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The fleet is manned by approximately 35,000 fishermen. In addition to the nakhoda, or captain, who is often the owner of the boat, the crew consists of ghoas or divers, who are mainly Arabs and Sedees, and sebs, or rope-tenders, who are usually Bedouins or Persians and attend the divers and perform other duties. Many Hindus from India, and flat-nosed, sable-hued Negroes from the east coast of Africa find employment here. On each of the larger boats is a general utility man, known as el musully, literally the “prayer-man,” who, in addition to various other duties, relieves those sebs who stop to pray.

Among the fishermen are all types and classes to be met with in this part of the world, with the usual contingent of the lame, the halt, and the blind. There are a number of fishermen who have been maimed and mutilated by shark bites. A surprisingly large number of men who have become totally blind engage in diving, and they usually do fairly well where the oysters are abundant on the reefs. And one or two unfortunate divers are reported who continue the work even though handicapped by the loss both of a leg and of eyesight, this interfering less with their diving than with their movements on land.