Distribution of farls iiiid Pcv/s/wli. 



99 



The rising of the Naii-Viieh kingdom attracted the 

 foreign trade to the region of tlie present Canton, and on 

 the conquest b\' the Xan-Yneh emperor of the countr\- 

 westward, in 179 li.C, the Hormu/ian or flwang-tchi 

 (yellow-fingered ) sea-traders,"' as the}' were called, estab- 

 lished themselves in the Island of Hainan, where the\' 

 discovered pearls ou the west coast and created the pearl 

 fisheries of Tchu-yai, i.e. the coast of pearls (present 

 Yai tchou). The}' traded with the Nan-Yueh through a 

 station calletl Hop-[)u, near the present Takhoi, their 

 goods reaching the principal market of Wiw^ shan, east of 

 Nan-ning, in S.W. Kwangsi, on the Yii l-Ciang leading h\- 

 the Pearl river to Canton. 



In 1 10 IJ.C, these Hormuzian sea-traders once more 

 removed their chief landing place, establishing it further 

 south, on the west of Cape Cambodia, on the east side of 

 the Gulf of Siam, in Tcham, the Zabai of Ptolem}-. From 

 here they traded Persian Gulf pearls to Kattigara and 

 IIoppu (near the present Pakhoi). 



In the earl}' Christian era, Cingalese traders seem to 

 iiave taken over most of the trade with China. Among 

 the articles of commerce mentioned in the Annals of the 

 Eastern I Ian dynasty, in 69 A.D., are bright [)earls and 

 oyster-pearls from Ceylon.'" 



It is of some interest to note here that pearls are 

 obtained at the present da\- in the Gulf of Siam from a 

 small oyster with a thin shell. Kunz and Stevenson {op. 

 cit., p. 149) inform us that " the Siamese do not especially 

 value pearls, attributing superstitious sentiments or ill 



^*' Names derived from Ilornuizia, near the I'crsiaii (Julf, and from ll.e 

 use of henna to dye their fini;ers. 



"" Lacouperie, op. cit., p. 252, and p. 255 note 1 1 12 ; Kiuanti-tchu, i.e. 

 Inight pearls, difl'erent in name from the Miiig-givet pearls of the I'ersian 

 Gulf; pang-tcliu, oyster-pearls (? pearl-oyster shells). 



