CEYLON PEARL FISHERY 9 



Persians ; and many references to it occur in their 

 literature. Marco Polo (1291) mentions the pearls of 

 the kings of Ceylon ; and in 1330 a friar, one Jordanus, 

 describes 8,000 boats as taking part in the fishery. 

 Two centuries later, a Venetian trader named Caesar 

 Frederick, crossed from India to the west coast of 

 Ceylon to observe the fishery ; and his description 

 might almost serve for the present day, so little do 

 habits alter in the East. 



The records of the Dutch and English fisheries are 

 naturally more complete than those of their pre- 

 decessors. The last Dutch fishery was in 1768, and 

 the first English was in 1796, before the fall of Colombo. 

 The fishery is not held every year, but at irregular 

 intervals ; and sometimes these intervals have been 

 long. For instance, the oysters failed between 1732 

 and 1746, and again between 1768 and 1796, under 

 the Dutch regime, and from 1837 to 1854 under the 

 English. On the other hand, the fishing is sometimes 

 annual ; recently, it took place with great success in 

 1887 an d the four following years, culminating in the 

 record year 1891, when the Government's share of the 

 spoil amounted to close upon one million rupees. 

 After this there was a pause till 1903, when the fishery 

 became annual. 



The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Everard im Thurn, 

 now Governor of Fiji, has given a lively account of 

 the fishing scene. He tells us that every year, in 

 November, a Government official visits the oyster- 

 beds, takes up a certain number of oysters, examines 

 them for pearls, and submits his results to certain 

 Government experts. If, as they have done recently, 

 these experts pronounce that there will be a fishing, 

 this information is at once made known ; and, partly 

 by advertisement, but probably more by passing the 

 word from man to man, the news rapidly spreads 

 throughout India, up the Persian Gulf, and to Europe. 



