THE TKOPXCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



i«8« 



measured thirty centimetres in diameter and weighed 

 mere than ten kilogrammes, while the Meleajfrma 

 radiala rarely exceeds ten centimetres at the most, 

 and never weighs as much as 150 grammes _ Both 

 varieties supply pearls, those of one kind being at 

 one time more favoured, at another time those of the 

 other This depends oil fashion ; but, on tae whole, 

 those''fouud in tiie great phitadine are more beautiful, 

 and the colour more transparent, than those of its 

 congener The amount of the trade from Tahiti m 

 p arls cannot be seated with accuracy, as there is 

 much clandestine tialnc, but M. Brandely puts it 

 down approximately at 300,000 francs, England 

 Germany, and the Uuited States being the chief 

 markets for the fine pearls- The great pmtadine is 

 found in great abundance in the Tuamotu and Gambler 

 islands. The situation there is very favourable to 

 them • in the char and limpid waters of the lagoons 

 they have full freedom for development, and are un- 

 disturbed by storms. Mother-of-pearl is found in 

 almost everv one of the eighty islands which form 

 I he archipelagoes Tuamotu and Gambler. These be- 

 long to France, having been annexed at the same 

 time as Tahiti and Moorea, and have a population 

 of about 5 000 people, all belonging to the Maori race. 

 M Brandel} "ives an interesting inscription ot these 

 httle-knovM. islands and people. The latter appear to 

 hover always ou the brink of starvation, as tho islands, 

 which arc composed mainly of coral-sand, produce 

 hrmlly anything of a vegetable nature. While the 

 neighbouring Society islanders have everything without 

 labour and in abundance, tho unfortunate inhabitant 

 of Tuamotu is forced to support existence with coco- 

 nuts, almost the only fruit-trees which will grow on 

 tho sandy beach, with fish and shell-fish which are 

 poisonous for several mouths of the year, and often 

 they have to kill their dogs for want of other annual 

 food There are no birds, except the usual sea birds ; 

 no quadrupeds, except those brought by man; no food 

 resources necessary to European life, except what is 

 br.uuht by ships. Although the people are gentle 

 and hospitable, they practise cannibalism, and M. 

 Brandely suggests that it is pitiless hunger alone 

 which has driven them into this horrible custom. 

 Theee miserable people are the chief pearl-divers of 

 ths Pacific; iudeed, it is their only industry, and 

 women and even children take part in it. There is 

 at ADaa, says tho writer, a woman who will go down 

 twenty-five fathoms, aud remain under water for 

 three minutes. Nor was she an exception. The dangers 

 of the work are great, for the depths of the lagoons 

 are. infesUd by shark.-, against which the divers, 

 beir.e unable to escape, are forced to wage battle, 

 in which life is the stake. No year passes without 

 some disaster from sharks, and when one happens all 

 the dhers are seized with terror, aud the fashing 

 , s stoi ped for a tim->. But gradually the imperious 

 wau's of life drive them back to the sea again, for 

 mother-of-pearl is tho current com of the Tumotai 

 With it he buys the rags which cover him, the little 

 b ead -"id flour which complete his food, aud alcohol, 

 ■'that fatal present of civilization," for which he ex- 

 hibits a pronounced passion. Twenty or thirty years 

 ago the irade in mother-of-peail in the Tuamotu 

 archipelago was very profitable for those engaged in 

 it For a valueless piece of cloth, a few hsndfuls 

 ef fl.ur or some rum, the trader got half a ton of 

 mother of pearl worth one or two thousand francs, 

 or even fine pearls of which the natives did not 

 krow the value. The archipelagoes were frequented 

 by vessels of all nationalities : mother-of-pearl was 

 alundait, and pearls vieiu less rare than they are 

 now The number of trading ships increased : there 

 ., competition amongst them SDd consequently a 

 . price to the natives, who fished to mi 

 demand with improvident ardour. The con- 



sequence is that the lagoons are less productive, aud 

 that even the most fertile give manifest signs of 

 exhaustion. The prospect of having tho inhabitants 

 of Tuamotu thrown on its hands in a state of help- 

 less destitution, as well as of the disappearance of 

 the principal article of the trade of Tahiti, and an 

 important source of revenue to the colony, alarmed 

 the Colonial administration and the Ministry of Marine 

 and the Colonies in Paris, Accordingly, M. Brandely 

 was selected to study the whole subject on the spot. 

 The points to which he was irstructed to direct 

 special attention were these : (1) The actual state 

 of tho lagoons which produce oysters ; are they be- 

 ginning to be impoverished, aud if so what is the 

 cause, and what the remedy ? (2) Would it be poss- 

 ible to create at Tuamotu, Gambier, Tahiti and 

 Moorea, for the cultivation of mother-of-pearl, an in- 

 dustry analogous to that existing in Franco for edible 

 oysters? Would it be possible by ihis means to supply 

 the natives of Tuamotu with continuous, fixed, re- 

 munerative labour which could render them inde- 

 pendent, and remove them from the shameless cupidity 

 of the traders ? Could they not be spared tho hard- 

 ships and dangers resulting from tho continued practice 

 of diving, and be turned to more fixed sedentary 

 modes of life, by which thsy might be raised gradually 

 in the social scale t (3) Should tho pearl fishing in 

 the' archipelagoes be regulated, and, if so, what should 

 be the bases of such regulations ? It was on the mixed 

 economical and philanthropic mission here indicated 

 that M. Brandely wenfc to Tahiti in February last. 

 The statistics did not show any decline in the pro- 

 duction of mother-of-pearl, but a careful study on the 

 spot showed that this waB due to the great amount 

 of tho clandestine traffic, and that the lagoons were 

 growing less productive day by day, that beautiful 

 mother-of-pearl was becoming rarer, and in order now- 

 a-days to get oysters of a marketable size, the divers 

 are forced to go to ever greater depths. M. Brandely 

 recommends prompt and vigorous measures be taken 

 at once, as the lagoons of Tuamotu will soon bo 

 ruined for ever. The partial steps already adoptod 

 have been useless. The total prohibition of fishing 

 in some of the islands for several years has failed, 

 because it has been found that the pintadiue is herm- 

 aphrodite, and not, as formerly was believed, uni- 

 sexual. The cause of the impoverishment of tho 

 lagoons is excessive fishing, and nothing else. Ho 

 thinks that it is possible to create in Tuamotu, Gam- 

 bier, Tahiti and Moorea a rational and methodical 

 cultivation of* mother-of-pearl oysters, analogous to 

 that existing with regard to edible oysters on tbc 

 French coasts, and to constitute for the profit of the 

 colony an iudustrial monopoly which no other country 

 can dispute, for nowhere else can such favourable 

 conditions be met with.- — Nairn c, 9th April, 



.,?•-. 



RAVAGES OF EATS AND BATS IN COCONUT 



TEEES. 



(From Annual Report of the Jamaica Public Gardcnt 

 and Plantation* for the year ended 30th September 1884, 

 by D. Morris, M. A., P. L. s., Director,) 



Numerous letters have been addressed to me on 

 this subject; aud, in addition to this, I estimate that 

 at the Palisadoes Plantation under my charge during 

 the late drought, the losses caused by rats amongst 

 coconut trees amounted to nearly £100 per annum, 



lii-. Ferguson of Port Maria reports the destruction 

 caused by rats on his extensive coconut walk-; us 

 :uso;" and the subject has necessarily roc ' 



his attention for some, tunc, while nume 

 correspondents speak in simiiai term*. 



