CEYLON PEARL OYSTER FISHERIES. 195 



THE CEYLON PEARL OYSTER FISHERIES.* 



By Captain John A. Legge, F.R.G.S., A. R.I.N. A. 



Master Attendant and Joint Police Magistrate, Colombo, 

 and Inspector of the Ceylon Pearl Banks. 



npHE paper which I am about to read you to-night is on the very 

 -L interesting subject of the Pearl Oyster Fisheries of this Island, 

 a subject that, besides a scientific interest, has a sporting and a 

 romantic interest as well. 



To begin with, the Ceylon pearl oyster is not an oyster at all, but 

 a member of the family Aviculidse ; it is not confined to the waters 

 of Ceylon, but is found in both the Persian Gulf and the seas of 

 Japan, and in both places it is fished with profit. 



I am neither competent, nor do I desire to talk highly, scienti- 

 fically, or use the classic names of the shellfish about which we 

 are talking to-night, but I will just explain the difference, as I 

 understand it, between the edible oyster and the pearl oyster. The 

 edible oyster adheres to rock or stone by means of a natural hard 

 cement, whilst the pearl oyster attaches itself by means of a green 

 string -like substance and is easily detached ; this substance is called, 

 its byssus, and as a matter of fact it would be impossible to fish up 

 any quantity of edible oysters by the methods in vogue at a Ceylon 

 pearl fishery. If any of you desire to confirm this you have only to 

 walk to the end of the South-west Breakwater, of course in the 

 north-east monsoon, if you do not desire to get wet, when you will 

 see the edible oyster in large numbers adhering to the structure. 



Tradition has it that King Solomon obtained some of his pearls 

 from our fishing grounds, whilst Phoenicians are credited with 

 adventuring as far as Ceylon to obtain its pearls ; this , anyone who 

 has seen the traces left by them on the Cornish moors in their search 

 for copper and their lines of defences and fortified camps, all of 

 pre-Roman period, can well believe would not have been beyond 

 their adventurous disposition . Again , the pearls Cleopatra dissolved 

 and drank are credited with a Ceylonese origin. 



Tradition has it that in the times of the Tamil power in Ceylon the 

 fisheries were of frequent occurrence ; and it is stated that they were 

 watched over, to prevent robbery by the divers, by a Tamil princess, 

 who was carried to the end of the Karaittivu Point and there 

 enthroned to remain until the fishery was over. 



* A Paper read before the Ceylon Natural History Society on Wednesday, 

 October 9, 1912. 



2d 6(7)12 



