Hi Josh and All,
Took me a bit to recall where it was, but on the Farlang website, the book by Streeter, Pearls and Pearling Life, page 232:
...... they feed them with dry meats and in a little quantity, avarice putting them upon these abstinences, but besides this, they put upon their nose little pincers made of buffalo's horn, which stoppeth their nostrils, they stuffe their ears with cotton wool. Others hold oil in their mouths, especially those who cannot hold their breath long. Others hold their mouth under their armpits, and after that manner breathe two or three times under water. There is a sack of stones or sand tied to each of their feet to make them sink straight to the bottom, and another bag tied to their waist, to put their oysters in. There is a cord fastened under their armpits held by them who remain in the boat, and they under water hold another cord in their hands, which they draw to give notice to those in the boat that they can now hold their breath no longer, and that they must draw them up quickly.
"When they have found a thousand or two of these oysters, they sell them at adventure, without knowing what is within them. The meat of the oyster is without relish, and of very ill digestion, and is so far from being so good to eat as the meat of our oysters from Spain, or those of England, that the very fisherman disdain them.......' It is indeed a fascinating read.
Pattye
so many pearls, so little time
p.s. yes, truth is still stranger than fiction!
