THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
71 
any danger of injuring the pearls, which might be the case 
if they were opened fresh, as at that time to do so requires 
great force. On the shell being opened, the oyster is minutely 
examined for the pearls : it is usual even to boil the oyster, 
as the pearl, though commonly found in the shell, is not 
unfrequently contained in the body of the fish itself. 
The stench occasioned by the oysters being left to putrefy 
is intolerable; and remains for a long while after the fishery 
is over. It corrupts the atmosphere for several miles round 
Condatchy, and renders the neighbourhood of that country 
extremely unpleasant till the monsoons and violent south- 
west winds set in and purify the air. The nauseous smell 
however is not able to overcome the hopes of gain : for months 
after the fishing season, numbers of people are to be seen earn- 
estly searching and poring over the sands and places where 
the oysters had been laid to putrefy ; and some are now and 
then fortunate enough to find a pearl that amply compen- 
sates their trouble in searching after them. In 1797 while 
Mr. Andrews was collector, a Cooly, or common fellow of 
the lowest class, got by accident the most valuable pearl seen 
that season, and sold it to Mr. Andrews for a large sum. 
The pearls found at this fishery are of a whiter colour 
than those got in the gulpli of Ormus on the Arabian coast, 
but in other respects are not accounted so pure or of such 
an excellent quality ; for though the white pearls are more 
esteemed in Europe, the natives prefer those of a yellowish 
or golden cast. Off Tutucoreen, which lies on the Coromandel 
