The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-02-25
DIVING FOR PEARLS.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE BEST PAY.
ING BUSINESS ON EARTH.
Some of the Divers Are Malays and
Some Are Japanese, But the Japs
Are the Better Workers-Pearlinq
Fleets of Australia.

Fremantla. big, loose jointed lad of
Is, with face Drowned to the hue of
bath brick. with ear tips almost black
ened by long exposure to severe heat.
and with massive, powerful hands
which bore evidence of having done
real work in their time Before the
ship had penetrated far into the Great
Australian Blight most of his fellow
passengers knew his story for he
boosted of his adventures with boy
ish heartiness which helped to relieve
the monotony of the long voyage.
I'm not myself now" he told us in
the smoking room after dinner. 1--WE
been down with fever and I've not yet
got over wondering at my still being
alive. But l found two pearls just
before l got the fever, one worth
iG400 and the other worth $3.50, SO
thought | was entitled to a holiday,
and left my chum at BrOomo to look
after other things, and I'm going to
Melbourne to have the time Of my
life. Broome, you know, is away up
in Dampier Land, and it's the head
quarters of the pearling fleets.
How did / find the pearls? Well,
its my business to Look for them, or
TO come nearer the truth, it's the tit
bit of my business when come across
one. I'm an oyster shell gatherer,
the best paying business on earth.
1t takes about $500 to equip you.
have known men set out with less
by getting one of the big houses like
Dalgetty's to help them a bit, but
really you ought to have $500 in hand
at the start. For that you can buy
all your lugger. stock her with years
provisions. Pay your diver his ad-
vance money! kind of retaining fee
hire your three Malays from tho
agent and set out.
Some of the divers are Malays and
Jap all the time. Your diver, of
course, is your most important man,
for you remain above and examine
the shells while he is under the sea
securing your harvest. You pay him
ESQ as advance money and $50 on
work is exceedingly dangerous, hence
the heavy advance. At the best his
life is short, and sometimes the first
plunge ends him. He has to work at
great depths, and the weight of water
may kill him at any time. l knew
one man whose diver was done for
the first time he went down. The
doctor said blood vessel in the head
had broken under pressure. The
owner lost his $50 of course.
There is some danger from sharks,
OF course, but not so much as you
would think, although sharks do
abound in these waters. The divers
take their knives down with them,
and their dress seems to warn off the
sharks. But | remember one case
where the divers signals ceased and
the Mallays pulled up the line. They
found the divers clothes ripped up
and only part of him left. A shark
had made a successful attack.
''The three Malays control the lines
and pump for your diver, and do gen
eral work. They are often a nui-
sance and it is no use denying it.
Sometimes they are a danger, too.
You. are c0oped up, month after
month, with four Asiatics, with plenty
On board to make it worth their while
to get rid of you.
NOne continually hears cases of the
white owner falling overheard or dis
appearing no one knows how. You
can very easily offend Malay, and
he remembers it a long time. The
moment comes sooner or later when
his kris or slight push as you are
standing on the edge of the deck final
ly settles your debt. never went to
sleep when aboard my lugger with
out first seeing that my revolver was
properly charged and placing it ready
to hand for business. You train
yourself to sleep light on a pearling
1ugger and he would have to be a
sharp Malay who got at me without
my having first shot.
"Once Malay did try to rush me
on deck" We had some little dis
pute, and he tried to finish it with a
knife, WlHSeu ulIu luTUuSu lie
shoulder and would not have hesitated
to put bullet through his head if
necessary"
Are no inquiries made about such
deaths?" one listener asked. might
there not be some bother with the
courts z"
Il would simply swear that the
man attacked me-"
but what Ii the other men on
board swore differently"
The pearl hunter looked up half
coatemptuously. You're evidently a
new chum." he said, ''or you would
know by this time that no white jury
ever takes the word of any number
of natives against that of a white
man. Sometimes it's rough, own.
but to get back to business. IL
you are fortunate you make clear
fT00 year out of your lugger, be-
sides any pearls you find. Our regu-