Stenart, the official inspector. My immediate object was to inquire into
the causes of the suspension of the fisheries, and to ascertain the
probability of reviving a source of revenue, the gross receipts from
which had failed for several years to defray the cost of conservancy. In
fact, between 1837 and 1854, the pearl banks were an annual charge,
instead of producing an annual income, to the colony. The conjecture,
hastily adopted, to account for the disappearance of mature shells, had
reference to mechanical causes; the received hypothesis being that the
young broods had been swept off their accustomed feeding grounds, by the
establishment of unusual currents, occasioned by deepening the narrow
passage between Ceylon and India at Paumbam. It was also suggested, that
a previous Governor, in his eagerness to replenish the colonial
treasury, had so "scraped" and impoverished the beds as to exterminate
the oysters. To me, neither of these suppositions appeared worthy of
acceptance; for, in the frequent disruptions of Adam's Bridge, there was
ample evidence that the currents in the Gulf of Manaar had been changed
at former times without destroying the pearl beds: and moreover the
oysters had disappeared on many former occasions, without any imputation
of improper management on the part of the conservators; and returned
after much longer intervals of absence than that which fell under my own
notice, and which was then creating serious apprehension in the colony.
A similar interruption had been experienced between 1820 and 1828: the
Dutch had had no fishing for twenty-seven years, from 1768 till 1796[1];
and they had been equally unsuccessful from 1732 till 1746. The Arabs
were well acquainted with similar vicissitudes, and Albyronni (a
contemporary of Avicenna), who served under Mahmoud of Ghuznee, and
wrote in the eleventh century, says that the pearl fishery, which
formerly existed in the Gulf of Serendib, had become exhausted in his
time, simultaneously with the appearance of a fishery at Sofala, in the
country of the Zends, where pearls were unknown before; and hence, he
says, arose the conjecture that the pearl oyster of Serendib had
migrated to Sofala.[2]
[Footnote 1: This suspension was in some degree attributable to disputes
with the Nabob of Arcot and other chiefs, and the proprietors of temples
on the opposite coast of India, who claimed, a right to participate in
the fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar.]
[Footnote 2: "Il y avait autrefois dans le Golfe de Serendyb, une
pêcherie de perles qui s'est épuiseé de notre temps. D'un autre côté il
s'est formé une pêcherie de Sofala dans le pays des Zends, là ou il n'en
existait pas auparavant--on dit que c'est la pêcherie de Serendyb qui
s'est transportée à Sofala."--ALBYROUNI, _in_ RENAUD'S _Fragmens Arabes,
&c_, p. 125; see also REINAUD'S _Mémoire sur l'Inde_, p. 228.]
It appeared to me that the explanation of the phenomenon was to be
sought, not merely in external causes, but also in the instincts and
faculties of the animals themselves, and, on my return to Colombo, I
ventured to renew a recommendation, which had been made years before,
that a scientific inspector should be appointed to study the habits and
the natural history of the pearl-oyster, and that his investigations
should be facilitated by the means at the disposal of the Government.
Dr. Kelaart was appointed to this office, by Sir H.G. Ward, in 1857, and
his researches speedily developed results of great interest. In
opposition to the received opinion that the pearl-oyster is incapable of
voluntary movement, and unable of itself to quit the place to which it
is originally attached[1], he demonstrated, not only that it possesses
locomotive powers, but also that their exercise is indispensable to its
oeconomy when obliged to search for food, or compelled to escape from
local impurities. He showed that, for this purpose, it can sever its
byssus, and re-form it at pleasure, so as to migrate and moor itself in
favourable situations.[2] The establishment of this important fact may
tend to solve the mystery of the occasional disappearances of the
oyster; and if coupled with the further discovery that it is susceptible
of translation from place to place, and even from salt to brackish
water, it seems reasonable to expect that beds may be formed with
advantage in positions suitable for its growth and protection. Thus,
like the edible oyster of our own shores, the pearl-oyster may be
brought within the domain of pisciculture, and banks may be created in
suitable places, just as the southern shores of France are now being
colonised with oysters, under the direction of M. Coste.[3] The
operation of sowing the sea with pearl, should the experiment succeed,
would be as gorgeous in reality, as it is grand in conception: and the
wealth of Ceylon, in her "treasures of the deep," might eclipse the
renown of her gems when she merited the title of the "Island of Rubies."
[Footnote 1: STEUART'S _Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon_, p. 27: CORDINER'S
_Ceylon, &c_, vol. ii. p. 45.]
