Page 258 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

XII.] COAST OF ARABIA. 239

in their vicinity. All his sons are equally
expert as swimmers and divers. I have re­
peatedly seen them remain floating on the
surface of the waves, watching for the de­
scent of a rupee, which some one on hoard
was preparing to toss over, and which they
never failed to catch long before it reached

the bottom. During warm weather—for here,
as in the Persian Gulf, the Arabs do not
admire cold water—the young divers may be
frequently observed undergoing a regular
course of training in their art, which they
persevere in until the blood gushes from their
eyes, ears, and noses. A still severer trial
must be endured before they are considered
adepts, which does not happen until the drum
of the ear is actually ruptured. One of these

amphibious youngsters, scarcely thirteen years
of age, would sink to the depth of twenty-five
fathoms. Old Serur, the father, has fre­
quently dived in thirty fathoms, and once
offered, for a heavy wager, to bring mud from
the bottom at thirty-five. I have been cre­

dibly informed he has actually accomplished
this latter feat, though the former is the great­
est depth to which I have ever seen him de-