196 DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE 



Mussels, for the methods employed were of the most ruthless 

 kind, all the Mussels found being opened and destroyed on 

 the chance that a pearl might lurk within. The shallows 

 have become almost entirely unproductive, and of recent 

 years attention has been turned to the deeper waters. 

 The climax of destruction was reached in 1913, when 

 two bands of fishers set out with motor bicycles and col- 

 lapsible boats, and, touring the country, harried rivers far 

 and near. The financial result repaid their exertions: one 

 large and fine pearl obtained was valued at ^300, and the 

 total proceeds covered the cost of bicycles and transport and 

 secured an ample margin of profit. But the outcome is that 

 many a river and burn has been almost cleared of its Pearl- 

 mussels. A few such raids and the famous Pearl-mussels of 

 Scotland, already sadly reduced in numbers, will be almost 

 exterminated and the Scottish pearl-fishery doomed. 



