opal-white symmetrical pearls, with faint luster and of little value.
The transversely oval shell of the _Tridacna_, with its great squamous
ribs, is probably the largest and heaviest in existence, single pairs
weighing upward of 500 pounds. It is found in tropical seas, and
especially in the Indian Ocean. It is much used for ornament,
particularly for fountain-basins, and for _bénitiers_, or holy-water
fonts. A beautiful pair used as _bénitiers_ in the Church of St. Sulpice
in Paris is said to have been a gift of the Republic of Venice to
Francis I. There seems to be no established fishery for this mollusk,
and the pearls very rarely come on the market. About four years ago in
New York City an effort was made to market one weighing about 200
grains. The owner represented that it was a “cocoanut pearl,” and
offered to sell it for $2000; whereas its actual value was probably not
over $10 or $20, and that only for a museum collection.
Pearls of slight luster also occur in the quahog, or hard clam (_Venus
mercenaria_), of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Although these
are rare, they are generally of good form, and some weigh upward of
eighty grains each. They are commonly of dark color, purplish,
ordinarily, but they may be white, pale lilac, brown, and even purplish
black, or black. The white ones—which so nearly resemble ivory buttons
as readily to pass for them at a casual glance—are of little value; but
fine dark ones have retailed at from $10 to $100 each. There is little
demand for them, for unless the color is very good, they possess slight
beauty, lacking the orient peculiar to choice pearls. Pearls have also
been reported from the edible clam of the Pacific coast of America.
Shelly concretions are found in the edible oyster of America (_Ostrea
virginica_), as well as in that of Europe (_O. edulis_); but these are
commonly objects of personal interest or of local curiosity, rather than
of artistic or commercial value, as they are lacking in luster and
iridescence. Most of them are dull or opal-white, some are purple, and a
few are white on one side and purple on the other. As many as fifty of
these formations have been found in a single oyster. Sometimes they are
of odd appearance, suggesting the human eye or face, and recently one
was found which bore a striking resemblance to a human skull.
Notwithstanding many news items to the contrary, it is doubtful whether
the choicest pearl from an edible oyster would sell for as high as $20
on its own merits; professional shuckers have opened thousands of
bushels of oysters without finding one which would sell for ten cents.
Among univalves, the most prominent pearl-producer is probably the
common conch or great conch (_Strombus gigas_) of the West Indies and
the Florida coast, which secretes beautiful pink pearls of considerable
value. This is one of the largest of the univalve shells, some
individuals measuring twelve inches in length, and weighing five or six
pounds. The graceful curves and the delicate tints of lovely pink color
make it exceedingly attractive. The conch abounds in the waters of the
West Indies, especially in the Bahamas, where many thousands are
annually taken for the shell, which forms quite an article of commerce.
The flesh is esteemed as food and is also used for bait; and it is
particularly in preparing for these purposes that the pearls are found,
as no established fisheries exist for the pearls alone.
The ear-shells or abalones (Haliotidæ) found on the coasts of
California, Japan, New Zealand, and other localities in the Pacific,
secrete pearly concretions, sometimes with fine luster, but usually of
small value. These shells resemble in general outline the form of the
human ear. Distinguishing characteristics are the flatly-spiral
bowl-like shape, and the regular series of holes in the back near the
distal margin, for the admission of water to the respiratory organs. The
holes are on the left side and parallel with the columellar lip, and
those nearest the apex close up as the shell increases in size. The
shells are rough externally, but beautifully nacreous within. In variety
and intensity of coloring, the nacre is superior to that of the
pearl-oysters, but it is not so harmonious, and it does not form so
thick and flat a layer.
Abalone pearls are especially interesting on account of their brilliant
and unusual colors. Green predominates, but blue and yellow also occur.
Although commonly very small, some of the well formed ones exceed
seventy-five grains in weight, and those of irregular shape may be very
much larger. The ear-shells also produce many irregular pearly masses.
Although these are without an established commercial value, their
beautiful greenish or bluish tints adapt them for artistic jeweled
objects, such as the body of a fly or of a beetle.
Similar concretions are found in species of turbos and turbinella,
especially the Indian chank (_Turbinella rapa_), which yields pink and
pale red pearls. The pearly nautilus (_Nautilus pompilius_) yields a few
yellowish pearls, especially those taken in Australian waters; but from
the paper nautilus—“the sea-born sailor of his shell canoe”—no pearls
are obtained, owing to the non-lustrous nature of the shell.
In bygone days, especially in Asia, and also to some extent in Europe,
pearls were credited as coming from many non-molluscan sources. The
Rabbis had the idea that they came also from fish, as noted in the story
of a tailor who was rewarded by finding a pearl in one which he bought
(Gen. R. xi. 5). The Raganighantu of Narahari, a Kashmir physician of
about 1240 _A.D._, reported them as coming from bamboos, cocoanuts,
heads of elephants, bears, serpents, whales, fish, etc.;[84] although it
conceded that these were deficient in luster, which is recognized as the
characteristic feature of pearls. We understand, therefore, that this
use of the word signifies only hard concretions of a spherical form. In
the apology for his book, prison-bound Bunyan wrote:
A pearl may in a toad’s head dwell,
And may be found in an oyster shell.
The crystal gems—the diamonds, rubies, etc.—are practically unlimited in
their longevity, existing thousands of years unchanged in condition.
Except those which have been discovered by man, the earth contains about
as many as it ever did, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that in
course of time a considerable percentage of the total will be
discovered. But in the seas as well as in the rivers, the longevity of
pearls is greatly restricted, and
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear[85]
to run their course of existence and decay unseen and unknown.
Perishable while in the seas, almost as cereals and fruits on land, the
harvest must be gathered with promptness or it is wasted. And it seems
probable that only a small percentage of the beautiful gems produced in
the waters have gladdened the sight of man.
