The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1908-04-02
cEYLON PEARL FISHERIES.


spot. or large quantity to be subse-
quently washed-or else hurrying on
with a fnd to get a good price from the
merchants. The scene OF the fishery
soon becomes an oriental fair, with its
daily lottery, easy Investments Tan oy-
ster can be bought for cents, or 2
cents United States gold, and quick
returns. While the bazaar affords an
interesting picture OF the gathering at
the camp, the business OF the mer-
chants who buy oysters in large guam
titles is on the seashore, where are
built the "toddis, or Enclosed places.
There the oysters are heaped in thous-
ands to decompose and be devoured by
the flies, which are soon attracted in
millions to the spot The shells and
what remains in them are then washed
out In Italians" filled with water,
and the pearls are picked out from the
dregs. The process is long and tedi-
GUS, and the smell Of the decaying oy-
sters is very offensive at this part Of
the beach, but fortunately the winds
from the north and the east which pre-
vail during the fishery carry away the
smell from the camp.
At midnight a signal gun is fired and
by sunrise the feet, numbering some
times $50 boats, is at anchor around
an old bark which serves as mark
on the center Of the fishing ground.
A signal gun is fred from the in
spection ship TO begin operations, and
the sound Of the gun has not died away
before there is great splash as half
Of the divers drop into the sea, The
following, taken from Twentieth
Century Impressions Of Ceylon," re-
fers to divers and their methods;
All save the Malayalim divers, who
plunge head foremost from spring
board, descend to the bottom in an
upright position, carried swiftly down
by a weight on which they place their
feet-a stone Of 40 to so pounds in
the case of the local divers, lead Of
not more than 10 pounds in that Of
the Arabs. Each diver is tended by a
"manduk," whose duty consists in the
care OF two ropes skunk over a rude
rail above the side Of the ship and
which are attached, respectively, to the
diving stone and oyster basket. When
ready to descend, the diver, II he be a
Tamil, adjusts the basket on the top
of the diving stone and secures it in
position by placing one foot upon IT,
He draws a long breath, closes his
nostIils with the fingers Of one hand,
raises his body as high as possible
above the water TO give force to his
descent, and then suddenly releasing
the loop that supports the stone, is
carried swiftly to the bottom. An
Arab diver closes the nostrils with
horn clip suspended from cord slung
around the neck. His descent is slight
ly less rapid than that of the Ia
mil. and this tends to lessen the dan
ger TO which the drum of the ear is
subjected if insufficient time be al
lowed for adjustment TO the heighten-
ed pressure on the sea bottom.
On reaching the bottom the diver
steps off the sinler, slips the moose OF
the bag or basket around his neck,
and swings slowly over the bottom,
I transferring to his bag all the oysters
he can see. Meanwhile his manduk
has hoisted up the stone and adjust
ed his ropue in position on the rail
ready for the next diver. Almost as
soon as this is done the diver below
is ready to come to the surface, in
dicating this by a signal witch on the.
basket rope Instantly two manduks
1.-THE divers work usually IN pairs, one
in and the other out Of the water)
haul in the rope with the utmost dis
patch. the diver being drawn up with
/ It.. The bag is lifted over the boats
| side. the contents emptied and the bag
returned to the diver, who, after a
few minutes rest, is ready to descend
again. When a man has been in the
water half an hour and has, perhaps
made seven or eight descents, he is
glad to get a rest and let his comrade
take his place. II may be noted that
by this system a single set of gear
serves two men; in the old days a
boats capacity was stated as so many
Stones" and when that is known the
number OF divers is ascertained at
once by merely doubling the number
of these stones.
The weakest divers are the Malay
aim men; forty seconds is their aver
age below water The Christian Ia
mills are better by five seconds, and
and the Moormen excel this by anotn-
er fve seconds Inc Arabs do much
better and think nothing Of seyent,
to eighty seconds in depths Of 7'to
fathoms. The Arab win go muci
greater depths than the others; whele
as the Malayalim divers do not car
to go beyond 2 fathoms, and the Moor
and Tamils viii work down 70 0 rain