Account of the Pearl Fjjhery in the Gulph o/Manar. 547 



lepasjlriata Pennanti, {vide Zool. Brit.) ., patella tricarinata, Linn, bulla petfeBa maculata*, 

 harpa mhilis, porcellana falita., Rumph. f, Jlronihus fcorpio, and other of inferior kinds, 

 Amongft the zoophytes, many valuable fpecies of fpongix, corallina, fatulariit, &c. a great 

 variety of fea ftars, and other marine produiJ^tions, that cannot be preferved in fpirits, but 

 (hould be defcribed on the fpot. Thefe, as well as the defcription of the different animals 

 inhabiting the Ihells, are the more worthy of our attention, and deferve farther inveftiga- 

 tion, as we are yet very'deficient in this branch of natural hiftory. 



During the fifliing feafon, the dcfert, barren place, Condatchey, offers to our view a 

 fcene equally novel and aftonilhing. A heterogeneous mixture of thoufands of people of 

 different colours, countries, cafts, and occupations, the number of tents and huts, ereQed 

 on the fea fhore, with their fliops or bazars before each of them ; and the many boats re- 

 turning on {here in the afternoon, generally richly laden ; all together form a fpe£tacle 

 entirely new to an European eye. Each owner runs to his refpedive boat as foon as it 

 reaches the fliore, in hopes of finding it fraught with immenfe treafure, which is often 

 much greater in imagination than in the fliell } and though he is difappointed one day, he 

 relies with greater certainty on the next, looking forward to the fortune promifed him by 

 his ftars, as he thinks it impoffible for the aftrological prcditlions of his Brahmen to err. 



To prevent riot and diforder, an officer with a party of Malays is ftationed here. They 

 occupy a large fquare, where they have a field piece and a flag ftaff for fignals. ' 



Here and there you meet with brokers, jewellers, and merchants of all defcriptions ; 

 alfo, futtlers offering provifions and other articles to gratify the fenfual appetite and lux- 

 -ury. But by far the greater number are occupied with the pearls. Some are bafely em- 

 ployed in afforting them} for which purpofc they make ufe of fmall brafs plates perforated 

 with holes of different Czes ; others are weighing and offering them to the purchafer j 

 while others are drilling or boring them ; which they perform for a trifle. 



The inftrument, thefe people carry about with them for this purpofe, is of a very fimple 

 conftrudlion, but requires much Ikill and exercife to ufe it; it is made in the following 

 manner: the principal part confifts of a piece of foft wood, of an obtufe, inverted, conical 

 il-.ape, about fix inches high and four in diameter in its plain furface ; this is fupported by 

 three wooden feet, each of which is more than a foot in length. Upon the upper flat part 

 of this machine are holes, or pits, for the larger pearls, and the fmaller ones are beat in 

 with a wooden hammer. On the right fide of this ftool, half a cocoa nut ffeell is faftenedy 

 which is filled with water. The drilling inftrumenrs are iron fpindles, of various fizes^ 

 adapted to the different dimenfions of the pearls, which are turned round in a wooden head 

 by a bow. The pearls being placed on the fiat furface of the inverted cone, as already men- 

 tioned, the operator fitting on a mat, preffes on the wooden head of his inftrument with 

 the left hand, while, with his right, he moves the bow which turns round the moveable 

 part of the drill ; at the fame time, he moiftens the pearl, occafionally dipping the little 



* Diving fnail, (Grew, Muf.) f Salt-coury, Kl. 



finger 