With considerable hesitancy we have attempted to estimate the number of
persons employed in the pearl fisheries of the world, and the aggregate
local value of their catch. For two or three regions, this is not a
matter of great difficulty. For instance, the divers employed in the
Ceylon fishery are numbered each season, and the auction sales of their
catch furnish a reasonably satisfactory basis for determining the value
of the output. Likewise in Australia, Venezuela, and some minor
localities, the fishermen are numbered; but the reports are less
satisfactory as to the value of the pearls. In the Persian Gulf, the Red
Sea, the Gulf of California, and the islands of the Pacific, where
pearl-diving is a profession and a regular source of livelihood, the
number of employees is fairly constant. But in the rivers and ponds of
America, as well as of Europe and of Asia, where neither experience nor
costly equipment is required for the industry, and pearls to the value
of very many thousands of dollars are obtained by men, women, and even
children, on pleasure bent, as well as in the widely fluctuating
professional fisheries, the problem is far more difficult.
Contending with these many difficulties, we venture to present the
following estimate of the number of persons employed in the pearl
fisheries of the world, and the value of the output in 1906.
Localities. Pearls Shells
Fishermen Local Local
No. Values. Values.
Asia:
Persian Gulf 35,000 $4,000,000 $110,000
Ceylon[86] 18,500 1,200,000 40,000
India 1,250 100,000 95,000
Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, etc.[87] 3,000 200,000 150,000
China, Japan, Siberia, etc. 20,000 400,000 50,000
——————— —————————— ——————————
Total 77,750 $5,900,000 $445,000
Europe:
British Isles 200 15,000
Continent of Europe 1,000 100,000 3,000
——————— —————————— ——————————
Total 1,200 $115,000 $3,000
Islands of the Pacific:
South Sea islands 4,500 125,000 500,000
Australian coast[88] 6,250 450,000 1,200,000
Malay Archipelago 5,000 300,000 800,000
——————— —————————— ——————————
Total 15,750 $875,000 $2,500,000
America:
United States rivers 8,500 650,000 350,000
Venezuela 1,900 275,000 10,000
Mexico 1,250 210,000 200,000
Panama 400 40,000 75,000
Miscellaneous 1,000 75,000 25,000
——————— —————————— ——————————
Total 13,050 $1,250,000 $660,000
======= ========== ==========
Grand total 107,750 $8,140,000 $3,608,000
Our returns do not represent the annual output of pearls in the values
best known to gem buyers. The difference in price between pearls in the
fisherman’s hands in the Persian Gulf or at the Pacific islands, and
that for which they are exchanged over the counters in New York or
Paris, is nearly as great as the difference in value of wool on the
sheep’s back and of the same material woven into fashionable fabrics.
For each dollar received by the fisherman, the retail buyer probably
pays three; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that the pearls herein
represented probably sold ultimately for an aggregate of $24,420,000.
This summary falls far short in giving a correct idea of the importance
of the pearl fisheries in furnishing a livelihood to humanity; for it
takes no consideration of that great body of men who contribute
incidentally to the prosecution of the fisheries, such as shell-openers,
pearl-washers, watchmen, cooks, laborers, etc. In the Ceylon pearl
fishery of 1906, for instance, our estimate shows 18,500 fishermen; but
there were 40,000 persons engaged at the pearl camp alone, and many
others were given employment in boat-building, supplying provisions,
selling the pearls, etc., and this does not include the wives and
children depending on the industry for sustenance. Indeed, it seems not
unreasonable to estimate that instead of only the 18,500 fishermen,
85,000 persons were in a large measure dependent for their livelihood on
the Ceylon fishery in 1906.
Estimated on the same basis, we have a total of 500,000 persons
depending largely on the pearl fisheries of the world for their support.
Thus we see that pearl buyers and pearl wearers not only gratify a
commendable admiration for the beautiful, but contribute largely to the
economic balance whereby one class of humanity either sustains or is
dependent upon another, even though these classes be so widely separated
as the crown of Russia from the half-starved diver of the tropical seas.
How strange is the providence of God, who, by granting the pearl to the
poor Arab, the Tamil of India, the South Sea Islander, and the forgotten
Selang of Mergui, makes the greatest and wealthiest in the world
contribute to their support.
VI
PEARLS FROM ASIA
THE PERSIAN GULF, FISHERIES OF INDIA, CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES, RED SEA
AND ARABIAN SEA, CHINA, JAPAN, SIBERIA, ETC.
VI
THE PEARL FISHERIES OF THE PERSIAN GULF
Dear as the wet diver to the eyes
Of his pale wife, who waits and weeps on shore,
By sands of Bahrein in the Persian Gulf;
Plunging all day in the blue waves; at night,
Having made up his toll of precious pearls,
Rejoins her in their hut upon the shore.
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD.
The pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf are the most famous and valuable
in the world, and have been prosecuted for more than two thousand years.
A translation by that eminent Assyriologist, Jules Oppert, of a
cuneiform inscription on a broken obelisk, erected presumably by a king
of Nineveh, seems to indicate a very early origin for these
fisheries.[89] Professor Oppert’s translation is:
In the sea of the changeable winds (_i.e._, the Persian Gulf),
his merchants fished for pearls;
In the sea where the North Star culminates,
they fished for yellow amber.
The earliest writing of Europeans on the East refer to these fisheries.
An account of them was given by the Greek writer Megasthenes, who
accompanied Seleucus Nicator, the Macedonian general, in his Asiatic
conquests, about 307 B.C. Shortly afterward they were noted by the Greek
historian, Isidorus of Charace, in his account of the Parthian Empire.
Extracts from Nearchus preserved by Arrian also mention them. Ptolemy
speaks of the pearl fisheries which existed from time immemorial at
Tylos, the Roman name for the present Island of Bahrein. These resources
were well known in the days of Pliny. In his “Historia Naturalis,” Book
IX, ch. 35, he says: “But the most perfect and exquisite [pearls] of all
others be they that are gotten about Arabia, within the Persian
Gulf.”[90] Pliny states also (Book VI, ch. 25) that Catifa (El Katiff),
on the Arabian coast opposite Bahrein, was the center of an important
fishery.
