Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-07-11

ssToc much r repeated a Conch, as he
held up big bunch of coral in the
cabin Of 3 schooner near Fulton Market.
e you had to git II up yon wouldn't
4hink So
.sYou know, said the man, after the
N0uld-be purchaser had crawled up the
Gompanion-way ladder, '1s0me folks git
che idee that bring this stuff on for
1un, and give it away. div like o.
9fty foot for that piece, and that chap
wanted TO take it for twenty-five cents. !"
$50 you dive for these specimens r.
mslxed the writer.
eyes, the best are fetched up that
way, ? was the reply; "but good many
are taken with coral hooks. Ne and nv
brother takes trip of and on. One
Of us collects the stuff and the other
sells, and between the two, and acting
as cook for the steamer, we make il pay.
Yes, we see some curious sights, but
We git used to il. We 90 to what they
Call the Markeys, about forty miles or
30 the west'ard of Keg West. You can
git coral any time, but the summers the
best; then there Is little wind a-blowin',
and You can see the bottom in forty foot
IN the winter we use q boat with glass
bottom, so we can see and drift along
and look down through, and when we
see anything git over for it.
There's half dozen kinds of oLral
that are common, and mostly they grow
apart and In certain places. What we
call branch coral is found all over the
fats where there is sandy bottom, grow
ing kind of low like; but when II gifts
along the edge Of the channel, the
branches grow longer and look like
regular branches Of tree, and matted
30 thick fhat you can't see bottom or
Git your fist in between 'em. Some
3imes, when we want to get out a fine
piece of branch, we dive down into the
channel, and / tell you It's fine sight
When you git down thirty foot, say, it's
- light as day when there's a good sun
right overhead, and there you are in
front of wall of these ERE coral points,
3 solid front, all of brownish or olive
color. If you get away down to the
bottom You'll see crawish whips wavin'
70 and fro They live under the coral,
and on top and in between the black
spots are big sea eggs, with spines six
inches long The coral is covered with
fishes Of all kinds-parrots, angels, vel
dow tails, and grunts. The fishes have
- dozen or more colors, and one kind
that think beats 'em all is pure blue
from head to foot. It's only about six
inches long, and / never saw them away
from the big heads.
s4After practice you can stay down
three or four minutes and by swimming
along with your eyes open you can git
Hook at the lot, and then try and break
OF branch with boathook of iron.
Sometimes we have to 20 down four or
i've times to get piece; then, If it's big,
put rope around it and haul it up.
Most of the small coral can be picked up
with o hook that looks like a pair Of
oyster hooks, but it's apt to break it, SO
! generally 60 overheard when the coral
amt too thick. There's one place
know where for a hundred acres it's.so
thick that there amt place to put your
1oot-one big field of branch coral The
big heads generally grow on the edge of
. fat that's covered with grass, right
near the edge Of the channel, and can
take you to a spot where there's coral
heads that are ten foot across and SIX
high. Some of the big ones weigh over
one thousand pounds. When they get
big they often die away on top, and final
IL git followed out and look like BIG
vases holding angel fishes, crawfish, and
, Little of everything. You never see
che big heads here, because vessels can't
net near 'em, and q small boat wouldn't
hold one. In water about twenty or
twenty-five feet deep we cit the best
pieces, what they call rose coral. I oft
them by divin', as they're SO small you
cant see em hardly. I've got punches
not bigger than your hand, and got $40
4or 'em. Pretty amt no name for 'em.
The last one I got came near cleanin' me
ont. =
Glow SO ~
ssWell, I" replied the coral diver, eve
have afsh on the reef called the sting
aree; it's as fat as your hand, with
two side wings that move up and down
Is it swims along. They are about two
or three feet wide and six or EIGHT
long. The tail Is just like the lash of
whip, and right where it Joins the !
body there are three stings Of bone,
one right above the other, five or six
inches long, with edges like saw.
They have q way of sinking down to
4he bottom, and with q shuttle some
thing like that Of hen In the dust,
covering themselves with sand. This
day / speak Of I was driftin' along in /
about three fathoms layin' in the boat
lookin' through the glass, while my
mate was &C the oars ready TO stop her
i sung out. All at once I clapped nv |
eyes on q beauty head Of rose coral.
and over went. reckon il was about /
fifteen feet jest there, and went down
with such q rush that went near the
bottom right over the little brown head. i
grabbed at what Thought was the
bunch of weed, to hold on whale I
picked up the coral. got it, and then
let my feet down on to the bottom to
give myself shove up, when, blim +
blim came something around my legs,
md I'm doQged If didn't think they
were oH at the knees, and big sting
aree few up b. me, takin' me on al