A Woman Pearl-Diver

Hokitika Guardian, 21 July 1921, Page 4

A Woman Pearl-Diver

(By J. (). Yorston)

Lhe is no Venus, is Shika, the L’earltli\or of Toba, for itiucli contact witk the seawater has turned her hair a repulsive rusty brown, like that of the Somali boys who dive for coins at Aden. r i,-e smiling sea of Happy Japan, too, has been cruelly unkind to her coinple: .on, giving her skill a coarse and raspy texture unpleasantly reminiscent, of r...id-paper. _ I Shika, in short, is a repulsive-mbking j lady when she jmts out to sea for a pearl-diving expedition to the famous Mikbnoto Pearl Culture Farm—a beautiful and sequestered stretch of sheltered sea, where the now widely discussed Japanese culture pearls hail from. Her diving kit is of the simplest, minus the smallest scrap of sc-ientiiic--111 v designed gear. It consists of white knickerbockers, a short skirt, and a blouse, and her hair is screwed up into a light little ‘•charwoman’s bun” on .op, of her head. Hideous big glass goggles keep tbe salt water from*enteriug tier eyes.

I’m you must not think that because Shika is plain, her little Japanese husband does not care for her. <>n I' e contrary, he feels most enthusiastic about her, for does she not earn wmii (•.|'tv sen to- two yen a day (roughly Is Id to -Is 3d), working so hard that it would be madness for him to inlerI'cic in the upkeep of the home.'' Inorcloie lie spends halcyon days with the other pearl-divers’ husbands, sons, and '■•roiotT.", playing pleasant games ,ioai.ig the day away so that he shall ! ~ j',; s’i and gay to welcome Sluka home .ift(m her outing.

: ~ika started her curious prolession , j,,.ii s'..e was about fourteen years old and she spends the greater part of e.t'T ■.car Grom March to December) iti fat v. a.er. Very little work is done •: January or February, because of tile rid. lor soi it. v unison l iK' women ui\eis possess tlie ability to remm'n submerged longer than men ; they gel over We side ,f He boai that take- them to the n.. sink to tile bottom .>■' the sea, ; ::aia C:ei o i l o', atu uto lb ; ; ’ 1 ’ i nil los each time a very expert woi . fit'll l)ringing up it hundred ovders from a depth of ten fathoms feet) in sixty seconds. As they [her the oysters from the beds they i! row them with lightning speed into liule tub suspended ,com their waists. Shika ami her kind are most agile at G n work between their ’doth and 35th oais; after that they earn less, and ,! ;tvr*rage day’s work of sis. or seven 1 ours begins to tell upon tlumi. It is a curious sight to see the women when they dive and splash about in the water, uttering hoarse, whistling sounds as they go under and when they come up.