In the ninth century these fisheries were noted by Massoudi, one of the
earliest Arabian geographers.[91] In the latter part of the twelfth
century they were visited and described by the Spanish-Hebrew traveler,
Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela.[92] The Arabian traveler, Ibn Batuta, wrote of
them about 1336.[93] In 1508 they were noted in the account of Lodovico
Barthema’s expedition to the Island of Ormus. According to him:
At three days’ journey from this island they fished the largest
pearls which are found in the world; and whoever wishes to know
about it, behold! There are certain fishermen who go there in small
boats and cast into the water two large stones attached to ropes,
one at the bow, the other at the stern of each boat to stay it in
place. Then one of the fishermen hangs a sack from his neck,
attaches a large stone to his feet, and descends to the bottom—about
fifteen paces under water, where he remains as long as he can,
searching for oysters which bear pearls, and puts as many as he
finds into his sack. When he can remain no longer, he casts off the
stone attached to his feet, and ascends by one of the ropes fastened
to the boat. There are so many connected with the business that you
will often see 300 of these little boats which come from many
countries.[94]
Shortly following the visit of Barthema, the Portuguese under
Albuquerque took possession of the principal ports of the Persian Gulf,
and they imposed heavy taxes on the pearl fishery throughout the century
of their retention. While under their jurisdiction, the fisheries were
visited and described by J. H. van Linschoten in 1596, who wrote:
The principall and the best that are found in all the Orientall
Countries, and the right Orientall pearles, are between Ormus and
Bassora in the straights, or Sinus Persicus, in the places called
Bareyn, Catiffa, Julfar, Camaron, and other places in the said Sinus
Persicus, from whence they are brought into Ormus. The king of
Portingale hath also his factor in Bareyn, that stayeth there onlie
for the fishing of pearles. There is great trafficke used with them,
as well in Ormus as in Goa.[95]
[Illustration:
Cargo boat in pearl fishery of the Persian Gulf
]
[Illustration:
Huts of mats and palm leaves, the homes of the pearl fishermen at
Menamah, Bahrein Islands, Persian Gulf
]
This was the Ormus where the treasures of the Orient were gathered in
abundance, the half-way house between the East and the West, making it
one of the greatest emporia of the world. So renowned was its wealth and
commerce that it was a saying among the Portuguese, were the whole world
a golden ring, Ormus would be the jeweled signet. It was built on an
island, supported a population of 40,000 persons, and was particularly
well situated as a distributing point for the pearls, which enriched the
argosies of Portugal, and contributed so largely to
the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Show’rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
which Milton celebrates in “Paradise Lost.” This wonderful Ormus, in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries one of the wealthiest places in the
world, is now only a fishing village of less than a hundred huts.
It was at Ormus, nearly a century later, in 1670, that the shrewd old
jewel merchant, Tavernier, whose acquaintance with gems doubtless
equaled that of any man of his time, saw what he called “the most
beautiful pearl in the world”; not so much for its size, for it weighed
only 48¼ grains, nor for its regularity in form, but because of its most
wonderful luster.[96]
In describing the fisheries, which had been retaken by the Persians in
1622, Tavernier wrote in 1670, according to Ball’s translation:
There is a pearl fishery round the island of Bahren, in the Persian
Gulf. It belongs to the King of Persia, and there is a good fortress
there, where a garrison of 300 men is kept.... When the Portuguese
held Hormuz [Ormus] and Muscat, each boat which went to fish was
obliged to take out a license from them, which cost fifteen
_abassis_ [$5.45], and many brigantines were maintained there, to
sink those who were unwilling to take out licenses. But since the
Arabs have retaken Muscat, and the Portuguese are no longer supreme
in the Gulf, every man who fishes pays to the King of Persia only
five _abassis_, whether his fishing is successful or not. The
merchant also pays the king something small for every 1,000 oysters.
The second pearl fishery is opposite Bahren, on the coast of Arabia
Felix, close to the town of El Katif, which, with all the
neighboring country, belongs to an Arab prince.[97]
During the century following Tavernier’s time, the fisheries were
vigorously prosecuted, owing to the impoverished condition of the reefs
in India and America, and to the large demand for pearls, not only by
the Oriental courts, but by the wealth and fashion of Europe. Except for
the last four years, when the Ceylon fishery was very productive,
throughout the eighteenth century the Persian Gulf was almost the only
important source of supply for pearls. For several years following the
reopening of the Ceylon fishery in 1796, that region diverted some of
the attention which the Persian waters had been receiving, but it was
not long before these regained their ascendancy.
In 1838, Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted, an officer in the British India
service, reported that the fisheries of the gulf employed 4300 boats,
manned by somewhat more than 30,000 men.[98] Of these boats, 3500 were
from the Island of Bahrein, 100 from the Persian coast, and the
remaining 700 from the Pirate Coast situated between Bahrein and the
entrance to the Gulf of Oman. Lieutenant Wellsted estimated the value of
the pearls secured annually as approximately £400,000, which is somewhat
less than the average value of the output in recent years.
Twenty-seven years later, according to Sir Lewis Pelly,[99] who was in
the Indian service from 1851 to 1877, there were 1500 boats at Bahrein,
and the annual return from the whole fishery was £400,000, the same as
previously reported by Wellsted. In 1879, the value of the output was
estimated at £600,000 by the British Resident, Colonel Ross, and at
£800,000 by Captain L. E. Durand, of the British Protectorate of the
Persian Gulf. Owing to the increased market value, the average output in
the last five years has amounted to approximately four million dollars
annually. This refers to the local value only, which is greatly
increased by the time the pearls leave the markets in Bombay and Bagdad.
The Persian Gulf is nearly 600 miles long, with an average width of
somewhat more than 100 miles. The Strait of Ormus—thirty to sixty miles
wide—connects it with the Gulf of Oman, which opens directly into the
Arabian Sea. The depth of water rarely exceeds thirty fathoms. Oyster
reefs are well distributed throughout the gulf, and are in greatest
abundance on the Arab side between the 24th and 27th degrees of north
latitude and the 50th and 54th degrees of east longitude, at a distance
of from a few hundred yards to sixty miles from the shore, and
especially in the vicinity of the Bahrein Islands. The oysters are
scattered over level areas of coral rock and sand, with depths ranging
from two to eighteen fathoms.[100] The divers rarely descend in deeper
water than twelve fathoms, notwithstanding that valuable pearls are
apparently obtainable at greater depths.
