The San Francisco call., 1907-01-06

what the Sultan or datto would pay
him.
In former times the Sultan and the
dattos made up the loss they sustained
by their subjects selling pearls secretly
by hning the divers who Il was re-
ported had sold datto pearls The Sui
tan. for instance, was told that So-and-
so had recently become rich. so surely
he must have sold pearl. or how did
he obtain all these fine things IN such
a small space Of time? At once some
of the Sultan's messengers were sent
out to fine that man 2000 pesos. without
trial the man would have to pay, un-
less the messenger could be bargained
with-which was usual-for a lower
fine. In case the man and all his
friends swore that he had not sold a
pearl, then he was condemned to pay
the court fees, which were 20 per cent
of the amount Of the fine. This custom
was carried so far that q great nnanV
of the Patian divers left and went
other places, some as far as Basflan, d
Ubing where Scrip Amina and Scrip
Agil governed. The Sicubun divers
were under the jurisdiction OF Dattos
Kabbf and Jokantan. Parang and Pa
tfan were under the Sultan. The Sultan
and dattos have no longer the power to
control the pearling industry, it having
been taken away from them by the
American authority
SeCOnu
of pearl shells is with a fve-pound
dredge let down with q rattan. This
dredge is called badja, which signifies
plowing; the places where these dredg-
ers are used are called badJaan- This
dredge can only be used where the bed
is free from rocks. The diver starts
TO drop the dredge at the upper end
of the current and the latter being
very strong. will take the boat right
along, pulling the dredge behind along
the bottom. When the dredge catches
1T is pulled up, bringing SOmetimes a
shell, sometimes a stone When the
boat reaches the lower end Of the fish
ing ground it is padded back against
the current to the upper end. and so
1t goes, back and forth. until the tide
turns. for then the current is not strong
enough to pull the dredge.
There are generally two men in
boat, seldom three The dredging
grounds are between seventeen and
thirty five fathoms in depth, and most
of them cover a large water area.
The third way Of getting the shells
is by using three-pronged catcher.
This is let down by rattan rope The
Moros call this mag tung tung. which
implies to let down." The fishermen
can only work at this when the sea IS
absolutely calm, because the least ripple
will prevent them from seeing the shell
at the bottom of the sea. Another
point is, the sea must be very clear.
If storms prevail and the sea is stirred
up, the water remains dirty and the
fishermen will not be able to see bot
tom. Sometimes they are able to see
the bottom down to 100 feet other
times not more than forty to fifty feet:
so the Moros watch. and if the sea is
clear it is Immediately known all over
the different islands, and sometimes
500 or 400 boats are at work in one
place.
Special laws have been made by the
Philippine Commission governing the
pearling industry. The Sultan and his
followers have no longer any legal
right to collect fines and penalties, but
the custom has obtained for so long
that the ignorant people stiI1 fear the
power OF the sultan