﻿358 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [6] 
  

  

  India 
  pearl 
  fisheries. 
  But, 
  although 
  there 
  is 
  uo 
  basis 
  upon 
  which 
  to 
  

   make 
  an 
  estimate, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  supposed 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  every 
  year 
  

   furnish 
  pearls 
  to 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  several 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  francs. 
  

  

  Whatever 
  the 
  traders 
  may 
  say 
  about 
  it, 
  there 
  are 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  natives 
  

   who 
  do 
  not 
  possess 
  pearls. 
  I 
  have 
  convinced 
  myself 
  of 
  this 
  by 
  personal 
  

   observation. 
  Every 
  time 
  we 
  landed 
  at 
  an 
  island, 
  the 
  natives 
  came 
  al- 
  

   most 
  immediately, 
  and, 
  in 
  a 
  shy 
  manner, 
  as 
  if 
  trying 
  to 
  hide 
  them, 
  of- 
  

   fered 
  us 
  pearls 
  for 
  sale, 
  drawing 
  them 
  from 
  some 
  fold 
  in 
  their 
  belt 
  in 
  

   which 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  concealed. 
  The 
  quantity 
  of 
  pearls 
  gathered 
  ought 
  

   to 
  be 
  in 
  proportion 
  to 
  the 
  quantity 
  of 
  mother-of-pearl 
  fished. 
  If 
  wo 
  

   take, 
  as 
  an 
  example, 
  the 
  fisheries 
  of 
  some 
  parts 
  of 
  Auslralia 
  which, 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  official 
  statistics, 
  produce 
  about 
  250 
  tons 
  of 
  mother-of-pearl 
  

   per 
  annum, 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  300,000 
  francs' 
  worth 
  of 
  pearls, 
  the 
  lagoons 
  

   of 
  Tuamotu, 
  from 
  which 
  600 
  tons 
  of 
  mother-of-pearl 
  are 
  drawn 
  every 
  

   year, 
  should 
  yield 
  at 
  least 
  000,000 
  francs' 
  worth 
  of 
  pearls.* 
  The 
  mother- 
  

   of-pearl 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  Australian 
  waters 
  resembles, 
  except 
  in 
  its 
  

   coloring, 
  that 
  of 
  Tuamotu 
  and 
  Tahiti. 
  Both 
  in 
  Australia 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   Tuamotu 
  Islands 
  it 
  is 
  furnished 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  pearl-oyster, 
  the 
  Melea- 
  

   grina 
  margaritifera. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  French 
  Possessions 
  in 
  Oceanica 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  

   longer 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  abundance 
  magnificent 
  pearls 
  of 
  such 
  large 
  

   dimensions 
  that 
  Queen 
  Pomare, 
  of 
  Tahiti, 
  used 
  them 
  as 
  billiard 
  balls. 
  

   Exhaustive 
  fisheries 
  have 
  been 
  carried 
  on 
  in 
  these 
  lagoons 
  for 
  half 
  a 
  

   century, 
  and 
  fine 
  specimens 
  of 
  pearl-oysters 
  have 
  become 
  scarce. 
  But, 
  

   in 
  spite 
  of 
  all 
  this, 
  the 
  Tuamotu 
  Islands 
  cannot 
  be 
  so 
  poor 
  in 
  pearls 
  as 
  

   people 
  pretend, 
  to 
  judge 
  from 
  the 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  persons 
  who, 
  in 
  Ta- 
  

   hiti 
  alone, 
  make 
  a 
  living 
  by 
  trading 
  in 
  pearls. 
  Mention 
  should 
  be 
  made 
  

   in 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  special 
  buyers, 
  nearly 
  all 
  English, 
  Germans, 
  

   and 
  Americans 
  (with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  two 
  Frenchmen 
  sent 
  to 
  Tahiti 
  

   by 
  two 
  French 
  houses, 
  a 
  thing 
  which 
  had 
  never 
  occurred 
  before) 
  ; 
  sec- 
  

   ondly, 
  the 
  captains 
  of 
  vessels 
  plying 
  in 
  these 
  waters, 
  who 
  make 
  a 
  living 
  

   principally 
  from 
  pearls 
  and 
  mother-of-pearl 
  ; 
  and 
  finally 
  the 
  merchants 
  

   of 
  Papaete, 
  who 
  occasionally 
  add 
  the 
  trade 
  in 
  pearls 
  to 
  that 
  for 
  which 
  

   they 
  pay 
  a 
  license, 
  as 
  the 
  trade 
  in 
  pearls 
  is 
  exempt 
  from 
  all 
  duties 
  and 
  

   control, 
  and 
  any 
  one 
  may 
  engage 
  in 
  it. 
  

  

  Nearly 
  all 
  the 
  pearls 
  from 
  Tahiti 
  go 
  to 
  America, 
  Germany, 
  or 
  En- 
  

   gland, 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  detriment 
  of 
  the 
  French 
  jewelry 
  trade, 
  which 
  uses 
  

   a 
  very 
  large 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  beautiful 
  pearls 
  sold 
  in 
  the 
  European 
  mar- 
  

   kets. 
  It 
  will 
  easily 
  be 
  understood 
  that 
  the 
  French 
  jewelry 
  trade 
  has 
  to 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  Australia 
  the. 
  yield 
  of 
  pearls 
  in 
  1881 
  was 
  estimated 
  at 
  $58,200, 
  and 
  in 
  1882 
  at 
  

   $84,875. 
  When 
  I 
  passed 
  through 
  Melbourne 
  no 
  data 
  could 
  as 
  yet 
  be 
  furnished 
  for 
  

   1833, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  quantity 
  of 
  pearls 
  was 
  increasing, 
  to 
  judge 
  from 
  

   the 
  much 
  greater 
  quantity 
  of 
  mother-of-pearl 
  obtained 
  during 
  that 
  year. 
  In 
  18-75 
  a 
  

   pearl 
  was 
  found 
  valued 
  at 
  $7,275; 
  another, 
  found 
  at 
  Nicol 
  Bay, 
  and 
  weighing 
  234 
  

   grains, 
  sold 
  for 
  $3,408. 
  At 
  the 
  samo 
  place 
  there 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  1883 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  

   pearl, 
  or 
  rather 
  a 
  conglomeration 
  of 
  pearls, 
  there 
  being 
  seven 
  of 
  them, 
  of 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  

   peas, 
  solidly 
  soldered 
  together, 
  and 
  forming 
  a 
  perfect 
  cross. 
  It 
  was 
  valued 
  at 
  an 
  

   enormous 
  sum. 
  

  

  