SEEKING FOR PEARLS.
The life of a pearl diver is full of adventures. The pearl oyster is found only in warm countries, or, at all events, very rarely in cold countries. The parts of the sea where these oysters are found are generally frequented by sharks. The sharks have a great fondness for divers, but it can be readily understood that the divers do not reciprocate the fondness of this finny tribe. Nothing is more pleasing to the shark—that is to say, an old and well-educated shark—than to make a breakfast off a pearl diver. The diver objects to this little arrangement, and remonstrates with the shark; but the latter doesn’t heed his remonstrances, unless they are of the most positive character.
Before going below, the diver generally scans the water very carefully, to see whether any of his man-eating friends are around and ready to welcome him. When he has reached the bottom, finished his labor, filled his bag with oysters, and is ready to ascend, he always takes a good look aloft, to see that no shark is waiting for him. The shark does not pick up the diver at the bottom; he makes no attack as long as the man is beneath him, but watches his chance, and as the man goes upward he makes a sudden dash, and considering the diver a stranger, takes him in. It is not unusual in the pearl diving regions to hear of men who have suddenly disappeared while below; and the inference always is, that these men have been quietly and calmly eaten. A pearl seeker whom I met some years ago while on a sea voyage told me an exciting story of an adventure with a shark in the pearl regions not far from Panama.
“I had in my employ,” said he, “about a dozen divers, very active, athletic fellows, who did their duty faithfully, stole all the pearls they could when my back was turned, and sometimes, unless I was very watchful, they reduced my returns very materially. I had a curiosity to learn the peculiarities of pearl diving for myself, and so engaged one of the professional divers to teach me. Well, he taught me.
“My first duty was to strip off all my clothes, swing a bag over my shoulder, take an iron rod about two feet long and sharpened at one end with which to detach the oysters, seize a stone, and after fastening my nose so as not to take in any water that way, I jumped overboard and followed the diver below.
“The water was about thirty feet deep, and the first time I went down I could do nothing but come back again. I didn’t bring any oysters that time. The next time I went down, I managed to get half a dozen oysters, and then I came up. Well, after a while I got so that I could get my bag half filled on each descent, and began to think that I was a very fair diver. I did not do much of it, though. Half a dozen times a day were all that I was willing to try. My ears stood it very well the first day, but the second day I went down deeper and staid rather longer than at any previous time, and when I came up my ears were bleeding, and I felt as if there was at least a barrel of water in my head. That was enough for that day; but the next morning I felt all right, and tried it again.
ADVENTURE WITH A SHARK.
“Always before I went down they cautioned me to look out for sharks. ‘Never stir from the bottom,’ said one of the men, ‘until you have looked up to the top, and find everything is clear above you.’ I remembered his advice, and it was well that I did so. About ten days after I had begun to learn the business, I went down as usual, picked up some oysters, put them in my bag, and was starting to go up. I gave my usual look above, and there I saw a big shovel-nosed shark watching me. He was evidently calculating that he had me sure, and considered me as good a breakfast as he wanted. I did not like his looks, and what to do I did not exactly know. I would have much rather been in the cabin of my schooner than in the stomach of that fellow. My first impulse was to dart up beneath him, and follow the custom of the natives. Generally when one sees a shark, and can’t get off in any other way, he rises as rapidly as possible beneath the fish, and sticks the iron rod into his belly. This is a treatment for which the shark is not prepared, and unless he is over-hungry he will generally go away. Sometimes, though, he shows fight; and when it comes to a struggle it is very fierce. The shark is in his natural element, but the man is not in the element to which he is most accustomed, and if the shark is large and persistent he generally wins.
“I did not consider myself up to the emergency of stabbing that fellow with my rod, and thought I would take the chance of going by him. But that was of no use; he would have taken me in as I reached the surface, just as a trout takes in a fly. In an emergency like mine, men think, and they must think very rapidly. I do not believe that I ever thought with more rapidity in all my life. The place where I had been gathering oysters was at the side of a large rock, and I had not left it when I saw the shark. I moved quietly to the other side, thinking to dodge him.