Page 257 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

233 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

The extraordinary depth to which the Arab
divers descend in this sea has, I believe,

escaped the observation of former travellers;
yet in no other portion of the globe is this
arduous occupation pursued with a similar
adventurous spirit. Many exaggerated tales
&
have been circulated respecting the pearl-
fishers of the Persian Gulf; but, speaking
from personal observation, I am enabled to
assert that their divers rarely descend beyond
eleven or twelve fathoms, and, even then, they

always exhibited signs of great exhaustion.
But, in the Red Sea, old Ser6r, our pilot, of
whom honourable mention has already been
made, dived repeatedly to twenty-five fathoms
without betraying the slightest symptoms of
inconvenience. Some few years since a ves­
sel sunk amidst the outer shoals off Jiddah,
in nineteen fathoms, and the old man visited
her for several successive days, remaining
each time long enough under water to saw off

the copper bolts which projected from her
timbers. He also spent much time “ within
the bowels of the vasty deep,” diving for the
black coral, or yooss6r, a species of neophite
found near Jiddah, Yembo’, and other places