Page 279 - Records of Bahrain (4) (i)_Neat

The pearl industry, 1924-1927 267

All that had really happened was that the original coot of en-
wlavlnc a diver for lifo had riaen, v.wing to compotitl on, but tho
divers wore hopoloi.sly tiod up7 Sc in reality^ worse off than 1ormerly ,
v/hon occasionally, an energetic man could work in tho off-season Sc

******* tho debt A free hiraoolfOf couroe tho Naxhuda did not al­
ways have it his own way-aometimes the divor died afterja few tieaaono/
Idien ho had genuinely,forthe time being.’got away^ith* tho advances.
Semotiwes he bolted,*: the Nkkhuda in either case lout his money.

’Runaways’ have greatly increased of lato years,*: many Nakhudas have
been ruined inconsequence. Tho methods new being gradually introduce"*
will decrease the riaka of the Nakhudas, Sc step virtual enslavement
of the divers. Meat Nakhudas new realiao that it will have advantage!*
for them in loosening risk, A aa advances are limited by the Stato
the only means of attracting another Nakhudas divers will be by
fairer treatment, that is by paying the diver his fair earnings.
An abuse which had sprung up in this connection,was that Nakhudas

had begun te swindle ene another by inducing divers to come te 'them
without paying eff the original debt and rocieving a ’Barwah1 .
The first result of improved conditions will be for
divers to tend to come to Bahrain,where they can ^cta square deal.
This is,in fact alr&dy becoming noticeable,*: herein lies the
"effect created in other chiefships".It is not a question of what Hat
form of court exists^ or dees not exist^in .Bahrain,which interests

other chiefs,but tho knowledge that the best divers will come to
Bahrain.This is ooy Sc the natural consequence is that in the course
of timo-the divers must be better troated in tho rest of the Gulf, •
Sc we shall have achieved a more widespread improvement th$n could hx
have been at first foreseen.
It is quite impossible te set f».»rth all the details
in a letter-I have made no mention of the various systems of diving-
Khammas, *Azal, liadyan, fAmil etc all of whic:. have their peculiar-

-ities Sc their individual abuses of their rules. Te explain the full
ramificatiens ef the abuses wftich have arisen Sc their alfeot both
on the industry Sr. on trade, it would require an extremely longfliy
vfqpAtafoMfi, I have oellected information v/ith a yi-vr to writing