SECRETS OF THE RED SEA

Waipa Post, Volume 49, Issue 3505, 14 August 1934, Page 2

SECRETS OF THE RED SEA

ADVENTURES WITH PEARLS AND GUNS. Pearl dealing is more complicated than any. Stock Exchange transaction. The nacouda,, or captain, of an Arab pearler and two members of the crew come to the buyer’s house accompanied, by- a broker. Tea is served and conversation turns on every subject except pearls. But finally they cut the cackle and come to hosses. The nacouda —we learn from “Secrets of the Red Sea” by M. Henri de Monfried, a French adventurer who has spent many years pearl-fishing and gun-running—produced his packet of pearls, and, after considerable weighing and calculating, the buyer, Jacques Schouchana, said “Kam?” (How much?): — “Twenty thousand rupees,” replied the nacouda. (About two thousand English pounds.) “A hundred pounds,” replied Schouchana, impassible. So the bargaining began with a difference of nineteen hundred pounds betweep *the buyer’s price and the seller’s. At the end of two hours they were not much further on —the nacouda' had come down to fifteen hundred pounds and Schouchana had gone up to three hundred. As there was no hope of settlement —apparently there never is—the broker joined in. He unwound his turban and threw it over the seller’s hand and one of his own: — A silent dialogue ensued between the two hands hidden under the stuff'. Here is the key to it. The seizing of one finger meant I—lo—-100-^-1000—and1 —10—-100-^-1000—and so on, two fingers meant 2—20—2000, etc., and so on up to ten. . . . During this pantomime the' seller protests and makes a counter offer, taking in his turn the finger of the broker. This goes on for half an hour. Then the broker, knowing the secret proposition, begins the same pantomimic discussion with the buyer. In the end, when the broker thinks he has found a figure to suit both buyer and seller, he is appointed arbiter. He places the hand of the seller in the hand of the buyer:— “Say ‘I sell.’ ” He refuses at first, and makes objections, but finally he pronounces the sacred words. The bargain is concluded and the broker announces the price lie has fixed. Immediately both sides break out into an explosion of imprecations.

The seller: “You have taken my property, you are a thief, God will punish you, etc.” The buyer: “I am ruined and by a madman like you. May the money of your commission lead you to hell, etc.” Often they strike the imperturbable broker —it is the custom. The broker later persuades each of them that he has “done” the other — and gets two rewards! The wretched divers get practically nothing, for the labours in the course of which they risk death and disease. They usually work in pairs, and depend closely on each other, bound by the daily struggle against death. One, in the stern, paddles slowly, while the other, his head in a case which has a glass side resting on the water, inspects the bottom of the sea. If he sees an oyster, he dives, leaving the case floating on the surface. The other man seizes it in turn, and surveys' the evolution of his diving partner, so as to be ready to help in case of danger. He is armed with a sort of iron, lance, ten feet long, which he holds ready to strike a possible attacker, a shark or other carnivorous" fish. Pearl diving often runs in families. Male children, says M. Monfried, go out with their fathers “as soon as they are able to eat alone, and learn the profession, so to speak, from birth. I have seen boutres with eight or ten divers’ children on board. In spite of their tininess, these children busy themselves about the ship and are Very precocious. At four they have"' the mental development of our children at ten or twelve. It is true that . .their development stops when they are about ten, when the skull hardens, And they remain children all their lives.” M. de Monfried has been involved in many stirring adventures when pearling and gun-running. On one occasion he had a consignment of arms stolen by Arabs. He set out in pursuit, but could .not quite overhaul the robbers. So he thought of a plan to stop their boat:”*! had a heavy Gras rifle, transformed into a sporting gun. . . In it 1 put a cartridge filled with powder, and into the barrel I introduced a steel chain the cabin-boy wore for attaching his keys to his belt. . . . When. I was sixty yards away, I fired, shooting- this strange projectile into the middle of the sail. The gun did not burst, but its kick knocked me over. The chain had straightened out in the-air, and slashed the sail across; the force of the wind finished the job and rent the canvas in two. Immediately ' the ship, like a wounded bird, lost_ speed and began to drift.” M. de' Monfried soon drew up to them and. recovered his property. Another time he chased a pirate who had stolen some pearls. Under cover of -darkness he approached armed with a novel weapon—three sticks of gelignite, fitted with a fuse to burn for f.wenty seconds, and fastened to the end of. _ a boathook* His men shouted suddenly to wake the pirates:

“I kept on counting . . . eighteen . . . nineteen . . . And a greenish flame leapt up in the centre of the boat at the same time as the dynamite exploded with a sharp report. I had held the explosive under the mast, where it is rare for anyone ; to sleep; it heeled over and presently a hail of stones fell on all sides; it was the ballast consisting of small boulders which had been blown sky high. By a miracle there were no casualties. In a ( few seconds the zaroug sank and all living creatures who had been on board were left swimming in the water.” Later some of his crew dived down to see what they could find in the wreck. M. de Monfried followed their example: “I had never been more than two or three fathoms under water before, so I had a violent pain in my ears, as the drums were not pierced. . . . Then suddenly there was a sound like a pistol-shot and I felt as if the entire sea were rushing into my head. The eardrums had been perforated, and the pain stopped. I had seen enough and kicked out vigorously in order to rise. This ascension seemed to me to last for ever, and I could see the surface shining like silver. I thought I was emerging and was about to fill my lungs, but no! always more and more water. . . . Then at last the air, just in time, for I don’t believe I could have lasted out another two seconds.”