The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-08-11
TREASURE FISHING.
How The Pearl Finding Industry
Is Carried On.
THE SHARKS AND MAN-EATERS.
Exploits of Native Divers in the Waters off the
Gulf of California; Profitable
Business.

La VENTANA, B. c. Mex, Aug. l, 1885,
Especial correspondence of THE HERALD.
Pearl fishing has its destinations, even Il
the distant looker-on, although he knows
that by no human possibility can any o
the treasures that may be brought up eyel
fall into his hands. With what interest
he WATCHES PREPARATIONS
as the fleet of small sailboats collects or
the spot to be searched, and the fishers pre-
pare to descend-in what suspense does hi
wait during the few seconds that seem like
hours, while the venturesome Divers below
the surface, walking the ocean floor among
unknown dangers, and with what anxiety
does he see the exhausted toiler hauled VI
again, apparently for the moment more
dead than alive, yet taking good care of his
precious sack of shells, in spite of shark:
or man-eaters or whatever may betide!
The best time of year for pearl fishing
is between the first of May and the last OF
October, and the best time of day is from
about o'clock in the morning till high
noon, the remaining hours until dark being
employed in opening the oysters and look
ing for the treasures they may contain
The vessels used in the business are what
are called ''plungers,n of two or three tons
burden, each manned with a crew of slX
men, including the divers. Messrs. Con
zales & Ruifo employ twenty one of these
vessels and as many divers, and others who
hold government rights" in different
places send out many more. Nowadays
most of the divers are those known as
machine men," that is, they are equipped
with waterproof dress. helmet, leads for
the breast and shoulders, shoes of copper
and lead, suit which altogether weighs
more than one hundred and fifty pounds
but beyond doubt the most successful are
!. vet the naked Yaquis, who plunge in head
foremost and can remain as long as l2C
seconds under water.
was so fortunate as to have letter OF
introduction to the present owner of the
fisheries in Venta bay, and there OBJ
tanned my first near view of the entire
Inodlls Operdndi, from first to last, without
which l could never have left the spot with
any degree of satisfaction. Where will not
curiosity,
THE HERITAGE OF THE SEX,
lure any daughter of Eve It has led me
over heights, into depths and through perilS
innumerable-intO gold and silver anC
copper and coal mines, to search for opal:
at Amalco and Inerebaro, for carbuncle:
among the mountains of Sonora, emeralds
and moss agates at Jalisco, and 1t was this
same spirit of curiosity alone, not journal
istic ambition nor ardent pursuit OF knOWl
edge, that induced me to go pearl fishing
to risk life and limb for the sake of holding
in my hand few grayish particles fresh
from the sea, little carbonate of lime
mixed with organic matter
Ventana bay lies about midway between
Cape San Lucas and Molege, and forms a
sort of semi-circle, thirteen miles long and
six miles deep, well protected from winds
and breakers. The country hereabOuts is
indescribably desolate, desert sands, IN
printed by human feet, broken here and
there by precipitous cliffs-the eternal
silence disturbed only by screaming sea
gulls and the restless daShing of the waves.
A tropic sun beats pitilessly upon the
dreary beach, which stretches back with
low fluctuations toward UNEMPLOYED noun
tains Were a romancer looking the world
over for some secluded place to people with
ocean castaways, a la Robinson Crusoe,
here is the exact spot, minus only the
beauties which that ancient mariner dis
covered on his desert island. Lying
off the lonesome coast, however, are
a hundred islands, great and small, all
more or less fertile and picturesque:
and between these and the barren beach lie
the fisheries The little village Of La
Ventana lies near the shore, some ten miles
west of Arena A road leads to San Anto
MO (the celebrated Triunfo silver mines)
a distance of fifteen miles, At one time al
THE PRODUCTS OF THE MINES.
which were considerable, were brought tC
La Ventana for shipment; but at present
they are taken to La Paz To the south i.
an extensive plain, covered with sand an(
cacti and on the north the coast hills riSC
from the waters edge, forming, with the
high peaks of the interior, an unbrOkeI
chain stretching to La Paz bay. The twin
peaks of Los Cacacniles, standing about q
mile apart and each over four thousand feet
high, are seven miles from this place. and
thirty-fve miles from La Paz. In them are
are gold, silver and copper, which are
being worked by company from San An
tonic, Texas, under charge of Mr.. Charles
T. Hall. a well known new York mining
expert.
The oyster beds facing Ventana cover a
tract some fifteen miles square, and have
been for many generations in the possession
of one family. Through the courtesy of the
present owner the desire of my heart was
attained, and 1 was permitted to go out,
one early morning. with the fishing party.
Our boat was a seven-ton affair, manned
b three ladies, four oarsmen, thrt divers,
a cook and the telegraph-rope man. Ar
r.ying at the spot to be searched, anchor
was cast, and a Yaquis diver scrambled
over the edge of the boat with his knife in
his teeth and big stone in his hands, and
dropped out of sight like lump of lead.
He went merely as a scout to report
whether the locality was rich enough to
pay for working. In less than one minute
he returned, putting like a porpoise, with
the verVict VGStdnte MO, erich enough
Then the machine men prepared for bust
ness. They were handsome. though
worthy young fellows, but became objects
Of terror when once inside their grotesque
armor with its bullying optics-the more
uncanny when dimly seen down among
the denizens of the deep through
twenty fathoms of waterl Imagine
a stout six-footer, carrying two
hundred pounds of his own weight,
covered with forty pounds of armor on his
chest, twenty on his back, with plates of
iron lnclosing his arms and legs, massive
helmet on his head, with its great gaping
lanterns fer eyes, and immense leaden
shoes on his feet-and you will no longer
wonder why
THE SHARKS PLEE IN DIsMAY
and any other species of marine monster
would desire more digestible meal
Through the clear, greenish crystal we
could watch their downward course, till a
sudden darkening of the waters announced
that the leaden shoes had disturbed the
soft sand of the ocean floor. The telegraph
man in the boat held his wire with hand
as steady as though its nerves were of
steel. Soon the preconcerted signal, a
slight pull followed by the stronger ones,
announced that the field was good and the
divers were all right. Then for three long
hours we waited, while the sun beat pitt
rlessly down on our blistering noses, con-
ssumed with fear for the fate of our
late companions in that sunless city, six
miles below, whose coral avenues magma
tion peopled with mermaids, sea serpents
nna ntInr. submarine mysteries Sharks