1883.] Pearls and Pearl Fisheries. 737 
cast again upon the sands; from the refuse of a thousand little 
camps and fifteen thousand unregulated barbarians; so that an 
European is forced to saturate his beard with rum or his hand- 
kerchief with some disinfectant if he would even go near enough 
to view the extraordinary spectacle. Added to these outrages 
upon the sense of smell, are swarms of gnats, mosquitos and 
fleas, to say nothing of the innumerable poisonous insects which 
run upon the ground, and the deadly serpents which infest the 
shrubbery. 
The shell-fish are allowed to die, the shells then open natu- 
rally, the pearls are extracted, the Avicula shells thrown away, 
the Meleagrina shells preserved for export as “ mother-of-pearl.” 
These are known to commerce as “ silver-lipped”’ pearl shell. 
Their nacre is very clear and bright, the shells attain the largest 
size of any, sometimes eighteen inches, so that a pair of this size 
open will extend a yard from edge to edge. The finest come, 
not from Ceylon but from the Sulu sea, and are worth from 
$400 to $700 per ton. The diver who collects a hundred shells 
per day in fifty feet of water does a good day’s work. 
So far the divers of Ceylon have refused to avail themselves of 
submarine armor and several attempts to use the diving bell have 
resulted in failure, chiefly from the irregularities of the bottom 
and the small area which was accessible to those in the bell. 
After the pearls are collected they are classed, weighed and 
Valued. To class them they are passed through a succession of 
brass cullenders called “ baskets,” of the shape and size of large 
Saucers. There are ten or twelve of these baskets; the first has 
twenty holes in it and the pearls which do not pass through after 
being well shaken, are called of the twentieth basket. The suc- 
ceeding baskets have 30, 50, 80, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 
holes, and each basket gives its name corresponding to the num- 
ber of holes to the pearls which reach but do not pass through it. 
The pearls which do not pass through the eleventh and twelfth 
baskets when these are used, are called masie. The pearls having 
been sorted as to size by means of the baskets, are carefully 
examined as to shape and color, and each size except the maste is 
Susceptible of seven distinct descriptions. After being classed 
they are weighed and valued according to their respective quali- 
ties. The price of pearls is expressed at a certain rate per chow, 
Which term has reference to the resultant of all their characteris- 
