88 Beautiful Shells, 



habitation, to make the best of an unavoidable evil 

 by enclosing it in a soft smootli covering. Let us 

 imitate the Oyster ; and when annoyed or afflicted, 

 by meekness and patience, and Christian charity, 

 strive to turn our vexations and troubles into 

 '^ pearls of great price/^ and " goodly pearls/^ like 

 those mentioned in Scripture. 



It is on the north-west coast of the Island of 

 Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean, that the Pearl Oyster 

 most abounds, and there it is that the Pearl fishery 

 is conducted in the most extensive, systematic, and 

 successful manner; this fishing commences at the 

 beginning of March, and upwards of two hundred 

 boats are usually employed in it ; in each of these 

 boats are ten divers, who go down to the Oyster- 

 beds, five at a time, and so relieve each other; 

 there are besides thirteen other men who manage 

 the boat and attend to the divers. Altogether, it 

 is computed that from fifty to sixty thousand 

 persons, in some way engaged in the fishery, or 

 preparation, or sale of the pearls, assemble at and 

 near the scene of operations, which must be indeed 

 a busy one. The number of Oysters taken during 

 the period of the fishing, which is about a month, 

 must be prodigious. One boat has been known to 

 bring on shore, in the day, as many as thirty-three 



