220 THE WORLD OF THE SEA: 
mouths, noses, and ears. The work is very distressing, and makes 
sad havoc of the constitution ; the pearl-divers never reach old age. 
The fishing is continued until noon, when a second gun gives the 
signal to cease. The owners of the boats wait on the shore to 
superintend the discharge of the cargo, which must be all secured 
before night, to prevent robbery. Formerly the Ceylon fisheries 
were very productive. In 1797, they yielded £144,000, and in the 
following year as much as £192,000. In 1802, the banks were let 
for £120,000; but ever since they have been less and less valuable, 
and now are not worth more than £20,000 per annum. 
The inhabitants of the shores which line the Bay of Bengal, 
the Chinese seas, and Japan Islands, and islanders of the Indian 
Archipelago, are all engaged in the pearl fishery. Their united 
produce is estimated to yield £800,000 per annum. Farther west, 
in the neighbourhood of the Arabian Sea, along the coast of 
Muscat, and also in the Red Sea, pearls are found. In these 
latter countries the pearl fishing commences in July, for in that 
month and in August the sea is generally calm. The boats, when 
they have arrived at the beds where the pintadines lie, cast their 
anchors at a convenient distance from each other. The water is 
about eight or nine fathoms deep. The divers, when about to 
descend, fasten a light cord under their arms, which is attached to 
a bell in the boats; plugging their ears and nostrils with wool or 
cork, and tightly closing their mouth, they plunge into the water, 
and are sunk to the bottom rapidly by a heavy stone. When once 
on the bed they gather all the shells within their reach, which they 
deposit in a bag fastened round their loins. When compelled 
to come up for air they ring the bell, and are drawn up to the 
surface. 
The oyster-bank off the island of Bahrein is very productive, 
yielding £240,000 per annum; this, with the pearls taken from 
other fisheries along the Arabian coast, brings in an annual income 
of about £ 350,000. 
Pearl fishing is also carried on in the South American seas. 
Before the conquest of Mexico the fisheries were situated between 
Acapulco and the Gulf of Tehuantepec; but since that time a 
further exploration of the coast has discovered banks of the bivalves 
near the islands of Cubagua, Margarita, and Panama. The results 
