"Thus arranged, they sail into the Gulf; and, having arrived at the oyster banks, cast anchor and commence business. The divers are first called to duty. They plunge to the bottom in four or five fathom water, dig up with sharpened sticks as many oysters as they are able, rise to the surface, and deposit them in sacks hung to receive them at the vessel's side. And thus they continue to do till the sacks are filled, or the hours allotted to this part of the labor are ended.
"When the diving of the day is done, all come on board and place themselves in a circle around the armador, who divides what they have obtained in the following manner: two oysters for himself, the same number for the Busos, or divers, and one for the government. This division having been concluded, they next proceed, without moving from their places, to open the oysters which have fallen to the lot of the armador. During this operation, that dignitary has to watch the Busos with the greatest scrutiny, to prevent them from swallowing the pearls with the oysters, a trick which they perform with so much dexterity as to almost defy detection, and by means of which they often manage to secrete the most valuable pearls.
"The government portion is next opened with the same precautions, and taken into possession by the armador. And, last of all, the Busos open theirs, and sell them to the armador in liquidation of debts incurred for their outfits, or of moneys advanced during the voyage. They usually reserve a few to sell to dealers on shore, who always accompany these expeditions with spirituous liquors, chocolate, sugar, cigars, and other articles of which Indian divers are especially fond. Since the Mexicans obtained their independence, another mode of division has been adopted. Every time the Busos come up, the largest oyster which he has obtained is taken by the armador, and laid aside for the use of the Virgin Mary. The rest are thrown in a pile; and, when the day's diving is ended, eight oysters are laid out for the armador, eight for the Busos, and two for the government.
"In the year 1831, one vessel with seventy Busos, another with fifty, and two with thirty each, and two boats with ten each, from the coast of Sonora, engaged in this fishery. The one brought in forty ounces of pearls, valued at $6500; another, twenty-one ounces, valued at $3000; another, twelve ounces, valued at $2000, and the two boats a proportionate quantity. There were, in the same season, ten or twelve other vessels, from other parts, employed in the same trade, which, if equally successful, swelled the value of pearls taken in that year to the sum of more than forty thousand dollars."—Farnham's Scenes in the Pacific, p. 307.
28 ([Return])
Report of M. L. Smith, Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, United States Army.
29 ([Return])
Lieut. Smith's Report.
30 ([Return])
Ibid.