f submersion. It is also said that
the divers of Oceanica use heavy stones. According to Guyot-Daubes, in
the Philippine Isles the native pearl-fishers teach their children to
dive to the depth of 25 meters. The Tahitians, who excited the
admiration of Cook, are noted for their extraordinary diving. Speaking
of the inhabitants of the island of Fakaraya, near Tahiti, de la
Quesnerie says that the pearl-fishers do not hesitate to dive to the
depth even of 100 feet after their coveted prizes. On the Ceylon coast
the mother-of-pearl fishers are under the direction of the English
Government, which limits the duration and the practice of this
occupation. These divers are generally Cingalese, who practice the
exercise from infancy. As many as 500 small boats can be seen about
the field of operation, each equipped with divers. A single diver makes
about ten voyages under the water, and then rests in the bottom of the
boat, when his comrade takes his place. Among other native divers are
the Arabs of Algeria and some of the inhabitants of the Mexican coast.

It might be well to mention here the divers who work by means of
apparatus. The ancients had knowledge of contrivances whereby they
could stay under water some time. Aristotle speaks of an instrument by
which divers could rest under water in communication with the air, and
compares it with the trunk of an elephant wading a stream deeper than
his height. In the presence of Charles V diving bells were used by the
Greeks in 1540. In 1660 some of the cannon of the sunken ships of the
Spanish Armada were raised by divers in diving bells. Since then
various improvements in submarine armor have been made, gradually
evolving into the present perfected diving apparatus of to-day, by
which men work in the holds of vessels sunk in from 120 to 200 feet of
water. The enormous pressure of the water at these great depths makes
it necessary to have suits strong enough to resist it. Lambert, a
celebrated English diver, recovered L90,000 in specie from the steamer
Alphonso XII, a Spanish mail boat belonging to the Lopez line, which
sank off Point Gando, Grand Canary, in 26 1/2 fathoms of water. For
nearly six months the salvage party, despatched by the underwriters in
May, 1885, persevered in the operations; two divers lost their lives,
the golden bait being in the treasure-room beneath the three decks, but
Lambert finished the task successfully.

Deep-sea divers only acquire proficiency af