semi-priests
developed, but at the time of Marco Polo's visit about 1294, they were
in the full bloom of their authority, receiving one twentieth of the
total catch of oysters,1 which amounted to a very
considerable sum. It is probable that the number of shark-charmers was
then quite large, some writers more recently referring to one for each
boat. During the Portuguese occupation the number was reduced to
twelve, and at the beginning of the British influence, it was further
reduced to two.
Interesting
descriptions have been given of the methods by which these men
exercised their alleged powers. In 1807, Cordiner stated:
One
goes out regularly in the head pilot's boat. The other performs certain
ceremonies on shore. He is stripped naked, and shut up in a room, where
no person sees him from the period of the sailing of the boats until
their return. He has before him a brass basin full of water, containing
one male and one female fish made of silver. If any accident should
happen from a shark at sea, it is believed that one of these fishes is
seen to bite the other. The divers likewise believe that, if the
conjurer should be dissatisfied, he has the power of making the sharks
attack them, on which account he is sure of receiving liberal presents
from all quarters.2
Amusing
stories are told of the shrewdness displayed by these fellows in
inventing explanations to redeem their credit when a fisherman became
a victim of the sharks. These accounts are by men who evidently bore no
good-will toward the shark-charmers, and it would be of interest to
hear from the other side ; but we have been unable to find any one who
has appeared in print in their defense.
The
British government, in its policy of noninterference with the
superstitions or semi-religious customs of the natives, tolerated these
seeming impostors, owing, probably, in a measure, to the fact that the
superstitious belief in their necessity was favorable to the
preservation of the resources, since it restricted poaching on the
reefs. However, the government endeavored to prevent an extravagant
misuse of the influence, and restricted the compensation of the
shark-charmers to one oyster per day from each diver. Later, they were
remunerated by the government, and were not allowed, under any pretense
whatever, to demand, exact, or receive oysters or any other
compensation from the boatmen, divers, or any other persons. And,
finally, in 1885, the shark-charmers were done away with entirely,
after having exacted their toll for upward of six centuries at least.
The
dangers to which the Ceylon divers are exposed have been greatly
exaggerated, and especially the risks from sharks. Poets tell
