Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-03-29
THE PEARL DIVERS.
Waichil q The Seekers After the
Beautiful Gems,
Who Find Not 0nly Rich Pearls But Dan
gerous Enemies in the Gulf
Of California.

EsPIRIrU SASTo, March ga celebrated
writer has said that what we most desire will
come to Us in time, if we only have patience
to wait for it. After long waiting, Betsy
and ! have ATTAINED the acme o
our ambition, having at least been
permitted to go pearl fishing. For
weeks the ursurmountable obstacle
in the way Of our desires was that bugbesr
propriety; for in Mexico no amount Of
Mother Ewes curiosity can excuse lady
for the smallest breach of conventions
rules. But finally the wife Of our hos'
obligingly consented, though evidently With
doubts and misgivings, t. act the. part Of
chaperone to the venturesome Americans
who insisted on joining pearlhunting ex-
petition, and so the prophecies were duly
observed.
Our boat was seven-ton affair, manned
by four oarsmen, three divers, the cook, q
telegraph.rope man, and the ladies aforesaid
though the chsperone can scarcely be In
cluded in the count, as at the first rolling
billow she plunged into the darkest corner
of the little cabin and remained hidden, In
tears of terror, during the remainder OF the
day. Our divers were handsome, mahog-
any hued young fellows, but when once
inside their grotesque armor, with
its bullying eyes, they became objects
of terror, the more uncanny when seen
through twenty iathoms of water, down
among the denizens Of the deep. No won
der that sharks avoid them, and even the
black mar-eaters flee in dismay before those
CLASSY optics. Imagine stout six-tooter,
carving 200 pounds of his own weight, COW
cred with 10 pounds OF armor on his chest,
20 on his back, plates of iron enclosing his
arms and legs, q massive helmet with great,
gaping lanterns for eyes, shoes OF lead on his
feet-at least 100 pounds Of metal clothes
on him-and you can readily understand
why any species of fish should desire more
digestible meal
At Il spot to be searched anchor was
cast, and one Of the divers sent out as q
-cout 10 recopnoitre aud report whether the
locality was rich enough to pay for working
Over the edge IF the boat he scrambled
ard through the clear greenish crystal we
could watch his downward course, till
darkening Of the waters announced that his
eaden shoes had disturbed the soft sand OF
The ocean floor. The telegraph man held
bis wire with hand as steady as though
its sinews we're of steel, and several no.
Dtuts Of breathless anxiety passed before
ieI king Of the rope announced message
ON the under world. A delicate pull,
succeeded by Two stronger ones, was the
D eccncerted signal, if our scout found the
firld worth working. So overheard the 9th
er two divers were tossed, one climbing
hand over hand down our anchor chain, the
other shooting head foremost 10 the bottom
ike lump Of lead.
For three long hours we waited under q
tropic sun that sent Its fercest rays upon
our blisteriug noees, consumed with fears
for the fate of our late companions who,
twenty fathoms below, were treading the
coral-paved avenues of sunless city, which
imagination peopled with mermsids and
other mysterious creatures. Sharks were
ontinusly prowing about in more or less
dangerous proximity. Occasionally the
hupge black back Of a man-eater shone to
the sun Ike polished ebony, with hundreds
OF Sp. nish navigators spread their tiny
sails and wiry sea CARS darted like serpents
around us.
Atlength the unseen operators telegraphed
to be brought to the surface, and, being
speedily hauled up, appeared but little ex-
hausted by their long submarine experience.
Each had his basket full of shells, but
whether they contained two or twenty pearls,
a fortune or failure, could not be determ
ined till they should be opened on land in
the presence of the boat owner. A coming
tempest, which was afterward declared by
that ubiquitous individual, the oldest in
habi,ant, to be the fercest that had dashed
the California Gulf for years, sent US shore
ward with all possible speed, for we had no
desire to become fellow citizenesses with the
mermaidens aforesaid, however rich in the
coveted gems their habitations mightbe.
Unlike our professional experts the In
dian divers, who are uniformly most success
! iul, plunge naked into the waters, without
| any apparatus whatever except q stone
slune around the waist. They are appsr
emily as much at home in the sea as the
| fnny tribes, and are most astonishing SWIM
mers. They can propel themselves equally
well with one hand and one foot, or with
! both feet, without hands, while they rap.
! Idly knock the shells off the rocks and
coral reefs to which they so tenaciously
cling, and cram them into the sack of woven
msguey fibre suspended by a rope around
the neck. The short. stout stick, which is
the only thing the diver carries, serves both
tor weapon ard implement While tearing
The shells he continually runs to and fro on
The ocean floor, in order to render the water
turbed BY stirring up the sand, and thus
| elude the vigilance Of his marine foes. If q
lark insists npon making a meal o. him
the willy Indian plays around him till the
terrible Jaws with their lance like teeth, are
about to close over him, when, grasping the
stick firmly in the middle, ne forces it up
right into the sharks mouth, and thus
spikes him as effectuslly as our Gen. lay
lor did the Mexican cannon at Monterey.
Sometimes, alas the operation is not sue
cessfully performed, and the brave fellow
rises no more to the surface, only a mon
etsry reddening of the waters telling Of his
horrible fate.
These divers generally remain submerged
about two minutes at time, but instances
have occurred in which four or FIVE min
utes OF submergence have been endured
without the use Of any artificial method Of
respiration; aud we are told that a native
diver from Anjanga actually remained naked
under water for SIX minutes.
The owner Of some pearl beds near
Mulege sends out twenty surf boats daily
during the fishing season. Each boat is
manned BY twenty one men, ten of whom
are divers, ten employed in rowing or as
,isting the fishers, and chief, who acts
10Th as pilot and captain. Five divers go
down al time from each of the twenty
boats this keeping the work going on while
half the fishers are recovering from their
exhaustion. Every boat is furnished
with Eve large perforated stones,
pyramidal shaped, and rounded at
top and bottom. These are
attached to separate ropes and each diver