Although the British Protectorate extends over the Persian Gulf,
insuring the peaceful prosecution of the fisheries and the settlement of
intertribal contentions by the government resident, the fisheries are
under the regulations of the maritime Arab sheiks. The restrictions
imposed by these, however, are principally with a view to collecting a
revenue from each boat employed. The total amount realized thereby is
unknown, but there is good reason for supposing that it is considerable.
[Illustration:
AGHA MOHAMMED (1666–1725)
Founder of the present Persian dynasty
From a Persian manuscript in the library of Robert Hoe, Esq.
]
[Illustration:
SHAH SULAIMAN (1647–1694)
From a Persian manuscript in the library of Robert Hoe, Esq.
]
The fisheries are carried on during the greater part of every year,
presenting a strong contrast to the Ceylon fishery, which is prosecuted
usually less than forty days, and in only about one year in three on an
average. This is especially remarkable when it is considered that no
particular care is taken of the Persian reefs and, except for certain
tribal restrictions, the fishermen may work whenever and wherever they
choose. Owing to the extended area over which the fishing is prosecuted
and the existence of undisturbed breeding-oysters in the deeper waters,
the reefs are not readily exhausted, notwithstanding the tens of
millions of mollusks annually removed therefrom.
The fisheries are at their height from June to September, when nearly
every person on the coast is interested in some capacity, if not in
fishing, at least in furnishing supplies, cleaning shells, buying
pearls, etc. In April and May the water on the deep banks is so cold
that the fishermen confine their efforts to the more shallow areas.
During the winter months, the cold weather and the northwesterly gales
interfere with the work, except such as is prosecuted in the smaller
bays and inlets.
The pearling operations are financed mostly by Indian _bunnias_, or
traders, principally from Bombay, who furnish capital for equipment,
supplies of food, etc., and who purchase the pearls in gross lots. These
men bear very hard on the fishermen, furnishing the supplies and buying
the pearls almost at their own prices; and the poor divers who explore
the depths and secure the pearls derive from their exertions little more
than the crudest necessaries of life, and are usually in debt to the
traders.
The actual fishing operations are carried on mainly by the maritime
tribes of Hasa and Oman, including those on the Pirate Coast. The
inhabitants of the Bahrein Islands and the adjacent shores have been
devoted to pearling from time immemorial; but the Wahabis of the Pirate
Coast—the _Ichthyophagi_ of Ptolemy’s time—have more recently, under the
persuasive influence of British gunboats and magazine-rifles,
substituted pearling for their two-century inherited life of fanatical
piracy. Referring to these people in his quaint sketches of Persia
eighty years ago, Sir John Malcolm wrote: “Their occupation is piracy,
and their delight murder, and to make it worse they give you the most
pious reasons for every villainy they commit. They abide by the letter
of the sacred volume, rejecting all commentaries and traditions. If you
are their captive and offer all to save your life, they say, “No! It is
written in the Koran that it is not lawful to plunder the living; but we
are not prohibited from stripping the dead. So saying they knock you on
the head.”[101] Most of the Wahabi pearlers congregate in the mat-hut
settlements of Dobai, Abu Thubi, and Ras-el-Kheima, located at the
mouths of creeks which form fairly good harbors for the small boats. The
Batina coast also furnishes some pearl fishermen, these coming
principally from Fujaira, Shenas, Sohar, Suaik, and Sib.
The headquarters for the pearling fleet are at Bahrein Island, the
largest of the insular group bearing the same name, the islets of
Moharrek, Sitrah, and Nissan completing the group. This is the early
home of Chaldean civilization, and one of the traditional sources of the
Phenicians, and whence came that fish-god who—according to the
Babylonian myth—bore the ark over the deluge. This island, the center of
the greatest pearl fishery in the world, is half way down on the
southern side of the Persian Gulf, and twenty miles from the mainland of
“Araby the blest.” It is about twenty-eight miles in length, and ten in
width at the widest part. The population approximates 60,000, all
Moslems, except about 100 Banyan traders from Sindh, India. The northern
half of the island is described as of great beauty, being a garden of
pomegranate, lemon, citron, and quince-trees, and especially the
magnificent date-palms, with numerous springs furnishing an abundance of
excellent fresh water. The principal settlement, Manama, with about
10,000 inhabitants, is poorly built, the houses consisting mostly of
huts of mats and palm leaves; yet it presents a better appearance than
any other settlement along this coast.
The one great industry, and the center of all interest throughout this
region, is the pearl fishery. The present conditions are precisely as
Palgrave wrote in 1863: “It is from the sea, not from the land, that the
natives subsist; and it is also mainly on the sea that they dwell,
passing amid its waters the one half of the year in search of pearls,
the other half in fishery or trade. Hence their real homes are the
countless boats which stud the placid pool, or stand drawn up in long
black lines on the shore, while little care is taken to ornament their
land houses, the abodes of their wives and children at most, and the
unsightly strong boxes of their treasures. ‘We are all, from the highest
to the lowest, slaves of one master—Pearl,’ said Mohammed bin Thanee to
me one evening; nor was the expression out of place. All thought, all
conversation, all employment, turns on that one subject; everything else
is merely by-game, and below even secondary consideration.”[102]
[Illustration:
ARAB PEARL-DIVERS AT WORK IN THE PERSIAN GULF
]
According to recent returns, the Persian Gulf fisheries employ about
3500 boats,[103] large and small, of which 1200 of the best are owned at
Bahrein, 700 on the coast of El Hassa from El Katar to Kuweit, and the
remaining 1600 are from various parts of the gulf, and especially from
the Pirate Coast east of El Katar. They measure from one to fifty tons.
The smaller ones, with three to fifteen men each, work near the shores;
the larger, carrying fifteen to thirty men, fish over the whole gulf,
remaining out for weeks at a time. These craft are very picturesque with
their artistic rigs and spoon-shaped sails, and when the fishery is at
its height the scene is one of rare interest. The boats from Bahrein are
of excellent construction made by native workmen using local materials,
with home-woven sailcloth and rigging of twisted date-fiber. Each of the
larger ones usually evidences a lingering trace of Semitic influence in
its _kubait_, or figurehead, covered with skin of the sheep or goat
sacrificed in the launching ceremonies.[104] The boats from El Hassa and
the Pirate Coast are usually smaller and less substantial than those
from Bahrein, the fishermen from the latter place far surpassing those
of the mainland in civilization and industrial wealth.
