190 The Pearl.
Pacific and Atlantic coasts (in California, and latterly on the coast of New Jersey); and in several other localities.
A
short account of the pearl-fishery in Ceylon, which is the property of
and is conducted by the Colonial Government, may interest the reader.
When the season for the pearl-fishery arrives, a fleet of boats,
sometimes as many as 150, put out, but not before they have gone
through numberless ceremonies, which the natives will on no account
forego. Under the command of the adanapar, or head pilot, each boat is
manned with twenty men and a steersman, ten being rowers and ten
divers, besides a ' pillal karras,' or shark charmer. The government
keep these men in regular pay, as no diver would descend without their
presence. Other conjurors remain on the seashore, mumbling incantations
until the boats return. At each side of the boat is a stage, from which
the divers descend. The men go down into the sea five at a time; when
the first five come up, the other five go down; and by this method of
alternately diving, they give each other time to recruit themselves
for a fresh plunge.
In
order to accelerate the descent of the divers, large stones are
employed: five of these are taken in each boat for the purpose ; they
are of a reddish granite common in this country, and of a pyramidal
shape, round at top and bottom, with a hole in the smaller end
sufficient to admit a rope. Some of the divers use a stone shaped like
a half-moon, which they fasten around their middle when they wish to
descend, and thus
