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The number of persons on each boat ranges from about twelve to sixty-five, with an average for the entire fleet of about thirty-five men per boat. This includes the sammatti, or master, who represents the owner; the tindal, or pilot; the todai, or water-bailer, who is very necessary on these leaky craft, and who also takes charge of the food and drinking water; at times a government inspector or “boat guard”; and from five to thirty divers, with an equal number of manducks, or attendants.^[138] The sammattis, tindals, and todais are nearly all from the coast of southern India. The “boat guards” or inspectors are natives of Ceylon, and are employed by the government to prevent the fishermen from opening the oysters. Most of the manducks are from the Indian coast.

Of the 4991 divers employed in 1905, 2649 were Moormen or Lubbais from Kilakarai, Tondi, etc., on the Madura coast; 923 were Arabs; 424 were Erukkalampiddi Moormen from Ceylon, and the remaining 995 were Tamils from Tuticorin, Rameswaram and elsewhere on the Madras coast, Malayalans from the Malabar coast, with small numbers from other localities on the Asiatic coasts.