[Footnote 2: See Dr. KELAART'S Report on the Pearl Oyster in the _Ceylon
Calendar for 1858--Appendix_, p. 14.]
[Footnote 3: _Rapport de_ M. COSTE, Professeur d'Embryogénie, &c.,
Paris, 1858.]
On my arrival at Aripo, the pearl-divers, under the orders of their
Adapanaar, put to sea, and commenced the examination of the banks.[1]
The persons engaged in this calling are chiefly Tamils and Moors, who
are trained for the service by diving for chanks. The pieces of
apparatus employed to assist the diver in his operations are exceedingly
simple in their character: they consist merely of a stone, about thirty
pounds' weight, (to accelerate the rapidity of his descent,) which is
suspended over the side of the boat, with a loop attached to it for
receiving the foot; and of a net-work basket, which he takes down to the
bottom and fills with the oysters as he collects them. MASSOUDI, one of
the earliest Arabian geographers, describing, in the ninth century, the
habits of the pearl-divers in the Persian Gulf, says that, before
descending, each filled his ears with cotton steeped in oil, and
compressed his nostrils by a piece of tortoise-shell.[2] This practice
continues there to the present day[3]; but the diver of Ceylon rejects
all such expedients; he inserts his foot in the "sinking stone" and
inhales a full breath; presses his nostrils with his left hand; raises
his body as high as possible above water, to give force to his descent:
and, liberating the stone from its fastenings, he sinks rapidly below
the surface. As soon as he has reached the bottom, the stone is drawn
up, and the diver, throwing himself on his face, commences with alacrity
to fill his basket with oysters. This, on a concerted signal, is hauled
rapidly to the surface; the diver assisting his own ascent by springing
on the rope as it rises.
[Footnote 1: Detailed accounts of the pearl fishery of Ceylon and the
conduct of the divers, will be found in PERCIVAL's _Ceylon_, ch. iii.:
and in CORDINER'S _Ceylon_, vol. ii. ch. xvi. There is also a valuable
paper on the same subject by Mr. LE BECK, in the _Asiatic Researches_,
vol. v. p. 993; but by far the most able and intelligent description is
contained in the _Account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon_, by JAMES
STEUART, Esq., Inspector of the Pearl Banks, 4to. Colombo, 1843.]
[Footnote 2: MASSOUDI says that the Persian divers, as they could not
breathe through their nostrils, _cleft the root of the ear_ for that
purpose: "_Ils se fendaient la racine de l'oreille pour respirer_; en
effet, ils ne peuvent se servir pour cet objet des narines, vu qu'ils se
les bouchent avec des morceaux d'écailles de tortue marine on bien avec
des morceaux de corne ayant la forme d'un fer de lance. En même temps
ils se mettent dans l'oreille du coton trempé dans de
l'huile."--_Moroudj-al-Dzeheb,_ &c., REINAUD, _Mémoire sur l'Inde,_ p.
228.]
[Footnote 3: Colonel WILSON says they compress the nose with horn, and
close the ears with beeswax. See _Memorandum on the Pearl Fisheries in
Persian Gulf.--Journ. Geogr. Soc._ 1833, vol. iii. p. 283.]
Improbable tales have been told of the capacity which these men acquire
of remaining for prolonged periods under water. The divers who attended
on this occasion were amongst the most expert on the coast, yet not one
of them was able to complete a full minute below. Captain Steuart, who
filled for many years the office of Inspector of the Pearl Banks,
assured me that he had never known a diver to continue at the bottom
longer than eighty-seven seconds, nor to attain a greater depth than
thirteen fathoms; and on ordinary occasions they seldom exceeded
fifty-five seconds in nine fathom water[1].
[Footnote 1: RIBEYRO says that a diver could remain below whilst two
_credos_ were being repeated: "Il s'y tient l'espace de deux
_credo_."--Lib. i. ch. xxii. p. 169. PERCIVAL says the usual time for
them to be under water was two minutes, but that some divers stayed
_four_ or _five_, and one _six_ minutes,--_Ceylon_ p. 91; LE BECK says
that in 1797 he saw a Caffre boy from Karical remain down for the space
of seven minutes.--_Asiat. Res_ vol. v. p. 402.]
