that the sea gets lighted up and he can see whatever is in it. He then
casts his gaze to and fro till it perches upon a shell which looks as if it is
an even surfaced stone. Lying under the water it looks like a large plum
to him although in reality it is the size of a grape. The diver climbs down
a crooked ladder made of the wood of jujube. Around one side of his
waist is tied a black stone weighing twenty-five to thirty mannas. The
diver propels his mount with an oar-like object till he reaches close to the
shell. He then begins to swim, bark and shout so that the harmful animals give him a wide berth. He keeps both his nostrils plugged with two
ivory or cypress pieces as they do not open in the water. He casts his
anchor with a cloth piece and hangs a reticulate bag made of cannabis
twigs from his neck to keep the shell in it. He then places both his feet
upon the stone and hangs from the rope. He progressively goes down
and surfaces up by the same rope. He then keeps the stone in a brazier
inside his cloak and wends his way towards the coast. The black stone is
carried by the divers to scare away a creature in the sea of which they are
afraid since it kills them. This creature flees at the sight of the black
stone. If the stone bears white or some other marking, this creature,
taking it to be some foodstuff, attacks it. At times, when it pulls the
stone, the brazier turns upside down and is lost. The diver as soon as he
sees this creature, leaves the stone and surfaces so that he may be free
from the danger posed by it. He swims coastwards, shouting and taking
long breaths (he is unable to breathe while in the sea). He then wraps
himself thoroughly with a blanket and lies down for a little while till he
begins to perspire. He then gets up and goes about his work. From the
middle hour between sunrise and the meridian he can dive at the most
three to four times. He takes his food after he has finished diving, not
before. During this period the oysters have died by undergoing an opening and shutting movement. The diver searches for the pearl by splitting
open their mouths. Should one of the oysters be alive, it would be difficult to open its mouth since it tightens its stomach very strongly. If the
diver works for himself, he keeps the pearls, otherwise he hands them
over to the merchant. He is the owner of all the other material he has
obtained aside from pearls.
If the diver does not get any shell, he loosens the rope and moves to
and fro like an arrow, and fills his bag with whatever he likes. It also
happens that two divers fight over a pearl-shell and the more powerful
of the two is the winner. If he does not get hold of the nacreous shell,
he gets hold of the animals belonging to the species of azfar al-tib. These
are like intestines, .with ventilators on both sides, having the azfar al-tib.
Al-Kindi writes:
If he (i.e. the diver) misses the shell, then among the items he collects
is a hair-like object with which are made the bracelets of the Kurds.
