sea, which are very hot-beds of pearls, shells, religious frenzy and half famished Arabs and Negro slaves.
The
"bulbul" oysters are taken in nearly the same manner as in the Persian
Gulf. When the vessel is located over the reef, each diver descends,
commonly with a short stick of iron or hard wood, with which he
releases the oysters within reach ; placing them in a sack, he is
pulled up by an attendant when his breath is nearly exhausted.
The
fisheries are prosecuted along both sides of the Red Sea and in the
channels among the islands, from the Gulf of Akabah to Bab-el-Mandeb.
They are especially extensive among the Dahlak Islands on the coast of
the Italian colony Eritrea, where the population is largely supported
by them. This was the center of the industry during the time of the
Ptolemies and in the early Christian era. The fisheries are also
important in the vicinity of Jiddah, the port of entrance for Mecca and
Medina, holiest places of Islam. They likewise exist near Kosseir at
the northern end of the sea, and at Suakin, Massawa, the Farsan
Islands, and Loheia, near the lower end. They are carried on by Arabs,
who succeed in evading efforts at control on the part of the local
governments. Even on the African side, the Arab fishermen predominate,
for the native Egyptian has never evinced much fondness for venturing
on the sea.
On
the southeast coast of Arabia, pearl fishermen are to be found at the
various harbors from Aden to Muscat. Their fantastic dhows are met with
in the harbor of Makalla, and also in that of Shehr. On the Oman coast,
the ports of Sur and of sun-scorched Muscat do a considerable pearling
business, not only locally but to the Sokotra Islands, and even on the
coast of East Africa and Zanzibar, the trading baggalas adding pearling
and illicit slave-trading to their many sources of income. A number of
these traders, each with an instinct for pearls equal to that of a
trained hound for game, visit the fishing centers at intervals, and
exchange needful commodities for pearls and shells.
The
Arab pearl divers of the Red Sea have been noted for the depths to
which they can descend. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted, of the Indian Navy,
who had unusual facilities for acquaintance with their exploits,
reported that in the Persian Gulf the fishermen rarely descended
beyond eleven or twelve fathoms, and even then they exhibited signs of
exhaustion; but that in the Red Sea they go down twice that depth.
Among the most noted of these divers of the last century was old Serur,
who attracted the notice of many travelers. Lieutenant Wellsted states
that he saw him descend repeatedly to twenty-five fathoms without the
slightest evidence of distress ; that he frequently dived in thirty
fathoms, and is reported to have brought up mud from the
