When
the deep-water boats reach the fishing grounds, half the crew is
selected for diving. The diver uses a small braided mat basket as a
receptacle for the shells and has a long line attached to him by which
he can signal to the man in the boat who manages it. There is a man to
each diver's line. Except for the short intervals at the surface
necessary for air and rest, the divers remain in the water for hours.
The oyster beds vary in depth from six to eighteen feet in the
shallows, to forty feet at the banks.
The
duration of the fishing season depends on the temperature of the water.
It lasts usually through July, August, and September, though some of
the larger boats remain out from the end of June until the beginning of
October.
The
pearls are sold by weight, sales being made sometimes while at sea and
a duty equalling about twenty per cent, is levied on the spot. A large
number of Hindu traders come during the season to buy, returning to
India at the close as they have done for centuries.
No exact statistics of the output of these
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