88 PEARLS [CH. 



The working expenses of a boat are about £500 

 per annum and pearl shell must be worth at least 

 £140 a ton to bring in any reasonable profit. 



The pearl fishing of Japan is another extensive 

 one, and if we include China and Siberia we find 

 that as many as 20,000 men were actually em- 

 ployed in fishing in 1906. Japan is the first country 

 in the world to set up a pearl-farming industry 

 based upon scientific knowledge. The shell fished 

 in Japanese waters is Margarltifera martensii and 

 it is particularly abundant in the bay of Agu in the 

 province of Shima. 



The district where the cultivation is carried on 

 is also in this bay, and it is reported that as much 

 as 22 sq. nautical miles were leased in 1911. 



American fisheries. Pearl fishing is carried on 

 on both sides of the continent of America. The 

 Panama coast is perhaps most famous, and it is said 

 that these pearl banks were discovered in 1530 by 

 Vasco Xunez of Bilbao. When Spain was an all- 

 important power in this part of the world, the 

 country was known as Colombia and large quantities 

 of pearls were sent to Europe. 



The ancient fisheries of the Aztec kings were 

 carried on between Acapulco and the Gulf of Tehuan- 

 tepec. There are at the present time quite extensive 

 Mexican fisheries, the shell equalling in value the 

 pearls. The fishing seems to be systematic and new 



