THE PEAIiL-FlSJHLKV. 



coast, and tlie Indian Archipelago, realize a yearly 

 income of £800,000; wliilbt on the Arabian coast, the 

 prodnce from the fisheries is estimated at £350,000. 

 At Ceylon, however, the pearl diving was found still 

 more lucrative, and, in proportion to its extent, was the 

 most valuable in that neighbourhood. In 1797 they 

 ]irodiiced about £144,000, and in 1798 as much as 

 £192,000. Of late years the banks have been less 

 pK^ductive, and yield the comparatively small amount 

 of £20,000 per annum. 



The island of Ceylon is remarkable as the seat of 

 the great fisheries for raother-of-pearl Pintadines (3/e- 

 haijrina margarili/era), which take place, during the 

 months of February and March, in the Gulf of Manaar, 

 a large piece of water to the north-east. Two hun- 

 dred and fifty boats, or thereabouts, each boat's crew 

 consisting of some twenty men, ten of whom are 

 rowers, set sail from difi'erent parts of the coasts, and 

 roach the ground at daybreak, summoned by a gun- 

 shot signal. Ten men of each boat tlien strip for 

 diving, five to rest, whilst five are working ; and with 

 a large stone fastened to a rope, to hasten their descent, 

 are let down into the water. Thus the oars are first 

 laid acioss the boat, and, with the help of sundry 

 planks, become a sort of stage to which the diving- 

 stone — a pyramid in form, and weighing about half 

 a hundredweight — is then snspemled. Each diver 

 naked, saving the band of calico about his loins, places 

 his foot within a stirrup fashioned in the rope, 

 or, if this be wanting, rests his foot upon the stone 

 with the cord between his toes ; and, clutching the 

 signal-rope with one hand, whilst with the other be 

 presses his nostrils together, is slowly deposited at 

 the bottom of the sea. Detaching a large net which 

 lie carries on his left foot, he gathers hastily what 

 pintadines may happen to lie within his reach, and, 

 after the expiration of some thirty seconds — eighty 

 seconds being the longest time they can possibly aftbrd — 

 pulls the signal-rope, mounts the diving-stone, and is 

 drawn up into the boat. Generally, on reaching upper 

 air, he discharges water tinged with blood from mouth, 

 nose, and cars. If a good diver, he repeats the whole 

 operation three or four, or sometimes twenty times, 

 during the same day. The exertion, however, is 

 severe; the long stay under water renders divers 

 unhealthy and sbort-lived ; and there is constant danger 

 to be apprehended fiom the sharks. It is usual to fish, 

 after the manner we have indicated, until mid-day, 

 when the signal is given by the gun to cease work. 

 The proprietors then receive the boats upon the shore, 

 and are compelled to keep vigilant watch over their 

 property to prevent robbery. 



On the Persian coast, on the Arabian Gulf, along the 

 coast of Muscat, and in the Red Sea, the pearl fishery 

 is prosecuted in a manner very similar to that in vogue 

 in the Bay of Manaar. It does not comruence, however, 

 until July and August, when the water is as hot as, or 

 more hot, perhaps, than the air itself. Thejishermen 

 assemble in great numbers, stationing their boats at 

 the proper distance from each other, and casting anchor 

 in water from seven to nine fathoms deep. The process 

 they pursue is simple in tfie extreme. Each diver 

 passes a cord, of which the end is tied to a boll fastened 



on the boat, beneath his arm-pit; stulTs cotton into hoth 

 his ears ; hermetically seals bis lips ; presses bis nostrils 

 together with a piece of horn ; attaches a heavy stono 

 to bis feet, and, arrived at the bottom of the sea, fills a 

 bag he carries with him with the precious shells ; 

 sounds the bell, and is at once hoisted on the deck. 

 This process is repeated at each separate dive.* 



We have already indicated those ]ilaces in America 

 where jiearl fishery is practised. Once upon a time, 

 before the conquest of Mexico, the diving was confined 

 to Acapulco aud the Gulf of Teliuantepec ; but since 

 that time the chief seats of fishery have been the 

 islands of Panama, Cubagua, and Margarita. The 

 produce yielded from these sources may be imagined. 

 In the time of the Emperor Charles V. it amounted 

 to £160,000; at the present day the oyster fields are 

 valued at about £00,000, and yet, the mode of diving 

 is peculiar, and might be supposed comparatively 

 ineSectual when contrasted with that of Indian fisher- 

 men. The American has no machinery whatever; 

 dives into the water naked ; snatches up a few pinta- 

 dines, and swiftly emerges into the air. He is more 

 frequent, however, in his diving than his Indian com- 

 peer, and, on the average, collects between thirty and 

 forty bivalves a day. 



The oysters yield two substances, of which the pearl 

 is by far the most valuable and important. The less 

 sought for substance is the nacre, which is obtained 

 from the valves by raising their external surface, and 

 disclosing it to view. The valves, however, must have 

 been previously decomposed, thrown into reservoirs of 

 sea-water, opened, washed, and banded to the dealers. 

 Of nacre there are three difi'erent kinds used in com- 

 merce. The first, silver-faced, is sold in cases, each 

 weighing some two hundred pounds. The second, 

 bastard-white, is delivered in somewhat the same way ; 

 it is often a yellowish-white, and sometimes greenish, 

 in many cases red, blue, and green. 



The bivalves carried to the shore, strewn upon mats, 

 permitted to decompose, opened, washed, and ready 

 for examination, pincers are applied to the valve to 

 sever it from the pearl, which is generally found, 

 however, in the [jarenchyma. " In this case," says 

 M. Louis Figuier, " the substance is boiled and after- 

 wards sifted, in order to obtain t!ie most minute of the 

 pearls ; for those of inconsiderable size are sometimes 

 overlooked in the first operation. Months after the 

 mollusc has been jiutrified, miserable Indians may be 

 observed busying themselves with the corrupt mass 

 in search of small pearls, which may have eluded the 

 vigilance of the workmen." But these must be ex- 

 tremely rare indeed. Every precaution is taken, it is 

 almost needless to say. The pearls are first scooped 

 out from the parenchyma, are then thrust into a bag, 

 are powdered over with nacre, until perfectly round in 

 shape, and when polished, are passed through a succes- 

 sion of numbered sieves. Those which refuse to go 

 through a certain sieve are termed pearls of the first 

 order, because the holes through which they have 

 refused to pass are of such a size that the pearls must 

 be large indeed. These, then, are considered of prime 

 value, whilst those which have passed through are 

 * Louis Figuier, Tlie Ocean World, 