The fleet is manned by approximately 35,000 fishermen. In addition to
the _nakhoda_, or captain, who is often the owner of the boat, the crew
consists of _ghoas_ or divers, who are mainly Arabs and Sedees, and
_sebs_, or rope-tenders, who are usually Bedouins or Persians and attend
the divers and perform other duties. Many Hindus from India, and
flat-nosed, sable-hued Negroes from the east coast of Africa find
employment here. On each of the larger boats is a general utility man,
known as _el musully_, literally the “prayer-man,” who, in addition to
various other duties, relieves those _sebs_ who stop to pray.
Among the fishermen are all types and classes to be met with in this
part of the world, with the usual contingent of the lame, the halt, and
the blind. There are a number of fishermen who have been maimed and
mutilated by shark bites. A surprisingly large number of men who have
become totally blind engage in diving, and they usually do fairly well
where the oysters are abundant on the reefs. And one or two unfortunate
divers are reported who continue the work even though handicapped by the
loss both of a leg and of eyesight, this interfering less with their
diving than with their movements on land.
The fishery in this region owes absolutely nothing to modern
civilization in the method of securing the pearls from the depth of the
sea; it is carried on to-day practically as it was six hundred years
ago, and probably has been without important variation for two thousand
years. Aside from a loin-cloth, the diver is devoid of clothing except
that rarely, early in the season when _polypi_ abound, he is enveloped
in a cotton overall as a protection. Over each finger and thumb he wears
a shield or stall (_khubaat_, or finger-hat), about two inches long,
made of flexible leather, to protect the fingers from the sharp shells
and coral-growths. As each fisherman usually wears out at least two sets
of these shields each season, it will be seen that a very large quantity
of them is required to supply the entire fleet.
The divers use stones on which they descend feet foremost. Although this
is less spectacular than the method of diving practised by the natives
of the South Sea islands, it enables the fisherman to reach the bottom
more speedily and with far less effort. The diving-stones range in
weight from thirty to fifty pounds each, depending largely on the depth
of water and the weight of the fisherman. They are somewhat oval in
shape, and have one end perforated to admit a rope. Immediately above
the attachment is formed a loop, resembling a stirrup, to receive the
diver’s foot. When prepared for the day’s work, each stone is suspended
by a stout rope over outriggers projecting from the side of the boat,
and by a slip-knot is temporarily held four and a half or five feet
below the surface of the water. A very stout diver may have a stone
affixed to his waist to overcome his greater buoyancy. Usually two
divers use one stone together and descend alternately. Each one has an
attendant in the boat who assists him in ascending, and looks after the
ropes, baskets of shells, etc.
In preparing for descent, the fisherman takes hold of the rope from
which the diving stone is suspended, puts one foot in the loop just
above the stone and places the other foot in the rim of a net basket,
eighteen inches wide, made of coir rope. When ready, he signals his
attendant, inhales several good breaths, closes his nostrils with a
_fitaam_ or nostril-clasp of flexible horn attached to a cord around his
neck, raises his body somewhat above the surface to give force to the
descent, releases the slip-knot retaining the stone, and sinks rapidly
to the bottom. Immediately disengaging his foot from the stone, he
throws himself in a stooping position on the ground and collects as many
oysters as possible during the fifty seconds or more in which he is able
to remain under water. When near his limit of endurance, he hastily
gives a signal jerk to the rope attached to the basket, and the watchful
attendant hauls him up as speedily as possible, the diver frequently
quickening the ascent by hand over hand movement up the rope. When near
the surface, he lets go of the rope and with his arms close to his body
pops above the surface puffing and blowing. The contents of the net bag
are emptied into a large basket by the attendant, and the dead shells
and other refuse are separated from the live oysters and thrown back
into the sea, the diver having worked too rapidly at the bottom to
discriminate closely as to what he gathered.
In the meantime, the stone has been drawn up and suspended by the
slip-knot in its customary position and the diving partner is resting at
the surface preparatory to descending. Thus, diving alternately at
intervals of five or six minutes, each fisherman descends thirty or
forty times in an ordinary day’s work. The number of oysters gathered at
each descent depends on such conditions as their abundance, the depth
and clearness of the water, etc. It ranges from none to fifty or more,
but ordinarily ten or twelve is a good average. As the men commonly work
on shares, the shells brought up by each diver or by each pair of divers
are kept separate.
The best type of Arab divers are very careful of themselves, drying the
body thoroughly with towels on coming out of the water, taking intervals
of rest during the day’s work; and even while in the water between dives
they may enjoy the luxury of a cheroot or pipe, or possibly a cigarette
may pass from mouth to mouth of several men.
When pursuing their work, the divers are abstemious. After devotions at
sunrise and a light breakfast of perhaps dates or rice and coffee, they
begin fishing. About noon they knock off for coffee, prayers, and an
hour’s siesta, and then resume work for several hours. When the day’s
work is over and they have faced Meccaward with the customary prayers,
they rest and eat a substantial meal, commonly of dates and fish roasted
over a charcoal fire.
In equal depths the Arab fishermen remain under water longer than those
of India who resort to the Ceylon fishery, but this is partly
counterbalanced by the latter descending somewhat more frequently. When
preparing for a lengthy dive, the fisherman imbibes large quantities of
air, opening his mouth and inhaling large volumes.
The length of time a diver remains submerged in the average depth of
seven or eight fathoms rarely exceeds sixty seconds, although some may
remain seventy, eighty, and even ninety seconds on special occasion. A
fully substantiated instance is reported from Manaar of an Arab diver
having remained 109 seconds in seven fathoms of water. This occurred
April 13, 1887, and was witnessed and reported[105] by Captain James
Donnan, the inspector of the fishery. Wellsted reports[106] a diving
contest in the Persian Gulf in which only one man, of the hundreds who
competed, remained down 110 seconds; the depth, however, is not noted.
