PEARL FISHING AND 'BEACHCOMBERS: 247 



juice, and is, as I write, quoted at 100 a ton. The bulk of 

 the Manilla shell is moreover obtained from the Pacific, that 

 is to say, from Hogoleu, Lugunor, and other great islands of 

 the Caroline Group, and is the same oyster which is found 

 over the whole Pacific on all islands possessing the conditions 

 necessary for its existence. 



What pearl deposits are worth in other parts of the world 

 may be gathered from the fact that according to returns 

 published by the Indian Government, the value of a pearl 

 bank in the Straits of Manaar (to the north of Ceylon), of 2 

 miles in circumference, Avith a depth of 7 fathoms or there- 

 abouts, is estimated at from 35,000 to 40,000, subject to 

 the royalty demanded by the authorities. The shell lies 

 thick there, more so than is usual in the Pacific ; but when 

 we consider that in the latter case many lagoons are to be 

 found, from 12 to 20 miles in diameter, wherein, so far as the 

 shoal water extends, it is not possible to look over the side of 

 the boat without seeing shell on the bottom ready for collec- 

 tion, and with neither dues, royalties, nor purchase-money to 

 pay, it is very obvious that the profits to be made in the 

 Pacific would equal or exceed those made in the Indian Sea. 



In the atolls of the Low Archipelago there are numerous 

 pearl-fisheries, the lagoons of which are in themselves beautiful 

 beyond description. 



They are generally shallow, though in some places the}' 

 exhibit vast hollows, with an apparent depth of 50 or more 

 fathoms. Their appearance is most extraordinary and beautiful, 

 the water, from the absence of the ddbris of streams or any 

 kind of alluvium (from the fact of the land being entirely 

 composed of coral rock and gravel), exhibits so surpassing a 

 transparency that an object the size of a man's hand may in 

 calm weather be distinctly seen at a depth of 10 fathoms. 



