THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON 
189 
Photo by Andree 
the; dive;rs receiving their wages in oysters: they frequently eind very 
valuable pearls in their share and are made rich eor llee 
the company, having received the gov- 
ernment's proceeds of the fishery during 
the last year under the old regime, has 
been able to declare large dividends, and 
the stockholders have had reason to be 
well satisfied and can afford to wait 
awhile for another successful fishery. 
Recent reports received from Ceylon 
were quite alarming as to the condition 
of the grounds. No spat had fallen ; 
there were few adult and young oysters 
on the grounds, and no fishery was ex- 
pected for several years. 
THE EAKIRS 
The pearl fishery is the Mecca of all 
sorts and conditions of fakirs from all 
over the East. There are snake-charm- 
ers, conjurers, astrologers, devil-dancers, 
and all the other oriental counterparts 
of the fakirs who frequent the county 
fairs in America, and there are fakirs 
directly connected with the pearl fishery. 
The pearl fakirs sit about the streets 
at little three-legged wooden work- 
tables, and there drill pearls for string- 
ing; buy and sell defective pearls; con- 
vert bad pearls into good ones, and palm 
off repaired, plugged, peeled, and doc- 
tored pearls on the unsuspecting and un- 
sophisticated. Their principal livelihood 
is from the handling of blemished pearls. 
Sometimes pearls will exhibit defects, 
that greatly impair their market value ; 
but there is always a possibility that the 
blemish may be only "skin deep," and 
that by peeling off the outer layer or 
layers of pearly matter the underlying 
part will be found to be free from defect. 
On the other hand, pearls may have 
superficial defects that detract from 
their value, but are not sufficient to pre- 
vent sale at good prices and their use 
for special purposes ; and such pearls, 
if peeled in the hope of entirely eliminat- 
ing their defects, may be rendered 
worthless by the rapid increase in the 
size of the defect as the lower layers are 
uncovered. 
One can readily see the elements of 
