70 THE SEA. 



are then divided and sold by auction in thousands, and then sub-divided again. Gambling- 

 is such an Oriental proclivity that the merest beggar will buy a few of the shells, hoping 

 to find a pearl of great value ; and should he fail to do so, he still has got his oyster ! 

 " Some of the oysters are taken in sealed-up sacks to Colombo, Kandy, and other inland 

 places, in order to enable people to indulge their love of gambling and speculation/* 

 Sir Emerson Tennant tells us that the depleted pearl oyster-shells of the Condatchy 

 fisheries, which date back two thousand years, form an immense bank on the beach, 

 extending f;r miles. In past times the Ceylon fisheries were more valuable than at 

 present. In 1797 they are said to have produced 144,000, and in 1798 as much as 

 192,000. In 1802 the fisheries were farmed for 120,000; but for many years the 

 banks have been less productive, and are now said to yield only the sum of 20,000 

 per annum. 



The natives of the Bay of Bengal, those of the Chinese coast, of Japan, and the 

 Indian Archipelago, all devote themselves to the pearl fishery, the produce being 

 estimated to realise at least 800,000. Fisheries analogous to those of Ceylon take 

 place on the Persian coast, on the Arabian Gulf, along the coast of Muscat, and in 

 the Bed Sea. Arrived on their fishing-ground, the fishermen of the Bed Sea range 

 their barques at a proper distance from each other, and cast anchor in water from eight 

 to nine fathoms deep. The process is pursued here in a very simple manner. When 

 about to descend, the divers pass a cord, the extremity of which communicates with 

 a bell placed in the barque, under the armpits ; they put cotton in their ears, and press 

 the nostrils together with a piece of wood or horn ; they close their mouths hermetically, 

 attach a heavy stone to their feet, and at once sink to the bottom of the sea, where 

 they gather indiscriminately all shells within their reach, which they throw into a bag 

 suspended round their haunches. When they require to breathe they sound the bell, 

 and immediately they are assisted in their ascent. On the oyster-banks off the isle of 

 Bahrein the pearl fishery produces about 240,000; and if we add to this the product 

 of the other fisheries in the neighbourhood, the sum total yielded by the Arabian coast 

 would probably not fall short of 350,000. In South America similar fisheries exist. 

 Before the Mexican conquest the pearl fisheries were located between Acapulco and the 

 Gulf of Tchuantepic ; subsequently they were established round the islands of Cubagua, 

 Margarita, and Panama. The results became so full of promise that populous cities were 

 not slow to raise themselves round these several places. Under the reign of Charles V. 

 America sent to Spain pearls valued at 160,000 ; in the present day the annual yield is 

 estimated to be worth 60,000. 



Pearls form, of course, the most important product of the animal. When they are adherent 

 to the valves they are detached with pincers ; but as a rule they are found in the oyster's soft 

 tissues. In this case the substance is boiled, and afterwards sifted, in order to obtain the most 

 minute of the pearls ; for those of considerable size are sometimes overlooked in the first 

 operation. Months after the mollusc is putrefied miserable Indians may be observed busying 

 themselves with the corrupt mass, in search of small pearls which may have been overlooked 

 by the workmen. 



The pearls adherent to the valve are more or less irregular in their shape ; they are sold by 



