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THE PEARL
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it.
This he sinks a little way in the water and gazes through it below.
Presently the can is discarded, over he goes and returns shortly with a
few shells; while near by a clumsy monster emerges and a diver in dress
climbs into his boat. This use of modern tin cans and glass is adopted
in seas where the shells are scattered and is common to pearl-divers
the world over.
The
Moros have a method of fishing in very calm weather peculiar to
themselves. They drop a three-prong catcher attached to a rattan rope
upon the oyster bunches and so haul them up to the boat. This can only
be done when the sea is perfectly still, as even a ripple would render
a sight of the oysters impossible. Ordinarily they dive to any depth
down to twenty fathoms.
Many
attempts have been made to introduce dress-diving among the natives of
the east but so far few have been successful. Results from experiments
have not compared favorably with naked diving and so, with few
exceptions, naked diving is still the rule in the east where natives
control the fishings.
182
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