ON THE PEARL BEDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1937, Page 11

ON THE PEARL BEDS

THE WORK OF A DIVER A DAY WITH A LUGGER The, grey light of dawn steals into the heavens, everything is very still, nit a ripple disturbs the placid waters of the Indian Ocean as it laps the palmfringed coast of a north-wastern. Australian town. ■ : - ■ . Broome, the heart of the world's lew j good pearling grounds, turns over; as it wera, and gently awakes from sleep. Just off-shore are about 100 pearling - luggers. With' their crews aboard they have been lying at anchor all night awaiting the i morrow. Each lugger carries a crew of five Malays, headed by a Japanese .diver,, who is in charge of the boat. There is a gradual movemerit among them. They bestir themselves, and each goes' without fuss. or. bother about.-his-own task. They are trained to it;' it never varies except in case of dangerous emergency, when (anything may happen, for they, are a coloured' crew. . .-. , The diver, who has slept below in thei tiny cabih, comes on deck. He sniffs the fresh, morning air. casts an experienced "weather- eye" at the shafts of sunlight as tney come 'with ever-increasing strength across the water. The sky, he notices, is without a cloud. The sea 'is placid. and clear. . ;"■'•.

A GOOD DAY FOR SHELL,

1 Yes! he expects a good day for shell —mother of pearl shell—the pursuit of which claims his one and,'only serious attention in life. He issues an order, not in his own language, ■■ or in English, but in the language of his crew, which he speaks fluently. ; .Two go,forward to lift the anchor. Two go below to get up the diving gear which will be used' later in the aay. One, the cook, makes his way to the tiny galley at the foot of the,foremast, where he prepares- breakfast. ■. . . '.. ;■"' The' diver... re-enters' his.small cabin, which also is the engine-room. A minute later the stillness of-the dawn is broken by the short staccato cracks of a primed petrol engine firing. . ■/ Tho anchor is taken inboard, and the lugger, moving forward under, her own power, threads a way through the anchored fleet and, heads for- the open sea. She is the first of many to get away. Later, most of the others will, follow—each going! her own way to seek her fortune. : '•'..." . "'' ~ The crew breakfast, with the excep; tion -of .the diver, who eats sparingly. They seem to fill ,themselves ~with rice and, fish. '.. Thte..; diver's heavy meal comes at the end of the.day; not at the beginning. They are a merry and carefree crew; they laugh as they eat, and they sing .at their tasks which follow the meal. •: , .. The blankets are .stbwed away, the sails are urifurl'-d and made ready for setting i.i case'bf-necessity.; (They are not lashed today, for "{here is little or no wind.) The diving dipss is laid out, the rubber air pipes and lifelines are carried down in the-^ stern sheets; a small ladder is made fast to the starboard side of the boat; and a dozen an^ one small details are attended to.

DRESSING THE DIVER,

The \ lugger, ~ making about eight knots; 'approaches the" reef "it'has "been decided-to "fish" that day. The diver calls to his .Number One, boy, or "tender," as he Commences to. climb into' the diving suit* The tender adjusts a strap here, a buckle there, the leaded; solid , boots are ■, put on, and fastened carefully. The diver, mutters a word and^ the boy goes below to return in a few minutes with a knitted woollen cap, and a glass, a very small glass of port, wine; these will warm and stimulate the diver as he works below. . - - ' ■ A tiny flag, .bobbing on a small buoy, which had been left the day before to mark. the reef, is sighted* The lugger comes up into the.-wind with a round turn. "'....■ .'; . . ;-.; V'■ . Number One slows down the engine and then, stops ~it altogether.'.'.The anchor, rattles away .to find the .ocean bed, the boat is over, the "ground." Now is the diver's hour. He puts on.! first, his woollen cap. Then the. burnished copper .diving helmet goes Over his headland, resting on his shoulders, is screwed down. The serious business of the day is about to commence. ' . The handles of the air pump are turning as the diver goes oyer the side.. Fastened to his .waist is the lifeline, a thin but strong rope by;which he will "speak" to his tender whilst he '. wr pks below,';, Everything is in readiness, the 'diver'braces his. body and steps off the ladder. Down, down he goes to 15 fathoms,. 90 feet, where his descent it, arrested. He is being "staged" or allowed to become accustomed to" the ihcre,asing water pressure under which he must work still lower down. ■..■.' He is a stoic, he waits patiently; when ready he signals, one tug on the lifeline and he: begins to sink again. At 30-fathoms, 180 feet,: his descent is arrested by the soft and sandy seabed.

NATURE'S FAIRYLAND,

There is a dull light here, but not as dull-as might' be expected herein Nature's fairyland. Marine growth, speckled and brightly tinged vegetation, unbelievably beautiful, coloured fish, sponges, giant clams, vivid corals, and weirdly-coloured jelly fish of extraordinary size, and, most important of all, the mother of pearl oysters which the diver is seeking. ■■■ = Once his feet touch the ocean bed his lifeline slackens. He pulls it sharply twice—the "pay-out" signal to his tender above. Then he moves forward and gathers his shell as he finds it : Time counts but little with him as hp wanders the floor ol n^ j-j*.-.. world, but Nature warns him An-.'V' increasing throb in his temples, a pain at the back of his eyts, aiw, '^-...v difficulty in breathing fqrce him to rest.' ' He gives the - "heave up : and stage". signal, and after a movement the line about his waist tightens, and the ocean bed begins, to slip away. He is "stayed" agau at 15 fathoms, and then hauled on deck. Willing hands assist him. The helmet is unscrewed and lifted from the dress m he sits quietly to rest before he goes down again. At the end of the day the deck of the lugger is strewn with unopened oysters.. One by one they are taken. a knife slipped between the two halves at the heel of the double.shell, and it .opens. Four fingers and a thumb search the.oyster. It yields nothing. The.diver and his crew work quickly. The halves of shell are scraped clean, the serrated edges Chipped away, and the shell itself packed into sacks, each weighing about a hundredweight. . There is no excitement about the job, for, contrary to general belief, a pearling master is more interested tn pearl oyster shell than the pearJ itself. Pearl shell is worth about £18U a ton on the open market. As for the t diver, he has no* found a pearl today, but there is always tomorrow. If there is one man . in the , world who waits patiently it is a, Japanese.