1 88 Pearls, 



and three thousand Porto Novo pagodas, a sum 

 nearly double the usual rent. These boats he 

 farmed out again' to individuals in the best manner 

 he could, but for want of a sufficient number of 

 divers, some of them could not be employed. 



"The fishing, which commonly began about the 

 middle of February, if wind and weather allowed, 

 was this year for various reasons, delayed till the 

 end of the month ; j/et so favourable was the 

 weather, that the renter was able to take advantage 

 of the permission granted by the agreement, to fish 

 a little longer than the usual period of thirty days.'* 



The following extract from "An Account of 

 the Island of Ceylon," by Mr. Robert Percival, in 

 1803, gives a graphic description of the animated 

 scene which took place during the Pearl-fishing 

 season in the Bay of Condatchy. The writer says : 

 " This desert and barren spot is at that time con- 

 verted into a scene which exceeds in novelty and 

 variety anything that I have ever witnessed. Several 

 thousands of people of different colours, countries, 

 castes and occupations, continually passing and re- 

 passing in a busy crowd ; the vast numbers of small 

 tents and huts erected on the shore, with the bazaar 

 or market-place before each ; the multitude of boats 

 returning in the afternoon from the Pearl banks. 