The only precaution to which the Ceylon diver devotedly resorts, is the
mystic ceremony of the shark-charmer, whose exorcism is an indispensable
preliminary to every fishery. His power is believed to be hereditary;
nor is it supposed that the value of his incantations is at all
dependent upon the religious faith professed by the operator, for the
present head of the family happens to be a Roman Catholic. At the time
of our visit this mysterious functionary was ill and unable to attend;
but he sent an accredited substitute, who assured me that although he
himself was ignorant of the grand and mystic secret, the mere fact of
his presence, as a representative of the higher authority, would be
recognised and respected by the sharks.
Strange to say, though the Gulf of Manaar abounds with these hideous
creatures, not more than one well authenticated accident[1] is known to
have occurred from this source during any pearl fishery since the
British have had possession of Ceylon. In all probability the reason is
that the sharks are alarmed by the unusual number of boats, the
multitude of divers, the noise of the crews, the incessant plunging of
the sinking stones, and the descent and ascent of the baskets filled
with shells. The dark colour of the divers themselves may also be a
protection; whiter skins might not experience an equal impunity.
Massoudi relates that the divers of the Persian Gulf were so conscious
of this advantage of colour, that they were accustomed to blacken their
limbs, in order to baffle the sea monsters.[2]
[Footnote 1: CORDINER'S _Ceylon_, vol. ii p. 52.]
[Footnote 2: "Ils s'enduisaient les pieds et les jambes d'une substance
noirâtre, atin de faire peur aux monstres marins, que, sans cela,
seraient tentés de les dévorer."--_Moroudj-al-Dzekeb,_ REINAUD, _Mém.
sur l'Inde_, p. 228.]
The result of our examination of the pearl banks, on this occasion, was
such as to discourage the hope of an early fishery. The oysters in point
of number were abundant, but in size they were little more than "spat,"
the largest being barely a fourth of an inch in diameter. As at least
seven years are required to furnish the growth at which pearls may be
sought with advantage[1], the inspection served only to suggest the
prospect (which has since been realised) that in time the income from
this source might be expected to revive;--and, forced to content
ourselves with this anticipation, we weighed anchor from Condatchy, on
the 30th March, and arrived on the following day at Colombo.
[Footnote 1: Along with this two plates are given from drawings made for
the Official Inspector, and exhibiting the ascertained size of the pearl
oyster at every period of its growth, from the "spat" to the mature
shell. The young "brood" are shown at Nos. 1 and 2. The shell at four
months old, No. 3, No. 4. six months, No. 5. one year, No. 6, two years.
The second plate exhibits the shell at its full growth.]
The banks of Aripo are not the only localities, nor is the _acicula_ the
only mollusc, by which pearls are furnished. The Bay of Tamblegam,
connected with the magnificent harbour of Trincomalie, is the seat of
another pearl fishery, and the shell which produces them is the thin
transparent oyster (_Placuna placenta_). whose clear white shells are
used, in China and elsewhere, as a substitute for window glass. They are
also collected annually for the sake of the diminutive pearls contained
in them. These are exported to the coast of India, to be calcined for
lime, which the luxurious affect to chew with their betel. These pearls
are also burned in the mouths of the dead. So prolific are the mollusca
of the _Placuna_, that the quantity of shells taken by the licensed
renter in the three years prior to 1858, could not have been less than
eighteen millions.[1] They delight in brackish water, and on more than
one recent occasion, an excess of either salt water or fresh has proved
fatal to great numbers of them.
[Footnote 1: _Report of_ Dr. KELAART, Oct. 1857.]
[Illustration: PEARL OYSTER.
1, 2. The young brood or spat.
3. Four months old.
4. Six months old.
5. One year old.
6. Two years old.]
[Illustration: THE PEARL OYSTER. Full Growth.]
On the occasion of a visit which I made to Batticaloa. in September,
1848, I made some inquiries relative to a story which had reached me of
musical sounds, said to be often heard issuing from the bottom of the
lake, at several places, both above and below the ferry opposite the old
Dutch Fort; and which the natives suppose to proceed from some fish
peculiar to the locality. The report was confirmed in all its
particulars, and one of the spots whence the sounds proceed was pointed
out between the pier and a rock that intersects the channel, two or
three hundred yards to the eastward. They were said to be heard at
night, and most distinctly when the moon was nearest the full, and they
were described as resembling the faint sweet notes of an Æolian harp. I
sent for some of the fishermen, who said they were perfectly aware of
the fact, and that their fathers had always known of the existence of
the musical sounds, heard, they said, at the spot alluded to, but only
during the dry season, as they cease when the lake is swollen by the
freshes after the rain. They believed them to proceed not from a fish,
but from a shell, which is known by the Tamil name of (_oorie cooleeroo
cradoo_, or) the "crying shell," a name in which the sound seems to have
been adopted as an echo to the sense. I sent them in search of the
shell, and they returned bringing me some living specimens of different
shells, chiefly _littorina_ and _cerithium._[1]
[Illustration: CERITHIUM PALUSTRE.]
