In 1667, the Royal Society of London addressed an inquiry on this subject to Sir Philiberto Vernatti, the British Resident at Batavia in the East Indies. Vernatti’s reply gave certain details regarding the Ceylon fishery, but did not touch upon the length of diving because, as he stated, he could not “meet with any one that can satisfy me, and being unsatisfied myself, I cannot nor will obtrude anything upon you which may hereafter prove fabulous; but shall still serve you with truth.”[[111]] Two years later, and presumably after investigation, Vernatti reported: “The greatest length of time that pearl-divers in these parts can continue under water is about a quarter of an hour; and that by no other means than custom; for pearl-diving lasts not above six weeks, and the divers stay a great while longer at the end of the season than at the beginning.”[[112]]
Photograph, Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, MOHAMMED ALI, SHAH OF PERSIA
Wearing the Kajar crown
The anatomist Diemerbroeck relates[[113]] the case of a pearl diver who, under his own observation, remained half an hour at a time under water while pursuing his work; and this was seriously adopted without comment by John Mason Goode in his “Study of Medicine.”[[114]] Ibn Batuta, “the Doctor of Tangier,” wrote about 1336 that “some remain down an hour, others two hours, others less.”[[115]] A still earlier writer, Jouchanan ibn Masouiah,[[116]] in his book on stones, states that “the diver, when he dives, places upon his nose a masfâsa lest water should enter into him, and breathes through the fissure, and remains under water for half an hour.” According to Sebaldus Rau[[117]] this masfâsa was an article resembling a hood or cap, which the diver placed over his nose. It was made of some impervious material and had a projection so long that it reached to the surface of the water. The same writer believes that this object was alluded to by Aristotle (“De part. animal.,” Lib. II, c. 16), where he likens the trunk of the elephant to the instrument used by certain divers for aiding their respiration, so that they could remain longer in the water and draw in air from above the surface.[[118]] And here we cease pursuit of further records, lest our faith in recorded testimony be too severely tested.[[119]]
A superficial inspection of the above evidence, from the one or two hours noted by Ibn Batuta about the year 1336, to the half an hour of Diemerbroeck in 1672, the quarter of an hour of Vernatti in 1669, the seven and one half minutes of Chardin in 1711, the six minutes of Percival in 1803, to the 110 seconds of the present time, seems to indicate very clearly a gradual but somewhat remarkable decrease in the ability of the Asiatic divers, and that the pearl fishermen of the present day are very different creatures from their ancestors. And especially is this so when it is considered that the above records are not isolated reports selected for the particular purpose of showing a decrease in the length of diving; on the contrary they are authoritative and representative publications of their respective periods. We do not recall having seen in any report issued previous to 1675, an intimation that the limit of time was less than ten minutes.
However, a careful consideration of the subject leads to the belief that there has been no serious decrease in the length of time that the Arab and Indian divers remain under water, and that either the writers were misinformed or that the individual cases reported were extremely exceptional. Ibn Batuta’s instance of one to two hours could easily be caused by a mistake in copying Arabic manuscript, or in the translation. The case related by Diemerbroeck in which a pearl diver remained submerged half an hour, is more perplexing, especially as the physician reports that this was done under his own observation. The numerous reports of five or six minutes may have been based on a very exceptional case.
These statements are viewed as highly incredible by men who have spent scores of years at the fisheries. A man may remain submerged for several minutes, but the conditions are vastly different from the activities of pearl-gathering at a depth of ten fathoms, where the pressure of the water is nearly thirty pounds to the square inch, and the slightest exercise is fatiguing. Unless the time is taken by a watch, it is easy to overestimate the stay; the seconds pass very slowly when one is waiting momentarily for the appearance of the diver’s head above the water, and certainly to the nearly exhausted fisherman with straining chest and palpitating heart, the last few seconds must seem extremely long indeed. An instance is noted in which an Arab diver remained submerged seventy-one seconds, and on his reappearance, naïvely inquired if he had not been down ten minutes. It seems doubtful whether the 110 seconds herein noted has been greatly exceeded, in recent years at least, by Arab or Indian divers, who do not appear to equal the semi-amphibious natives of the South Sea islands in their exploits.
One of the most curious features of the pearling industry is the manner in which the fishermen secure supplies of drinking water. In the vicinity of Bahrein, numerous fresh-water springs exist at the bottom of the gulf in depths of two or three fathoms, and the fishermen dive into the depth of the salt water down to where the fresh water is springing forth and there fill a skin or other suitable receptacle which they bring to the surface. By running a pipe down near the bottom in the vicinity of one of these springs, an abundance of fresh water may be pumped into the boat.
Three species—or at least three varieties—of pearl-bearing oysters are obtained in the Persian Gulf. These are known locally as mahar, sudaifee, and zinni. Of these, the mahar or Lingah oyster, which corresponds to the Ceylon pearl-oyster, yields the greatest quantity of pearls, and those of the finest quality. It measures three or three and a half inches in diameter, and is found in deeper water than the others. The sudaifee and the zinni, which are larger, yield pearls in much smaller quantities than the mahar.
On large boats, which remain out for two or three weeks at a time, the oysters are left on deck overnight, and the following morning they are opened by means of a curved knife (miflaket), four or five inches in length. The smaller boats working near shore convey the catch to the land for the opening and searching for pearls.