There are numerous reports of much longer stays than these; indeed, a
study of the published evidence bearing upon the subject furnishes
surprising results. Ribeiro wrote, in 1685, that a diver could remain
below while two _credos_ were repeated: “_Il s’y tient l’espace de deux
credo._”[107] In his interesting account of the Ceylon fishery, Percival
stated that the usual length of time for divers to remain under water
“does not much exceed two minutes, yet there are instances known of
divers who could remain four or even five minutes, which was the case
with a Caffre boy the last year I visited the fishery. The longest
instance ever known was of a diver who came from Anjango in 1797, and
who absolutely remained under water full six minutes.”[108] Le Beck
says, that in 1797, he saw a diver from Karikal remain down for the
space of seven minutes.[109] The merchant traveler, Jean Chardin,
reported in 1711 that the divers remain up to seven and a half minutes
under water: “_Les plongeurs qui pêchent les perles sont quelquefois
jusqu’à demi-quart-d’heure sous l’eau._”[110]
In 1667, the Royal Society of London addressed an inquiry on this
subject to Sir Philiberto Vernatti, the British Resident at Batavia in
the East Indies. Vernatti’s reply gave certain details regarding the
Ceylon fishery, but did not touch upon the length of diving because, as
he stated, he could not “meet with any one that can satisfy me, and
being unsatisfied myself, I cannot nor will obtrude anything upon you
which may hereafter prove fabulous; but shall still serve you with
truth.”[111] Two years later, and presumably after investigation,
Vernatti reported: “The greatest length of time that pearl-divers in
these parts can continue under water is about a quarter of an hour; and
that by no other means than custom; for pearl-diving lasts not above six
weeks, and the divers stay a great while longer at the end of the season
than at the beginning.”[112]
[Illustration:
Photograph, Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, MOHAMMED ALI, SHAH OF PERSIA
Wearing the Kajar crown
]
The anatomist Diemerbroeck relates[113] the case of a pearl diver who,
under his own observation, remained half an hour at a time under water
while pursuing his work; and this was seriously adopted without comment
by John Mason Goode in his “Study of Medicine.”[114] Ibn Batuta, “the
Doctor of Tangier,” wrote about 1336 that “some remain down an hour,
others two hours, others less.”[115] A still earlier writer, Jouchanan
ibn Masouiah,[116] in his book on stones, states that “the diver, when
he dives, places upon his nose a _masfâsa_ lest water should enter into
him, and breathes through the fissure, and remains under water for half
an hour.” According to Sebaldus Rau[117] this _masfâsa_ was an article
resembling a hood or cap, which the diver placed over his nose. It was
made of some impervious material and had a projection so long that it
reached to the surface of the water. The same writer believes that this
object was alluded to by Aristotle (“De part. animal.,” _Lib._ II, c.
16), where he likens the trunk of the elephant to the instrument used by
certain divers for aiding their respiration, so that they could remain
longer in the water and draw in air from above the surface.[118] And
here we cease pursuit of further records, lest our faith in recorded
testimony be too severely tested.[119]
A superficial inspection of the above evidence, from the one or two
hours noted by Ibn Batuta about the year 1336, to the half an hour of
Diemerbroeck in 1672, the quarter of an hour of Vernatti in 1669, the
seven and one half minutes of Chardin in 1711, the six minutes of
Percival in 1803, to the 110 seconds of the present time, seems to
indicate very clearly a gradual but somewhat remarkable decrease in the
ability of the Asiatic divers, and that the pearl fishermen of the
present day are very different creatures from their ancestors. And
especially is this so when it is considered that the above records are
not isolated reports selected for the particular purpose of showing a
decrease in the length of diving; on the contrary they are authoritative
and representative publications of their respective periods. We do not
recall having seen in any report issued previous to 1675, an intimation
that the limit of time was less than ten minutes.
However, a careful consideration of the subject leads to the belief that
there has been no serious decrease in the length of time that the Arab
and Indian divers remain under water, and that either the writers were
misinformed or that the individual cases reported were extremely
exceptional. Ibn Batuta’s instance of one to two hours could easily be
caused by a mistake in copying Arabic manuscript, or in the translation.
The case related by Diemerbroeck in which a pearl diver remained
submerged half an hour, is more perplexing, especially as the physician
reports that this was done under his own observation. The numerous
reports of five or six minutes may have been based on a very exceptional
case.
These statements are viewed as highly incredible by men who have spent
scores of years at the fisheries. A man may remain submerged for several
minutes, but the conditions are vastly different from the activities of
pearl-gathering at a depth of ten fathoms, where the pressure of the
water is nearly thirty pounds to the square inch, and the slightest
exercise is fatiguing. Unless the time is taken by a watch, it is easy
to overestimate the stay; the seconds pass very slowly when one is
waiting momentarily for the appearance of the diver’s head above the
water, and certainly to the nearly exhausted fisherman with straining
chest and palpitating heart, the last few seconds must seem extremely
long indeed. An instance is noted in which an Arab diver remained
submerged seventy-one seconds, and on his reappearance, naïvely inquired
if he had not been down ten minutes. It seems doubtful whether the 110
seconds herein noted has been greatly exceeded, in recent years at
least, by Arab or Indian divers, who do not appear to equal the
semi-amphibious natives of the South Sea islands in their exploits.
One of the most curious features of the pearling industry is the manner
in which the fishermen secure supplies of drinking water. In the
vicinity of Bahrein, numerous fresh-water springs exist at the bottom of
the gulf in depths of two or three fathoms, and the fishermen dive into
the depth of the salt water down to where the fresh water is springing
forth and there fill a skin or other suitable receptacle which they
bring to the surface. By running a pipe down near the bottom in the
vicinity of one of these springs, an abundance of fresh water may be
pumped into the boat.
Three species—or at least three varieties—of pearl-bearing oysters are
obtained in the Persian Gulf. These are known locally as _mahar_,
_sudaifee_, and _zinni_. Of these, the _mahar_ or Lingah oyster, which
corresponds to the Ceylon pearl-oyster, yields the greatest quantity of
pearls, and those of the finest quality. It measures three or three and
a half inches in diameter, and is found in deeper water than the others.
