Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-08
HARD LOT OF PEARL DIVERS.
Misfortunes of Natives Of French Is
lands In the Pacific.

lands In the Pacific.
About 1000 people on the Tuamotu
Islands, thousands Of miles out in the
Pacific, are now living in a state Of
destitution and wretchedness that is
scarcely parallel in any other part Of
the world. They are the victims of
the great storms Of 1903 and 1905,
and of the Indifference neglect and
mismanagement Of French officials.
Their story is printed in the Bulletin
of the Comite de rAsie Francaise, from
the pen Of Father Bracconi one of the
Roman Catholic missionaries in the
islands.
The Tuamotu Islands form the most
extensive Of the archipelagoes con-
trolled by France in Oceania. They
comprise eighty little atolls, narrow
rings of corral rock rising a few feet
above sea level and enclosing lagoons.
Though they are scattered over an
area 700 miles long and 200 miles
wide, the total land surface comprises
only about 215,000 acres.
Nearly 5000 natives lived on twen-
ty islands before the storms Of 1903
and 1905 reduced their number Many
of the uninhabited islands are visited
in pursuit Of the only important in
dustry of the group, diving in the
lagoons and in some waters outside
the atolls for mother Of pearl.
Every islander in his prime Is a
diver, and Father Bracconi says that
professional divers in no other part Of
the world can compare with them.
They can swim as though water were
their native element. They do not
even come ashore to eat, but catch
fish with their hands and devour them
raw. Four or five commercial COM
panies of Tahiti have practically made
slaves Of these islanders. For years
before 1903 the average production Of
mother Of pearl was 400 tons year.
The trading companies bought this
for about 100000 francs, all payable
in merchandise, and sold it for 1,500,-
600. They had besides the extortion-
ate profits derived from the barter
trade.
The pearl diver was always in debt
to the traders and they manoeuvred
to keep him in debt, and he was al
ways straining cNe-y nerve to bring
more shells, for his creditors never
ceased to bully and threaten him. 1t
was a bare existence, hand-to-mouth,
for every one of the 5000 natives in
the archipelago.
This had for years been the situa-
ton when the storms Of January, 1903,
destroyed every cocoanut tree on the
islands, overwhelmed the low reefs
on which the natives lived. washed all
their huts and fishing implements into
the sea and drowned hundreds Of the
islanders, including many Of the best
divers whose families have since been
dependent on the charity Of their
poverty-stricken neighbors. They had
begun to get a new start when the
storms Of March, 1905, occurred.
These storms were even more de-
structive than those Of 1908. The
giant waves not only killed nearly
1000 people, but dug to the bottom OF
the lagoons and carried out to sea the
bivalves that yielded the real wealth
of the islands, mother Of pearl. In
addition not drop Of potable water
was left in the islands.
There are no brooks among these
little rings of rock. The people de-
pended upon cisterns Of mason work,
in which they caught the rain. EV-
cry cistern was destroyed in the gales,
and the first thing to do was to rebuild
them, spreading cloths meanwhile to
catch the rain and thus alleviate suf-
fering from thirst.
Under these circumstances the is
landers lost courage and wished to
flee from the scene Of their trials.
They sent a delegation to Tahiti to
lay their case before Governor Julli-
en-.
We've lost everything but our
lives" said the old chief, who was
their spokesman, land nearly every
family Is mourning its dead. We men
are not afraid to stay on the Islands,
but we fear for our women and chill
dren. We ask you to give us some
places on this great high island, where
our families may be safe. Help us
little at first and we shall not ask for
anything, not even for work"
The governor was much affected
and promised assistance. Nothing
was done, and in the following De-
cember another great storm occurred.
There was not much left to destroy
except human life, and it took its
share of that.
France heard of this last blow and
$4,000 francs of the public funds
we're voted to relieve the immediate
needs of the sufferers. A commission
was also appointed in Tahiti to visit
the islands and see what could be done
to ameliorate the situation.
Father Bracconi severely criticises
the commission. In the first place II
used a large part Of the money TO
Duy buIOpcdll o~~Ap
was useless to the natives. A Few
thousand francs were used to build
cisterns. It was voted to build very
strong platforms on which the people
might take refuge above the cyclone
waves that had drowned nearly 1000
of them, but to this day not a step
has been taken to carry out this pro-
posal. A good deal Of the fund Is
carried on the books of Tahiti as re
ceipts extraordinary"
The one good outcome of these re-
peated tragedies is the destruction OF
the trade monopoly. The natives have
been helped by the government to or
ganize their own syndicate, which
markets their mother of pearl in Ia
hiti, and it's full value is received by
the divers
The present situation is that the
people are thrown into terror at the
slightest indication Of storm. The
government will not let them have the
the islands because to admit their in
habitability would ruin valuable
IL.