[Footnote 1: _Littorina lævis. Cerithium palustre._ Of the latter the
specimens brought to me were dwarfed and solid, exhibiting in this
particular the usual peculiarities that distinguish (1) shells
inhabiting a rocky locality from (2) their congeners in a sandy bottom.
Their longitudinal development was less, with greater breadth, and
increased strength and weight.]
In the evening when the moon rose, I took a boat and accompanied the
fishermen to the spot. We rowed about two hundred yards north-east of
the jetty by the fort gate; there was not a breath of wind, nor a ripple
except those caused by the dip of our oars. On coming to the point
mentioned, I distinctly heard the sounds in question. They came up from
the water like the gentle thrills of a musical chord, or the faint
vibrations of a wine-glass when its rim is rubbed by a moistened finger.
It was not one sustained note, but a multitude of tiny, sounds, each
clear and distinct in itself; the sweetest treble mingling with the
lowest bass. On applying the ear to the woodwork of the boat, the
vibration was greatly increased in volume. The sounds varied
considerably at different points, as we moved across the lake, as if the
number of the animals from which they proceeded was greatest in
particular spots; and occasionally we rowed out of hearing of them
altogether, until on returning to the original locality the sounds were
at once renewed.
This fact seems to indicate that the causes of the sounds, whatever they
may be, are stationary at several points; and this agrees with the
statement of the natives, that they are produced by mollusca, and not by
fish. They came evidently and sensibly from the depth of the lake, and
there was nothing in the surrounding circumstances to support the
conjecture that they could be the reverberation of noises made by
insects on the shore conveyed along the surface of the water; for they
were loudest and most distinct at points where the nature of the land,
and the intervention of the fort and its buildings, forbade the
possibility of this kind of conduction.
Sounds somewhat similar are heard under water at some places on the
western coast of India, especially in the harbour of Bombay.[1] At
Caldera, in Chili, musical cadences are stated to issue from the sea
near the landing-place; they are described as rising and falling fully
four notes, resembling the tones of harp strings, and mingling like
those at Batticaloa, till they produce a musical discord of great
delicacy and sweetness. The same interesting phenomenon has been
observed at the mouth of the Pascagoula, in the State of Mississippi,
and of another river called the "Bayou coq del Inde," on the northern
shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The animals from which they proceed have
not been identified at either of these places, and the mystery remains
unsolved, whether the sounds at Batticaloa are given forth by fishes or
by molluscs.
[Footnote 1: These sounds are thus described by Dr. BUIST in the _Bombay
Times_ of January 1847: "A party lately crossing from the promontory in
Salsette called the 'Neat's Tongue,' to near Sewree, were, about sunset,
struck by hearing long distinct sounds like the protracted booming of a
distant bell, the dying cadence of an Æolian harp, the note of a
pitchpipe or pitch-fork, or any other long-drawn-out musical note. It
was, at first, supposed to be music from Parell floating at intervals on
the breeze; then it was perceived to come from all directions, almost in
equal strength, and to arise from the surface of the water all around
the vessel. The boatmen at once intimated that the sounds were produced
by fish, abounding in the muddy creeks and shoals around Bombay and
Salsette; they were perfectly well known, and very often heard.
Accordingly, on inclining the ear towards the surface of the water; or,
better still, by placing it close to the planks of the vessel, the notes
appeared loud and distinct, and followed each other in constant
succession. The boatmen next day produced specimens of the fish--a
creature closely resembling, in size and shape the fresh-water perch of
the north of Europe--and spoke of them as plentiful and perfectly well
known. It is hoped they may be procured alive, and the means afforded of
determining how the musical sounds are produced and emitted, with other
particulars of interest supposed new in Ichthyology. We shall be
thankful to receive from our readers any information they can give us in
regard to a phenomenon which does not appear to have been heretofore
noticed, and which cannot fail to attract the attention of the
naturalist. Of the perfect accuracy with which the singular facts above
related have been given, no doubt will be entertained when it is
mentioned that the writer was one of a party of five intelligent
persons, by all of whom they were most carefully observed, and the
impressions of all of whom in regard to them were uniform. It is
supposed that the fish are confined to particular localities--shallows,
estuaries, and muddy creeks, rarely visited by Europeans; and that this
is the reason why hitherto no mention, so far as we know, has been made
of the peculiarity in any work on Natural History."
