250 MOLLUSCA. 



and one of the government vessels fires a gun, as a 

 signal for the whole flotilla to return to shore. As 

 soon as the boats reach the beach, an immense num- 

 ber of labourers, men, women, and children, rush 

 to them, and carry off the produce of the day's 

 fishing. Every speculator has his own group of 

 huts, and in the midst of each of these is a coutto, 

 or space of ground enclosed with poles and trans- 

 verse pieces of bamboo, but open to the air. In 

 these couttos are deposited the oysters, as they are 

 landed, and there they are left to putrefy, which 

 they soon do under a burning sun. It is a curious 

 fact, that though these numerous couttds, each con- 

 taining an enormous mass of oysters, all putrefy 

 together on a narrow extent of soil, and emit the 

 most detestable odours, yet the health of the pre- 

 carious but crowded population gathered there is no 

 way aifected. 



" As soon as the putrefaction is sufficiently ad- 

 vanced, the oysters are taken from the coutto, and 

 placed in troughs ; sea-water is then thrown over 

 them. In their putrid state, the oysters easily yield 

 the pearls they contain, and a number of men, all 

 standing on the same side of the trough, rapidly 

 shake them out and wash them. After all the shells 

 are thrown out, the pearls remain on the sand at the 

 bottom of the trough. * * * 



" During the prosecution of this fishery, few places 

 can be more animated than the western point of 

 Ceylon. The oysters, or the cleansed pearls, are 

 bought or sold on the spot, and besides this trade, 



