154 Pearls. 



whose duty it is to take the oyster in his fingers 

 and carefully feel all over it for the small Pearls. 

 These he places in a small shell, and very few 

 ever escape these sharp little fellows. 



When all are opened, the empty shells are 

 stacked so that the sun and wind may dry the 

 hinges, which after seven or eight hours are brittle 

 enough to be broken without injuring the shells. 

 The shell is then stacked in bulk in the hold, or 

 packed away in hogsheads for export. This opera- 

 tion is one in which the pearler takes considerable 

 pride. A well - packed hogshead weighs between 

 5 and 6 cwt. The Pearls are handed over to the 

 " boss " of the vessel, who washes them clean, and 

 puts them away — the good ones into his cash- box, 

 and the common ones into a pickle bottle. Every 

 day a few Pearls are found, but it is rarely that 

 anything of much value is discovered. Men have 

 opened over 5,000 pairs, and never found a Pearl 

 worth ;^5. The yield of Pearls in shells taken west 

 of Cossack, is far larger than in those from the 

 Eastern grounds ; the usual proportion in value of 

 shells and Pearls taken West being 3 to i, whereas 

 East it is only 5 to i : that is to say the Pearls 

 found in ^5,000 worth of shell will average about 



;^I000. 



West of Cossack shells are scarcer than to the 



