A single plunge enables a diver to secure five or six oysters, sometimes seven or eight, but rarely more. The boats which attend them are managed by rowers, or are secured by an anchor, or a stone, fastened to a rope. Some of the divers have a rope around them, attached to the boat. The most prudent course is to be as little encumbered as possible, that they may avoid the sharks and dog-fish. They are, however, generally armed with a short stick, made of hard wood, and pointed. A lookout or watcher is in each boat, to give a signal to those under water when danger is apparent.
THE WAYS THAT ARE DARK.
The gangs of younger divers divide into three parties, and rest for longer periods. They go to their labor fasting. When below, they of course snatch the oysters up as quickly as possible, using the short stick they carry, when necessary to separate them from any other substance. Finding an oyster likely to contain a pearl, the stick is sometimes used to open it, and the diver will reappear with a shell or two, and tell that during three minutes immersion he could discover nothing but shells. The fraud is often discovered, and the stick freely used on the head or back of the cheat.
Jules Verne,in his Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, gives the account of an adventure of a pearl-diver, which is of the most thrilling nature; Prof. Aronnax has gone down to the bottom of the sea, in a peculiar diving apparel, which allowed him to remain under water for a considerable time, with Captain Nemo of the Nautilus, and two or three other men. The professor tells his story thus:
“About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and sank to the ground. The disquieting idea of sharks shot through my mind, but I was mistaken; and once again it was not a monster of the ocean that we had anything to do with.
“It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a poor devil, who, I suppose, had come to glean before the harvest. I could see the bottom of his canoe anchored some feet above his head. He dived and went up successively. A stone held between his feet, cut in the shape of a sugar-loaf, whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him to descend more rapidly. This was all his apparatus. Reaching the bottom, about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled his bag with oysters picked up at random. Then he went up, emptied it, pulled up his stone, and began the operation once more, which lasted thirty seconds.
“The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock hid us from sight. And how should this poor Indian ever dream that men, beings like himself, should be there under the water watching his movements, and losing no detail of the fishing. Several times he went up in this way, and dived again. He did not carry away more than ten at each plunge, for he was obliged to pull them from the bank to which they adhered by means of their strong byssus. And how many of those oysters for which he risked his life had no pearl in them! I watched him closely; his manœuvres were regular, and, for the space of half an hour, no danger appeared to threaten him.
“I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight of this interesting fishing, when suddenly, as the Indian was on the ground, I saw him make a gesture of terror, rise, and make a spring to return to the surface of the sea.
“I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow appeared just above the unfortunate diver. It was a shark of enormous size, advancing diagonally, his eyes on fire, and his jaws open. I was mute with horror, and unable to move.
FIGHTING A SHARK.