POPULAR SEARCHES:   rings  cut stones  tourmaline  yellow supphire  earrings  beryl  
 
This chapter is tagged (labeled) with: 

Ch. 10: Present Day Pearling Life

Ch. 10: Present Day Pearling Life Page of 341 Ch. 10: Present Day Pearling Life Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
176                                  Pearls.
on the water, fading away into the darkness astern. This phenomenon effectually disposed of further sleep that night. In the morning several of the elder men came to their master, and gravely, and with timidity, enquired whether "that were Satan they saw last night ! "
In Macassar, Mr. Chippindall again joined the ship, and took charge; he and Mr. Haynes pro­ceeding to Australia, and the mate leaving the ship.
Cossack, the headquarters of the West Aus­tralian pearling fleet, was reached in due time. Here a new mate joined, and work was begun at the head of the Exmouth Gulf. From April to October it is fine, calm, clear water, but too cold for naked diving. Even in November the water in the Gulf was standing at 68° Fahr., and the atmosphere at 72° Fahr., while all the boats were necessarily idle. Such cold would be sufficient to kill men if they dived.
There was one other schooner with Solorese on board, but all the others were working West-Australian aborigines. These men dive feet first, and turn in the water ; such a method being far less exhausting than plunging head foremost. The Solorese imitated the Australian men, but the Sooloo men would not give up their old habits, and
Ch. 10: Present Day Pearling Life Page of 341 Ch. 10: Present Day Pearling Life
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page