Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1891 — Diving for Pearls. [ARTICLE]

Diving for Pearls.

One of the largest pearl-fishing grounds in the world is the Gulf of California. The pearls are not generally regular in shape or very pure in color, but some are of large size, and many of the rare black pearls are found. The divers are Indians, and their equipment is of the simplest kind, consisting only of a basket hung around the neck, in which to collect the oysters, a knife to detach them from the rocks, and a stone with a cord attached. When a diver goes down he takes the cord between his toes, the weight of the stone carrying him at once to the bottom. He gathers oysters as long as his breath holds out, then rises to the surface,, to descend again in fifteen minutes. Some of the divers are Wonderfully expert, and can remain under water for as much as two minutes before rising to the surface. The mortality among them is fearful, for the Gulf of California is infested with huge sharks.