﻿XVII 
  -PEARLS 
  AND 
  MOTHER-OF-PEARL 
  AT 
  TAHITI 
  AND 
  THE 
  

   TUAMOTU 
  ARCHIPELAGO.* 
  

  

  By 
  G. 
  Bouciion-Brandely, 
  

  

  Secretary 
  of 
  the 
  College 
  of 
  France. 
  

  

  [Extracted 
  from 
  report 
  to 
  the 
  Minister 
  of 
  Marine 
  and 
  the 
  Colonies.] 
  

  

  In 
  ancient 
  times 
  pearls 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  Indian 
  Occam 
  the 
  Red 
  Sea, 
  

   and 
  the 
  Persian 
  Gulf. 
  After 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  America, 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  

   Paria, 
  the 
  Isle 
  of 
  Margarita, 
  Peru, 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  and 
  the 
  Gulf 
  

   of 
  California 
  furnished 
  the 
  European 
  market 
  with 
  the 
  most 
  famous 
  

   pearls. 
  The 
  fisheries 
  of 
  Ceylon, 
  of 
  the 
  Coromandel 
  Coast, 
  of 
  Koudatschy, 
  

   Manaar, 
  and 
  generally 
  all 
  the 
  fisheries 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Ocean, 
  the 
  Red 
  

   Sea, 
  and 
  the 
  Persian 
  Gulf, 
  date 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  remote 
  antiquity. 
  

  

  In 
  modern 
  times 
  these 
  fisheries 
  have 
  been 
  "worked 
  by 
  the 
  Portuguese 
  

   and 
  English, 
  and 
  have 
  always 
  yielded 
  very 
  large 
  profits, 
  furnishing 
  a 
  

   large 
  share 
  of 
  the 
  trade 
  of 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  India. 
  At 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  

   England 
  derives 
  from 
  these 
  fisheries 
  an 
  annual 
  revenue 
  of 
  several 
  mill- 
  

   ions 
  of 
  francs 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  total 
  annual 
  yield 
  in 
  pearls 
  and 
  mother-of-pearl 
  

   of 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  fisheries 
  amounts 
  to 
  20,000,000 
  francs 
  t 
  [nearly 
  $4,000,000]. 
  

  

  Next 
  to 
  these 
  fisheries, 
  the 
  most 
  productive 
  pearl 
  fisheries 
  of 
  our 
  

   times 
  are 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Sunda 
  Isles, 
  of 
  Panama, 
  of 
  Colombia, 
  all 
  of 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  carried 
  on 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time. 
  Of 
  more 
  recent 
  date 
  are 
  

   those 
  of 
  the 
  Tuamotu 
  Islands, 
  the 
  Gambier 
  Islands, 
  and 
  Australia. 
  

   These 
  last-mentioned 
  stations 
  furnish 
  the 
  beautiful 
  pearls 
  produced 
  by 
  

   the 
  large 
  pearl-oyster, 
  called 
  in 
  science 
  Meleagrina 
  margaritifera, 
  and 
  

   by 
  another 
  smaller 
  pearl-oyster, 
  the 
  M. 
  radiata. 
  We 
  should 
  also 
  mention 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  in 
  the 
  fresh 
  and 
  brackish 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Hawaiian 
  Islands, 
  

   Saxony, 
  Bavaria, 
  Bohemia, 
  Jutland, 
  Scotland, 
  Ireland, 
  Norway, 
  Swe- 
  

   den, 
  Russia, 
  and 
  Erance. 
  But 
  ouly 
  in 
  exceptional 
  cases 
  are 
  pearls 
  of 
  

   fine 
  water 
  and 
  great 
  value 
  found. 
  The 
  pearls 
  more 
  commonly 
  found 
  are 
  

   generally 
  known 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  "druggists' 
  pearls," 
  because 
  from 
  

  

  * 
  "La 
  Pecheet 
  la 
  Culture 
  desHuilres 
  Perlieresa 
  Tahiti 
  ; 
  Pecheries 
  de 
  VArdhipel 
  Tuamotu." 
  

   Extracts 
  from 
  the 
  Journal 
  Officiel 
  of 
  June 
  23, 
  25, 
  26, 
  and 
  27, 
  1885. 
  Also 
  printed 
  in 
  

   pamphlet 
  form. 
  Paris, 
  1885. 
  Translated 
  from 
  the 
  French 
  by 
  Herman 
  Jacobson. 
  

  

  For 
  abstract 
  of 
  article 
  by 
  Bonchon-Brandely 
  on 
  a 
  like 
  subject, 
  see 
  F. 
  C. 
  Bulletin, 
  

   1885, 
  p. 
  292. 
  

  

  tA 
  franc 
  is 
  valued 
  at 
  19.3 
  cents; 
  a 
  pound 
  sterling 
  at 
  $4.86. 
  

  

  W 
  353 
  

  

  S. 
  Mis, 
  70 
  23 
  

  

  