418 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
during the late civil war, it seems extraordinary that only one instance of any attempt 
so to utilize them should appear in these accounts; aud it is very remarkable that the 
shells, so capable of being wrought and polished into an immense variety of beautiful 
objects of ornamental art, should be almost uniformly thrown away and wasted. 
Question 23, as to the principal occupations of the pearl-hunters, is answered in 
84 papers. Of these, 17 say merely that their occupations are various, or that people 
of all callings are included. The remaining 67 papers state, more or less definitely, as 
follows: Farmers and farm-hands, 35; laborers, 12; fishermen, 12; aud as making 
pearl-hunting a regular business, 8. Three papers speak of “ loafers,” aud one or two 
each specify as follows : Stockmen, hunters, trappers, tradesmen, roustabouts, boys, 
and negroes. One refers to women and children, aud the Maryland papers to oyster- 
men. The term “ laborers,” as used in these answers, probably means in most cases 
farm-laborers, as stated in a few instances ; and the indication is that two-thirds of 
the pearl-hunting is done by agricultural people, who search the streams when not 
otherwise occupied, “ in off times,” “fall,” or “late summer,” as several of the papers 
say. Fishermen naturally often combine pearl-hunting with their ordinary calling, 
and unoccupied persous of all kinds turn to it as affording a possible resource instead 
or in default of regular employment. The references to negroes, only mentioned as 
such in two (Tennessee) papers, are curiously few; and it seems that they, for some 
reason not apparent, engage but little in the business. Many of the farm-hands and 
fishermen, however, may be colored, although it is not so stated. 1 
Questions 24 and 25, as to statistics of the pearl fishery during the year previous 
to the report and former years, respectively, received so few answers that no definite 
results can be gathered from them. The few data that are given would afford no 
estimate of the extent of the industry or of the actual commercial value of its product. 
Question 26, as to when the pearl industry was of most importance, has received 
more or less definite answers in about two-thirds of the papers. The others either 
fail to make auy statement or employ terms so vague as to be of no significance. A 
number answer by giving the time of year or stage of water, not understanding the 
purport of the inquiry, and a few say that the yield does not vary much from year to 
year. Of 80 jiapers that give definite or approximate dates for the time of chief 
activity, only 27 mention or include the recent years (i. e., 1894-1897, when the reports 
were written), though several more do so by implication, using phrases like “since 
1890,” or “not before 1891.” Several state that the yield has diminished within a few 
seasons past; 41 papers specify years between 1890 and 1897, inclusive, and 19 between 
1880 and 1890. One Tennessee paper gives 1878-1884; an Iowa paper gives 1878-1890, 
aud the Ohio paper says 1860 to 1890. The 8 Wisconsin papers give years from 
1889 to 1892, two referring to thousands of dollars’ worth of pearls as taken in 1890, 
which seems to have been the year of maximum yield. The Texas dates are rather 
earlier, two papers giving 1886 and 1880-1886, respectively, though one says 1893. 
For Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, aud Pennsylvania the dates all 
range between 1890 and 1894, and chiefly since 1892, the search for Unio pearls having 
apparently been taken up since and in consequence of the great discoveries in Wis- 
consin, although in some cases it had a strictly local and independent origin, as shown 
1 It is of some interest to note the fact that in Iowa two well-known pearl-hunters are Indians: 
On-a-wat at Montour and John Mus-ke-mo at Nonotaker, Tama County. In their cases may perhaps 
he seen the continuance, to the present day, of an ancestral habit, which is proved hy the abundance 
of Unio pearls in ancient mounds and hy the traditions of the early explorers of North America from 
the time of DeSoto down. 
