
grounds are Rock island, scope of land
forty miles long by seven miles broad,
and sixty miles north of Cedar Keys;
St. Marks eighty-flve miles from Cedar
Keys; Piney Point, seven miles south
of Rock Island, and ten miles from
Cedar Keys, extending fifty-five miles;
the mouth of the Withlacoochee river,
Bay Port to Annex creek, eight miles
south to st. Martins reef, sixteen miles
north to Anclote keys-a distance along
the coast and islands OF nearly three
hundred miles. Sponge-tishing on this
coast is of much greater magnitude and
Importance than is generally supposed.
The number of vessels engaged is be-
tween seventy-fve and one hundred,
with an average crew of from five to
fifteen men to each, and an average of
three "dinceys" to each vessel. A
"dincey" is q small boat used to gather
the sponge, and is usually managed by
two men. There are about six hundred
men daily engaged in gathering when
the weather is fair. Quiet weather and
calm sea are always taken advantage
of. These dinceys, when likely to be
called into service, are towed Indian
file at the stern of the larger vessel.
Each sponger is provided with a
sponge-hook, made of iron, with three
prongs, socket fitting ou pole one
and-a-half inches thick and from eigh.
teen to thlrty-tive feet long; also, a
"water-glass''-a bucket with pane of
glass fitted in the bottom. This adds to
the power of vision by excluding the
light from behind, enables the sponger
to penetrate with re eye at least ten or
fifteen feet deeper into the water. The
"sculler" propels the boat along very
slowly. In the meantime the sponger
sits hanging over the edge of the dincey,
with his head at the bucket held by the
hand, and the ey penetrating the depths
below, taking in all that passes within
his line OF vision. AS soon as he sees
his legitimate prey, he raises his sponge
hook with his right hand-in which he
is assisted by the sculler-still keeping
his eye at the glass, grapples the sponge,
then puts aside the glass, and hauls it
in. Frequently his sight is darkened
and his view obstructed by the inter-
vention of the monsters OF the deep. A
huge shark, a saw-tish, or perhaps all
enormous devil-fsh, and very often
large schools of beautiful fish-Spanish
mackerel, cavallie," "sailOr's choice"
"pompeno"-pass beneath him in such
numbers as to seriously interfere with
his occupation. Again, his sight is re-
galed with lovely coral formations, deep
assures and grottos, gem-lined within.
When a dincey-load is gathered, the
spOnges are taken to the yessel--roots |
down, eyes up-where they die. This
part of sponge fishing is the most dis
lNNublN1 hllu NluNNo bliC NOopSA w w |
almost unbearable, the spOnges exhum-
ing a bloody, Shiny matter ofmost often
sive odor-another and palpable evil
dence of their being things of life.
When the vessel has completed her
cargo, the spOnges are taken to
"crawl"-made of mangrove or oak
slaves driven into the lea of some island
for about a week or ten days. The
sponger then goes into the "crawl"
with "bruiser"-a small paddle-and
with few strokes on the top of the
sponges, clears them from the filth and
skin, after which they are strung and
ready for market.
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