returne
to the Ilande to theyr houses, and présente all the oysters to the
master or stewarde of the house of theyr lorde who hath charge of the
sayde Indians. And when he hath gyven them sumwhat to eate, he layeth
up the oysters in safe custodie untyll he have a great quantitie
thereof. Then hee causeth the same fyssher men to open them. And they
fynde in every of them pearles other great or smaul, two or three or
foure, and sumtymes five and syxe, and many smaule graines accordyng to
the lyberalitie of nature. They save the pearles bothe smaule and great
whiche they have founde : And eyther eate the oysters if they wyl, or
caste them away, havynge so great quantitie thereof that they in maner
abhorre them. Those oysters are of hard fleshe, and not so pleasant in
eatyng as are owres of Spayne. This Ilande of Cubagua where
this manner of fysching is exercised, is in the Northe coaste, and is
no bygger then the Hand of Zelande. Oftentymes the sea en-creaseth
greatly, and muche more then the fyshers for pearles wold, bycause
where as the place is very depe, a man can not naturally rest at the
bottome by reason of the aboundaunce of aery substannce whiche is in
hym, as I have oftentymes proved. For althoughe he may by vyolence and
force descende to the bottome, yet are his feete lyfted up ageyne so
that he can continue no tyme there. And therefore where the sea is
verye deepe, these Indian fyshers use to tye two great stoones aboute
them with a corde, on every side one, by the weyght whereof they
descend to the bottome and remayne there untyl them lysteth to ryse
ageine : At which tyme they unlose the stones, and ryse uppe at their
pleasure. But this their aptenesse and agilitie in swimming, is not the
thynge that causeth men moste to marvaile : But rather to consyder how
many of them can stände in the bottome of the water for the space of
one hole houre and summe more or lesse, accordynge as one is more apte
hereunto then an other. An other thynge there is whiche seemeth to me
very straunge. And this is, that where as I have oftentymes demaunded
of summe of these lordes of the Indians, if the place where they
accustomed to fysche for pearles beynge but lyttle and narrowe wyll not
in shorte tyme bee utterly without oysters if they consume them so
faste, they al answered me, that although they be consumed in one
parte, yet if they go a fyschynge in an other parte or on another
coaste of the Ilande, or at an other contrary wynd, and continue
fysshing there also untyll the oysters be lykewyse consumed, and then
returne ageyne to the fyrste place, or any other place where they
fysshed before and emptied the same in lyke maner, they find them
ageine as ful of oysters as though they had never bin fysshed. Wherby
we may judge that these oysters eyther remove from one place to an
other as do other fysshes, or elles that they are engendered and
encrease in certeyne ordinaire places. This Hand of Cumana and Cubagua where they fyshe for these perles, is in the twelfe degree of the part of the said coaste which inclineth toward the North.
The
cupidity of the proprietors of the fishery led to most cruel treatment
of the divers and, if the accounts of the time are to be relied upon, a
large percentage of them died under the harsh régime. About
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Scribd
