WOMEN PEARL DIVERS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 679, 20 June 1914, Page 3

WOMEN PEARL DIVERS.

Curiously enough, (he r.carl di;ers of Japan are women. Aloiir tin coast of the Bay of As.6 end "tb.3 Bay of Kokasho tliD thirteen and • fourteen-year-old girls, after, thej: have finished tlie.tr primary s h o'~ work,, go to sea and learn to They are in the water , and learn, to swim almost from ' babyhood .and: spend most of their'.time in ihs-water,' except in the coldest season, from the end of December to the beginning of; February. Even during tha most in- | clement of seasons they sonic liases,. dive for pearls. . They w.rar-.a- special. dress, white underwear, aiA -thj lia-'r : ; twisted ;up into a hard-.-knot;- 'The eyes are protected by glasses to I. prevent the entrance of water. jTub's-: are suspended . from the .waist. A boat in command, jof a man is as- . signed to 'every five 'or ten women divers to carry them to and from the fishing 'grounds. , When thi divers arrive oh the grounds they reap into the water. .at once and begin to gather oysters at. the'bottom. ■' The' oysters are dropped into tho tubs siispcnJed from their waists. Whsn these vessels are fillsd the' di'versare raised to the surface and jump into the boats. They dive to a depth of from five to thirty fathoms without any special apparatus and retain, .their breath from one to three minv ' utes. Their ages vary from thir-' i teen to forty years, and between twenty-five and thirty-five they arc at their prime. .'", .