70 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
and running the chance of either finding or not finding pearfe 
in them. The European officers and gentlemen, who attend 
here upon duty or through curiosity, are particularly fond of 
these lotteries, and very frequently make purchases of this 
sort. 
The boat-owners and merchants are very apt to lose many 
of the best pearls while the boats are on their return to the 
bay from the banks, as the oysters when alive and left for 
some time undisturbed frequently open their shells of their 
own accord : a pearl may then be easily discovered, and the 
oyster prevented by means of a bit of grass or soft wood from 
again closing its shell, till an opportunity offers of picking 
out the pearl. Those fellows who are employed to search 
among the fish also commit many depredations, and even 
swallow the pearls to conceal them ; when this is suspected, 
the plan followed by the merchants is to lock the fellows up, 
and give them strong emetics and purgatives, which have fre- 
quently the effect of discovering the stolen goods. 
As soon as the oysters are taken out of the boats, they 
are carried by the different people to whom they belong and 
placed in holes or pits dug in the ground to the depth of 
about two feet, or in small square places cleared and fenced 
round for the purpose ; each person having his own separate 
division. Mats are spread below them to prevent the oysters 
from touching the earth ; and here they are left to die and 
rot. As soon as they have passed through a state of putre- 
faction, and have become dry, they are easily opened without 
