Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-27

AACAChcAAlS doNdICG SQQRAlOS " tAAC
divers and also furnish them lumber
to make their. boats, each of which
is constructed of three boards of Cal
ifornla redwood and provided with an
outrigger to steady 1t in the lagoon.
For an anchor piece of lead faS-
tened to a small rope is used. If an
open island fails to yield satisfactorily
the houses, supplies and people are re-
moved to other islands, where better
results may be obtained. During the
season a favorite island presents a
lively scene with it's encampment of
as many as 1000 men, women and chill
dren.
THE hours for diving are from 9 to
z The diver paddles his canoe out
into the lagoon and anchors it, and
II he happens to hit upon good
place he may not move his boat dur
ing the five hours. A basket to hold
the shells is let down by a rope tied
TO the boat. On the end of another
small rope, also tied to the canoe, is
a piece of lead weighing from fifteen
TO twenty pounds. The diver, who
wears only a narrow cloth, places one
foot upon the lead, with the rope be-
tween his toes stretches the rope with
one hand held against his chest, ut
ters several loud yells to empty his
lungs, refills them quickly with pure
air and descends rapidly, feet fore
most, to the bottom of the lagoon.
His goggles exclude the water and
enable him to see from twelve to fif-
teen feet. He tears the shells from
their support, usually piece of dead
coral, to which they are firmly fas-
tened. He may fill the basket with
thirty or thirty-five pounds of shells
at once and he may have to dive sew
eral times to fill it.
1>i~ tiroo ic nm tha diVar
ascends by means of the rope and inn
med ately wipes himself dry vita
towel. He rests and warns himself in
the sun from ten to fifteen minutes
before going down aSa.n. A good
diver will go down from twenty to
twenty-five times in tie five wing
hours. AS the basket is filed 1t Is
drawn up, and the shells are emp
tied into the boat. The man's WIFE or
some other member of his family who
accompanies HIM in the cance occu-
pies herself by opening the snells,
putting the contents in basAet and
washing the shells, from which she
also removes the barbs. Having fin
ished the diving fer the day, the man
assists the woman in her WORK. The
matter in the bucket is crushed in
the hands and thrown overheard.
"a part of the mollusk is good to
in canned butter, and served with
wine or white sauce, but the natives
care little for it, especially as they
have plenty of money during the sea-
son to buy other food. VIII lie he is
gathering the shells the diver often
comes up to get a harpoon to spear
fine fish, which he is easily able to
do, as the fish seem to pay ro atten-
tion to his presence and movements in
the water. In this way he helps out
his scanty larder. After a good break
fast the diver eats very little until
6 o'clock, when he is ready FIR sub
stantial meal and sound s.eap.
''This colony has the best divers in
the world. They dive all the way from
6 to 120 feet (rarely more) in their
work, and remain under water a min
ute and half for the average man,
two to two and one-half minutes for a
good diver, and three minutes for a
few exceptional experts. Among the
pearl divers of Ceylon the highest rec
ord is 110 seconds. Diving for shells is
hard and wearing work. Like many
human life. At the beginning of each
season the nose and ears of the diver
bleed when he comes up out of the
water, and sometimes he vomits blood.
His eyes become affected and paralysis
of the arms and legs is not uncom-
mon. He is at his best between the
ages of 20 and rs, after 80 he begins
to decline and is able to dive less and
less as he grows oder. Boys who
wish to become Divers for shells be-
gin to practice soon after entering
their teens Petween Is and II, when
they have not yet lea nd the limit