Ceylc7i Pearl Fisheries. 195 



upon this loathsome work, nor can human nature 

 be viewed in a much more repulsive aspect, than 

 in that of an old coloured woman, almost destitute 

 of clothing, her hair tangled and dishevelled, her 

 eyes gleaming with cupidity, and her skinny arms 

 half buried in a hideous mass of corruption, that 

 would appal an analytical chemist." 



At the present time the government claim as 

 royalty two-thirds of the oysters. At the fishery of 

 188 1, which was the last successful fishery in Ceylon, 

 the government share realized ;^59,900. The 

 yield of the fishery is very uncertain. The young 

 Pearl-oysters on the banks at Aripu have some- 

 times disappeared in a remarkable manner, having 

 probably been either buried under shifting sands or 

 washed away by strong currents. The young of 

 the Pearl-oyster are devoured in vast numbers by 

 skate and other voracious fish. The Ceylon oyster 

 attains maturity in about six years but after the 

 sixth year its life is very uncertain. 



It is predicted by those best able to judge 

 that the Ceylon banks will yield good Pearl-fishing 

 in the years 1888 and 1889. 



It should be mentioned, that a small Pearl- 

 fishery is carried on in the bay at Tamblegam, 

 near Trincomalee, on the North-east coast of Ceylon. 



