THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON 
187 
Eternal vigilance must be exercised by 
the owners to prevent the theft of pearls, 
and one of the precautions taken is to 
forbid the washers to remove their hands 
from the water except to drop at their 
feet the cleansed shells. 
The shells having been removed, the 
canoe is filled with water again and again, 
and tiie gnrry is kneaded and stirred in 
order that the lighter filth may be floated 
off. The water is finally decanted, and 
the heavier debris containing the pearls 
is removed with scrupulous care and 
wrapped in cotton cloth, undergoing a 
preliminary search for the largest pearls 
and numerous subsequent examinations 
in the course of drying. 
The dried matter is then sifted and 
sorted and gone over again and again ; 
and then, when it would appear that 
even the dust pearls must all have been 
extracted, the debris passes for a final 
search into the hands of women and. 
children, whose sharp eyes and delicate 
touch enable them to discover an amaz- 
ingly large quantity of small pearls. The 
material then remaining is offered for 
sale and always finds ready buyers. 
We can easily imagine the anxiety 
of the speculators, especially the small 
plungerSj when the washing of their 
pearl oysters has begun, and we can 
readily understand the nervous tension 
tinder which they exercise the right to 
thrust their hands into the gurry and 
pick out the pearls. Having the scan- 
tiest clothing, or none at all, whenever 
they withdraw pearls from the mass of 
putrid matter and squirming maggots 
they may deposit them in the safest and 
most available receptacle — their mouth! 
the; gre;atest fishery on RE^CORD 
The most productive fishery in the re- 
corded history of Ceylon was held in 
1905 » Three hundred and eighteen ves= 
sels participated, and during the season 
that extended from February 20 to April 
21 over 81,000,000 pearl oysters were 
landed^ whereas the best previous fish= 
ery, in 1891, yielded only 44,000,000, On 
a number of days over 4,000,000 oysters 
were obtained, and one day, when 5,005,= 
000 were taken, a record was established 
that may .never again be equalled. 
The preliminary government inspec- 
tion of the oysters on the grounds set 
apart for the fishery showed pearls pres- 
ent of the average value of about 23. 
rupees ($7.70) per thousand; but at the 
beginning of the fishery there was a 
marked enhancement in the value of 
pearls in the world's great markets, and 
the value increased during the progress 
of the fishery, so that the speculative 
prices for the oysters at times soared to 
$30 and even $40 per thousand, and the 
average price for the season was $16 to 
$17, making the first yield of the fishery 
about $1,365,000, excluding the value of 
oysters stolen by the natives while on 
the boats. The prices of pearls in Bom- 
bay and Paris warranted the prices paid 
in Ceylon for the oysters, and the mer- 
chants who sold their holdings made 
large profits. 
re;ce;nt history of^ the; fishe;ry 
The continuation of the high prices for 
pearls and the large profits of the 1905 
fishery resulted in unusual interest in 
the season of 1906; the 473 vessels that 
reported for employment carried 8,600 
divers, of whom about 4,100 were Arabs, 
a much larger number of this race than 
had participated in this industry in ' re- 
cent times. There was a large catchy 
and the oysters were purchased at ab- 
normal rates. In the subsequent year 
also prices ranged high. 
In 1906 a record was established, 
when on one day 309 rupees (over $100) 
per 1,000 oysters were paid, and In 1907, 
when the speculation fever attained un- 
usual severity, 70 to 90 rupees were not 
infrequently bid for oysters that ordi= 
narlly would bring only 15 rupees, and 
the verdict for the season was that the 
contained pearls did not warrant the 
prices paid. Then came the financial 
panic. The demand for pearls in Paris, 
London, and New York fell of¥, prices 
dropped, and the Bombay merchants lost 
heavily, and several of the leaders com- 
mitted suicide In consequence. 
It is a rather Interesting fact that since 
the government leased the pearling 
rights to a private syndicate in 1906 
there has been no fishery worth men- 
tioning. Notwithstanding this, however, 
