An Account of the Pearl Fifbery at Ceylon. 339 
pufillus Linn.*, ‘mitra epifcopalis Linn., lepas firiata 
Pennanti, (vide Zool. Brit.) patella tricarinata Linn., 
bulla perfecia maculatat, barpa nobilis, porcellana falita 
Rumph.t, firombus fcorpio, and other of inferior kinds, 
Amongft the zoophytes, many valuable fpecies of /pongie, 
coralline, fatularie, &c. a great variety of fea-ftars, and 
other marine productions, that cannot be preferved in fpirits, 
but fhould be defcribed on the fpot. Thefe, as weil as the 
defcription of the different animals inhabiting the fhells, are 
the more worthy of our attention, and deferve farther invef- 
tigation, as we are yet very deficient in this branch of na- 
tural hiftory. 
During the fifhing feafon, the defert, barren place Con- 
datchey offers to our view a fcene equally novel and afto- 
nifhing. A heterogeneous mixture of thoufands of people, of 
different colours, countries, cafts, and occupations; the num- 
ber of tents and huts ereéted on the fea-fhore, with their 
fhops or bazars before each of them; and the many boats 
returning on {hore in the afternoon, generally richly laden ; 
all together form a fpeétacle entirely new to an European 
eye. Each owner runs to his refpective boat as foon as it 
reaches the fhore, in hopes of finding it fraught with immenfe 
treafure, which is often much greater in imagination than 
in the fhell; 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 predictions 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 mer- 
chants, of all defcriptions; alfo futtlers, offering provifions 
and other articles to gratify the fenfual appetite and luxury, 
But by far the greater number are occupied with the pearls. 
Some are bufily employed in afforting them ; for which pur- 
pofe they make ufe of {mall brafs plates perforated with holes 
of different fizes; others are weighing, and offering them to 
* The wood-piercer. + Diving fnail, (Grew, Muf.) 
yin | + Salt-coury, KI. 
Xx2 the 
