Pearling Life at the Present Day. 171
on
his way to , New Guinea. Seven days were spent at Dobbo, in Aru, and
here a strange incident happened, worth mentioning. On attempting to
heave up the anchor, it was found to be foul ; on sending a man down to
report (in \2\ fathoms), it was discovered that the anchor had
dropped into a small hole in a rock, standing solitary on a smooth
bottom, and that the flukes were firmly fixed below the overhanging
edges. The following device was resorted to in order to clear the
anchor : a man having gone down, and made fast a small line to the
fluke of the anchor in the hole, all chain was veered out to ensure the
safety of the ship ; four candles of dynamite were bound together with
a fuse inserted, and attached to a thimble on the line. The line was
then held quite taut and vertical, the fuse lit and the charge dropped,
the line being held until the charge was felt to have reached the
bottom. The dingy then paddled away from the spot and the charge was
exploded. The result was that the anchor came up with a broken fluke,
and the rock was shattered to pieces.
On
April 4th, when the New Guinea coast was sighted, a Solorese diver was
suddenly taken ill. His pulse being very weak indeed, it was thought
that a spoonful of brandy might revive him, but on its being given, the
man died in less than a minute.
