Chap. XI.] PEARL FISHERIES. 



373 



A trade more ancient by far than that carried on in 

 chanks, and infinitely more renowned, is the fishery of 

 pearls on the west coast of Ceylon, bordering the Grulf 

 of Manaar. No scene in Ceylon presents so dreary an 

 aspect as the long sweep of desolate shore to which, 

 from time immemorial, adventurers have resorted from 

 the uttermost ends of the earth in search of the precious 

 pearls for which this gulf is renowned. On approaching 

 it from sea the only perceptible landmark is a building 

 erected by Lord Guildford, as a temporary residence for 

 the Governor, and known by the name of the " Doric," 

 from the style of its architecture. A few coco-nut 

 palms appear next above the low sandy beach, and pre- 

 sently are discovered the scattered houses which form 

 the villages of Aripo and Condatchy. 



Between these two places, or rather between the 

 Kalaar and Arrive river, the shore is raised to a height 

 of many feet, by enormous mounds of shells, the accu- 

 mulations of ages, the millions of oysters *, robbed of 

 their pearls, having been year after year flung into 

 heaps, that extend for a distance of many miles. 



During the progress of a pearl-fishery, this singular 

 and dreary expanse becomes suddenly enlivened by the 

 crowds who congregate from distant parts of India ; a 

 town is improvised by the construction of temporary 

 dwellings, huts of timber, and cajans 2 , with tents of 

 palm leaves or canvas ; and bazaars spring up, to feed 

 the multitude on land, as well as the seamen and divers 

 in the fleets of boats that cover the bay. 



1 It is almost unnecessary to say grina. It is the Meleagrina Mar- 



that the shell fish which produces garitifera of Lamarck, 



the true Oriental pearls is not an 2 Cajan is the local term for the 



oyster, but belongs to the genus plaited fronds of a coco-nut. 

 Avicula, or more correctly, Melea- 



B B 3 