This communication elicited one from Vizagapatam, relative to "musical
sounds like the prolonged notes on the harp" heard to proceed from under
water at that station. It appeared in the _Bombay Times_ of Feb. 13,
1849.]
Certain fishes are known to utter sounds when removed from the water[1],
and some are capable of making noises when under it[2]; but all the
circumstances connected with the sounds which I heard at Batticaloa are
unfavourable to the conjecture that they were produced by either.
[Footnote 1: The Cuckoo Gurnard (_Triglia cuculus_) and the maigre
(_Sciæna aquila_) utter sounds when taken out of the water (YARRELL,
vol. i. p. 44, 107); and herrings when the net has just been drawn have
been observed to do the same. This effect has been attributed to the
escape of air from the air bladder, but no air bladder has been found in
the _Cottus_, which makes a similar noise.]
[Footnote 2: The fishermen assert that a fish about five inches in
length, found in the lake at Colombo, and called by them "_magoora_,"
makes a grunt when disturbed under water. PALLEGOIX, in his account of
Siam, speaks of a fish resembling a sole, but of brilliant colouring
with black spots, which the natives call the "dog's tongue," that
attaches itself to the bottom of a boat, "et fait entendre un bruit
très-sonore et même harmonieux."--Tom. i. p. 194. A _Silurus_, found in
the Rio Parana, and called the "armado," is remarkable for making a
harsh grating noise when caught by hook or line, which can be distinctly
heard when the fish is beneath the water. DARWIN, _Nat. Journ._ ch. vii.
Aristotle and Ælian were aware of the existence of this faculty in some
of the fishes of the Mediterranean. ARISTOTLE, _De Anim_., lib. iv. ch.
ix.; ÆLIAN, _De Nat. Anim._, lib. x. ch. xi.; see also PLINY, lib. ix.
ch. vii.. lib. xi. ch. cxiii.; ATHENÆUS, lib. vii. ch. iii. vi. I have
heard of sounds produced under water at Baltimore, and supposed to be
produced by the "cat-fish;" and at Swan River in Australia, where they
are ascribed to the "trumpeter." A similar noise heard in the Tagus is
attributed by the Lisbon fishermen to the "_Corvina_"--but what fish is
meant by that name, I am unable to tell.]
Organs of hearing have been clearly ascertained to exist, mot only in
fishes[1], but in mollusca. In the oyster the presence of an acoustic
apparatus of the simplest possible construction has been established by
the discoveries of Siebold[2], and from our knowledge of the reciprocal
relations existing between the faculties of hearing and of producing
sounds, the ascertained existence of the one affords legitimate grounds
for inferring the coexistence of the other in animals of the same
class.[3]
[Footnote 1: AGASSIZ, _Comparative Physiology_, sec. ii. 158.]
[Footnote 2: It consists of two round vesicles containing fluid, and
crystalline or elliptical calcareous particles or otolites, remarkable
for their oscillatory action in the living or recently killed animal.
OWEN'S _Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the
Invertebrate Animals_, 1855, p. 511-552.]
[Footnote 3: I am informed that Professor MÜLLER read a paper on
"Musical fishes" before the Academy of Berlin, in 1856. It will probably
be found in the volume of MÜLLER'S _Archiv. für Physiologie_ for that
year; but I have not had an opportunity of reading it.]
Besides, it has been clearly established, that one at least of the
gasteropoda is furnished with the power of producing sounds. Dr. Grant,
in 1826, communicated to the Edinburgh Philosophical Society the fact,
that on placing some specimens of the _Tritonia arborescens_ in a glass
vessel filled with sea water, his attention was attracted by a noise
which he ascertained to proceed from these mollusca. It resembled the
"clink" of a steel wire on the side of the jar, one stroke only being
given at a time, and repeated at short intervals.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Edinburgh Philosophical Journ_., vol. xiv. p. 188. See
also the Appendix to this chapter.]
The affinity of structure between the _Tritonia_ and the mollusca
inhabiting the shells brought to me at Batticaloa, might justify the
belief of the natives of Ceylon, that the latter are the authors of the
sounds I heard; and the description of those emitted by the former as
given by Dr. Grant, so nearly resemble them, that I have always
regretted my inability, on the occasion of my visits to Batticaloa, to
investigate the subject more narrowly. At subsequent periods I have
since renewed my efforts, but without success, to obtain specimens or
observations of the habits of the living mollusca.