A PEARL MERCHANT OF SURAT 



pearls come from here. Hence the rights in these fisheries 

 are necessarily of great value. 



It is particularly interesting at the present time, to 

 learn that the Germans have had their eye on these rights 

 for many years. Their activities in this direction, in 

 combination with their struggles for the railway facilities 

 on the shores of the Persian Gulf, are graphically described 

 in the " Times History of the Present War."" 



We paid a visit to the great pearl merchant in Surat, 

 who is allowed a special guard and police protection from 

 the Government, and occupies a fine mansion, of a semi- 

 Italian and oriental style of architecture, in the suburbs 

 at some distance from the town of Surat. 



As he conducted us upstairs, we passed on the different 

 landings several groups of men engaged in piercing holes 

 in the pearls ; they were each squatted in front of a machine 

 and it was quite interesting to watch the skill and steadi- 

 ness with which they conducted their operations. 



In the first room we visited were some old men seated 

 on the floor, each having what appeared to be a heap of 

 sago in front of him which he was employed in sorting. 

 These proved to be pearls in the rough which were being 

 sorted out according to their condition as damaged or 

 inferior in quality. As they seemed to be testing their 

 quality almost entirely by touch, I asked the merchant 

 how they could tell a good pearl from a bad one like that. 

 " In the same way as the sahib finds out a thief," he 

 replied, laughing, apparently much amused, either at my 

 question or at his own conceit. 



After this we went on to the polishing rooms, where 

 again were men squatted with heaps of pearls before them, 

 but this time they had on chamois leather gloves with which 

 they were polishing the pearls. This process certainly 

 improved their appearance, and the more they were 

 rubbed the better they looked. Still, perhaps because 

 of being in such large quantities, they did not give the 

 impression of possessing any value. 



However, when we finally came to the office, a kind of 

 strong room where the finished specimens and threaded 

 rows are kept, we could not fail to realize the real beauty 

 of the gems. We handled one magnificent pear-shaped 



159 



