LIFE ON A PEARLING LUGGER.

Northern Advocate, 13 April 1911, Page 2

LIFE ON A PEARLING LUGGER.

(By "CR." in the "Railway)

Gazette.")

A fine morning in September ar.d a fair breeze blowing when we h.lt our moorings for a spot on the pearling grounds 25 miles to the south-west of Broome. In about three hours' sail we arrived at our destination. We hove to, and our diving gear being brought on deck, thoroughly over- [ hauled and inspected, everything was j made ready for the diver's d-.sc_.nt into the depths of the ocean. Before describing the proceedings necessary to the getting of the shell I will first, as far as I am able, describe the lugger, its crew, etc. The lugger is a bluff built craft, not remarkable for its sailing capabilities, and varies from 25 to 50 tens burthen; its length from 25 to 30 feet over all, rigged with two masts and square-cut sails, and presents when running under a stiff breeze a not unpicturesque appearance. She has two hatches and cabin aft, containing from four to six bunks, which are not remarkable for their freedom from vermin. In fact battal- j lions of cockroaches insist on obtruding themselves even to the extent of dining with you. The crew is composed of one European, who is in charge, and does all the shell opening for 30s per week and 10 per cent, of nett proceeds at end of the season. The diver is generally a Jap or Malay.

lhe lugger I was on the diver was a. Jap, and a fine fellow, too. The diver gets £45 advance before signing on for tho season, and his wages vary according to the class of man he is, with bonus at the end of the season. In addition to his duties us diver he is in many cases nominally in charge of the lugger so far as sailing her is concerned. The other members of the crew, four in number, are Filipinos or Javanese, and get from £2 to £3 per month and small bonus. Their period of service is from three years upward—they being, in the majority of cases, brought from Broome under the indenture system to be returned to Penang and other Dutch ports at the end of their indenture.' Having described the crew, I will now proceed with the business. We have now.drifted to the spot which the diver has selected for making his descent; the ladder is over the side, the pump and ropes, air pipes and the barometer have been examined; the diver has given his last instructions to his assistants and is waiting to have the helmet screwed on. This being done his basket is' attached to the belt, and he proceeds to the ladder. .Gradually he disappears and for some little time nothing is seen but bubbles caused by the descent. Later a tug of the guide rope indicates that he has arrived at the bottom, and another signal is given to ■iay out, as he is now commencing to walk along the floor of the ocean. The only indication that is given of his movements is by the signal or guide rope. Hallo! Three tugs, and again three more; the diver is returning, and gradually he is hauled to the surface. Another step and he is once more on the deck of the lugger. The helmet is unscrewed, basket removed, and shell emptied out. After a short spell he once more descends and the same procedure is carried out four or five times according to the depth of the watc and the day's work is over. The shell-opener then proceeds to I work, and opens the shells and exam- ' ines same for the purpose of discovering any pearls that may be there. The fish is scooped out of the shell into a tub and left there until it becomes a liquid mass, when it is poured through a very fine hair-sieve, for j often the pearl becomes embedded in the fish and would likely become lost were it not for this course. The evening is now on, and tea is finished. We have had a very ful day, having got a fair quanc'tiy of shell and somp likely looking pearls. I don't wish the reader tc run away with the idea that every shell colitis ns '..earls. Not by any mean.; The writer has seen hundreds of shells op(.uvd \mhotit a solitary pearl. The next lugger to me was one that was lucky enough to get the. famous Southern Cross pearl, which brought several thousands in London somp. years ago. A schooner is fast hoving in sight and most likely has the mail, also stores and water, so everything is made ready for a visit to her, this '■ping one of the most agreeable breaks n the monotony of tin life. Tho diver and myself row the din-

ghy, with which every lugger is provided, to the schooner, and on arrival find she has the mail, which arrived shortly after our departure from Broome ,and also find that other congenial spirits have also come over from the other luggers. Here we frat-

ernise, compare notes, swap lies, etc., and the skipper being a good fellow we sample his liquor, inspect the slop chest, and make out a list of our requirements, hand over our mail, and receive any instructions, as to to our future movements, etc., before returning to our respective luggers and proceeding once more to the business of pearling, and until the arrival of the next schooner, which probably brings some of us instructions to return to headquarters for the clean up.

The greatest care has to be taken by the shell opener that the coloured members of the crew have not inspected the contents of the shell before him and careful though he may be, hiuidreds of pounds worth of pearls find their way into the market by other means than the correct one. In fact it ; s a well-known fact in Broome that several of the prominent pearlers, notwithstanding all precautions, have bought pearls found by their own luggers, but the difficulty is to prove it.

Before closing I will endeavor to give my readers some idea of what it

is like to go down in a diver's rig, the writer having had the experience. One day I suggested to the diver that I should descend in place of him, so we selected a likely looking spot, and I for once, but never again, became the diver, and after being rigged in the gear with the exception of the helmet, I can assure you all sorts of queer thoughts commenced to flow through my mind, but sooner than show the white feather before the grinning black faces that stood around me, I gave instructions for the helmet to be placed in position, which is done with the window in the face of the helmet open, and when the helmet is properly adjusted and screwed on and the air lu.se attached the window or peep-hole is closed, and slowly, with regular strokes, the air is pumped into the

diving dress. The sensation is most peculiai, seeming to the diver like the incessant beating- of a number of drums, but this gradually wears off.

After everything had been examined I moved with difficulty, owing to the heavy boots, to the side of the lugger, put my feet on the ladder and commenced the descent as gracefully as I was able, but can assure you when it came to the last rung on the ladder I was reluctant to let go. However, when I did I found myself slowly descending until I reached the floor of the ocean. A minute or so elapsed before I could realise that Thad reached my. destination. I commenced to walk about. Presently I came across what '. descended for, and with the, aid of my knife collected several shells, a pair of which, together with a straw colored pearl, I still retain as mementoes of my first and probably my last diving exploit. The sensation of walking around under water is to say the least about it peculiar. Fishes approach with mouths wide open as if they intended to swallow you; enormous crabs, cr rather they appear so, scuttle about in all directions; large jelly fish float by; all manner of things move alout, and you feel impressed by an intense loneliness. It is almost impossible to describe the marvels and wonders that exist o 1 ) the ocean bed. After moving around a little while longer I gave the signal to be raised to the surface, and once more returned to the lugger's deck and had the helmet removed, together with the rest of the kit, and again resumed more congenial garb, but I can assure my readers that was not the ending to the experiment, I suffered from a frightful headache, and for many weeks afterwards dreamt of J enormous fish and broken air pipes.