152 PEARLS AND PEARLING 



their success depending considerably upon their industry 

 and their qualifications for the work. 



The pearl hunter's occupation is unlike many other 

 kinds of employment. The selection of a pearl fishery 

 and the examination of the shells for pearls, baroques 

 and slugs are the two most important parts of the work, 

 and in order to do these things properly, it requires good 

 eyes, close observation and quick perception. 



Of the men who engage in pearl hunting, none have 

 such good qualifications as the hunter and trapper. 



The successful hunter or trapper who enters the work 

 has the advantage of his previous training to help him in 

 the new enterprise. It is very natural for a hunter or 

 trapper to be a careful observer. As he goes along noth- 

 ing can escape his observation and what he sees and 

 hears he accounts for immediately. The faculty of ob- 

 servation is very highly developed in some hunters and 

 trappers. An instance which shows the ability of hunt- 

 ers and trappers has been told of a Western hunter who 

 was acting as a guide for a hunting party. At one time 

 they came across the track of an Indian pony, which the 

 guide followed for a short time and then said : "It is a 

 stray black horse with a long bushy tail. It is nearly 

 starved to death, has a split hoof of the left fore-foot, 

 and goes very lame, and he passed here early this morn- 

 ing." The hunting party were very much astonished and 

 asked him his reasons for knowing these particulars by 

 the tracks of the animal, when he replied : "It was a stray 

 horse because it did not go in a direct line ; his tail was 

 long for he dragged it over the snow ; in brushing against 