The _sudaifee_ and the _zinni_, which are larger, yield pearls in much
smaller quantities than the _mahar_.
On large boats, which remain out for two or three weeks at a time, the
oysters are left on deck overnight, and the following morning they are
opened by means of a curved knife (_miflaket_), four or five inches in
length. The smaller boats working near shore convey the catch to the
land for the opening and searching for pearls.
The Persian Gulf pearls are commonly not so white as those from Ceylon,
but they are found of larger size, and it is believed in Asia that they
retain their luster for a greater length of time. Many of the Persian
Gulf pearls, especially those from _sudaifee_ and _zinni_ shells, have a
distinctly yellow color. Tavernier made a curious explanation of this.
He stated:
As for the pearls tending to yellow, the color is due to the fact
that the fishermen sell the oysters in heaps, and the merchants
awaiting sometimes up to 14 or 15 days till the shells open of
themselves, in order to extract the pearls, some of these oysters
lose their water during this time, decay, and become putrid, and the
pearls become yellow by contact. This is so true that in all oysters
which have retained their water, the pearls are always white. They
are allowed to open of themselves, because if they are opened by
force, as we open our oysters in the shell, the pearls may be
damaged and broken. The oysters of the Manar Strait open of
themselves, 5 or 6 days sooner than those of the Gulf of Persia,
because the heat is much greater at Manar, which is at the tenth
degree of North latitude, while the island of Bahrein is at about
the twenty-seventh. And consequently among the pearls which come
from Manar there are few yellow ones found.[120]
Tavernier was more familiar with the pearls themselves than with the
methods of the fishery. The yellow color is not due to contact with the
putrefactive flesh, and is independent of the manner of opening. In
fact, if putrefaction caused the yellow color, this shade would be far
more prevalent in the Manaar or Ceylon pearls than in those from
Bahrein, for practically all of the Ceylon oysters are permitted to
putrefy, whereas only a portion of those in the Persian Gulf are opened
in this manner. Furthermore, notwithstanding that it is nearer the
equator, the heat at Manaar during the pearling season is not to be
compared with that at Bahrein when the season is at its height, for the
Persian Gulf during July and August is notorious as one of the hottest
places on the globe.
While the great bulk of the pearls are either white or yellowish, these
fisheries yield a few pink, bluish, gray, and occasionally even black
pearls. These unusual colors are not especially prized. A curious and
remarkably detailed story has gone the rounds in which the qualities of
Persian and Ceylon pearls are compared, to the disparagement of the
latter, and during the last hundred years few accounts have been
published of this fishery without recording it. We notice it first in
Morier’s “Journey through Persia in 1808 and 1809,”[121] but possibly it
antedated that report. The statement is that the pearls of Ceylon peel
off, while those of Persia are as “firm as the rock on which they grow”;
and though they lose in color and luster one per cent. annually for
fifty years, they still lose less than those of Ceylon, and at the
expiration of the fifty years they cease to diminish in appearance.
The pearl output in the Persian Gulf at the present time appears from
the official returns to exceed four million dollars annually at local
valuation. The exports in 1903 were reported at £827,447, and in 1904,
£1,077,241. It is generally understood that all of the pearls are not
entered in the official figures, and the valuations in the markets of
Asia and Europe are greatly in excess of these amounts. The profits of
the fishery are divided among a great number of persons. A large
percentage goes to the shrewd _bunnias_ from India, who finance the
fishery operations, and who, by all sorts of tricks connected with
advances of supplies, valuation of the catch, etc., manage to make a
very good thing out of the business. It is nothing unusual for the
valuation of a lot of pearls to double and even treble after leaving the
hands of the fishermen.
While many of the gulf pearls—and especially of the small seed-pearls—go
to Bagdad, the great bulk of them are sold to representatives of Hindu
and Arab merchants of Bombay for shipment to that city, which to the
Bahrein fisherman is the heart of the outside world. Few of the pearls
go directly into Arabia or Persia, as the certain sale in the larger
Bombay market is preferable to a sometimes higher but less regular price
in other markets. Indeed, pearls may usually be purchased at a less cost
in India than a stranger would be obliged to pay at Bahrein. The Bombay
merchants “sow the earth with Orient pearl,” dealing direct with London,
Paris and Berlin, and with the oriental jewelers. Most of the yellow
pearls find oriental purchasers, with whose dark complexions they
harmonize better than the silvery white ones. They are also more popular
because of a belief existing throughout the East that they are less
likely to lose their luster with the lapse of years.
The shell of the pearl-oysters is not used locally, but large quantities
are exported to Europe for manufacture. Although it is the smallest and
cheapest produced in the gulf, yet, owing to the enormous quantity taken
for their pearls, the shell of the _mahar_ (_Margaritifera vulgaris_)
constitutes the bulk of the exports. Formerly most of the shipments were
made from the harbor of Lingah, hence it is known in the markets of
Europe as “Lingah shell.” But in the last three or four years, much of
it has been transported to Europe via Bander Abbas and Bushire. A German
firm at Bahrein is extensively employed in exporting this shell, and
several Indian merchants are also engaged in the trade. The total
exports in 1906 amounted to 3262 tons, valued at $26,408 according to
the port returns, but worth about $135,000 in Europe. Very large
quantities are received in London, and over 2500 tons have been offered
at auction in a single year. This shell is very small, averaging about
three inches in diameter and about one and a half ounces in weight. It
is the cheapest of all mother-of-pearl. The best quality sells in London
for ten to twenty shillings per hundredweight, but the ordinary grade is
worth usually less than nine shillings, and sometimes as low as three
shillings per hundredweight. America formerly imported it, but few lots
have been received since the exploitation of the Mississippi shell about
fifteen years ago.
The shell of the larger species of pearl-oysters in the Persian Gulf is
worth considerably more than the “Lingah shell,” selling in Europe for
£12 to £60 per ton, yet manufacturers consider it as furnishing only
poor qualities of mother-of-pearl. Several hundred tons are exported
annually. It measures six or seven inches in diameter and is used
principally in making cheap grades of buttons.
THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.
DRYDEN, _All for Love_, Prologue.
Second in extent to those of Persia only, are the intermittent and
uncertain pearl fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar. This is an arm of the
Indian Ocean, from 65 to 150 miles in width, separating the island of
Ceylon from the southernmost part of India. The pearl-oyster banks—known
locally as paars—are situated off the northwest coast of Ceylon and also
in the vicinity of Tuticorin on the Madras coast of the mainland. The
Ceylon fisheries are under the control of the colonial government of the
British Empire, and those of the mainland are monopolized by the Madras
government. Notwithstanding the fact that they are outside of the
three-mile limit established as the bound of national jurisdiction,
exclusive privileges are exercised over these fisheries by the
respective governments,[122] and poaching vessels are liable to seizure
and punishment.
Though possibly not so ancient as those of Persia, the Ceylon pearl
fisheries are of great antiquity. References to them occur in Cingalese
records dating from 550 B.C. Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo, and other ancient
writers speak of their importance.
The “Periplus of the Erythræan”—written about the end of the second
century A.D.—refers to these fisheries, and states that, owing to the
dangers involved, it was customary to employ convicts therein. In the
days of the “Arabian Nights,” under the name “Serendib,” this was the
scene of the pearling adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, and the
reputation of the valuable pearl resources is reflected in those
wonderful tales.
The first extensive description we have of the Gulf of Manaar fisheries
was given by the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, who visited the region
about 1294. He wrote:
The pearl fishers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed
into the gulf where they stop from the beginning of April till the
middle of May. They go first to a place called Bettelar, and then go
60 miles into the Gulf. Here they cast anchor and shift from their
large vessels into small boats. You must know that the many
merchants who go divide into various companies, and each of these
must engage a number of men on wages, hiring them for April and half
of May. Of all the produce they have first to pay the king, as his
royalty, the tenth part. And they must also pay those men who charm
the great fishes to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst
engaged in seeking pearls under water, one-twentieth of all that
they take. These fish-charmers are termined _Abraiaman_; and their
charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve the
charm so that the fishes can work mischief at their will. These
_Abraiaman_ know also how to charm beasts and birds and every living
thing. When the men have got into the small boats they jump into the
water and dive to the bottom, which may be at a depth of from 4 to
12 fathoms, and there they remain as long as they are able. And
there they find the shells that contain the pearls, and those they
put into a net bag tied round the waist, and mount up to the surface
with them, and then dive anew. When they can’t hold their breath any
longer they come up again, and after a little down they go once
more, and so they go on all day. These shells are in fashion like
oysters or sea-hoods. And in these shells are found pearls, great
and small, of every kind, sticking in the flesh of the shell-fish.
In this manner pearls are fished in great quantities, for thence in
fact come the pearls which are spread all over the world. And I can
tell you the King of that State hath a very great receipt and
treasure from his dues upon those pearls.[123]
That quaint old missionary bishop, Friar Jordanus, in his “Mirabilia
Descripta, or the Wonders of the East” (_circa_ 1330), reports that
“more than 8000 boats” were sometimes employed for three months
continually in these fisheries, which were then prosecuted under the
jurisdiction of the Cingalese kings of Kandy, and that the quantity of
pearls taken was “astounding and almost incredible.”[124]
[Illustration:
THE “PRINCE OF PEARLS”: THE LATE RANA OF DHOLPUR IN HIS PEARL REGALIA
]
This number of boats seems entirely too large, especially in view of the
fact that Jordanus secured his information at second hand; but it leaves
the impression that the fisheries of that period were of great
importance.
When the Portuguese, attracted by the wealth of its resources, obtained
control of this region about 1510, they exacted from the local rulers an
annual tribute in pearls and spices. Later they conducted the fisheries
on their own account, permitting the native fishermen to retain one
fourth of the catch as compensation for their work, and dividing the
remainder into three equal portions, for the king, the church, and the
soldiers, respectively.
Linschoten, who visited India about 1590, leaves this interesting
account of the fishery at that time:
“There are also other fishings for pearle, as between the Iland of
Seylon, and the Cape de Comoriin, where great numbers are yearlie
found, for that the King of Portingale hath a captaine there with
soldiers that looketh unto it; they have yearlie at the least above
3 or 4 thousand duckers [divers], yt live onlie by fishing for
pearles, and so maintaine themselves.” He describes the methods of
fishing, which appear to be similar to those of the present time,
and adds: “When they have made an end of the day’s fishing, all the
fishers with the captaine, soldiers, laborers and watchmen for the
king, goe together, and taking all the pearls [pearl-oysters] that
are caught that day they divide them into certaine heaps, that is,
one part for the king, another part for the captaine and soldiers,
the third part for the Jesuits, because they have their Cloyster in
that place, and brought the countrie first into the Christian faith,
and the last part for the Fishers, which is done with Justice and
Equalitie. This fishing is done in the Summer tyme, and there
passeth not any yeare but that divers Fishers are drowned by the
Cape de Comoriin (which is called the King’s fishing) and manie
devoured by fishes, so that when the fishing is done there is great
and pitiful noyse and cry of women and children heard. Yet the next
yeare they must do the same work againe, for that they have no other
means to live, as also for that they are partlie compelled thereunto
by the Portingales, but most part because of the gaine.”[125]
The best description we have seen of the Ceylon fisheries at the time of
the Portuguese occupation, is that of Caesar Frederick, a Venetian
trader, who referred to the period from 1563 to 1581. Frederick
reported, according to Hickocke’s translation in the Hakluyt edition:
The sea that lieth between the coast which descendeth from Cao
Comori, to the lowe land of Chilao, and from Island Zeilan, they
call the fishing of Pearles, which fishing they make every yeare,
beginning in March or April, and it lasteth fiftie dayes, but they
doe not fishe every yeere in one place, but one yeere in one place,
and another yeere in another place of the same sea. When the time of
this fishing draweth neere, they send very good Divers, that goe to
discover where the greatest heapes of Oisters bee under water, and
right agaynst that place where greatest store of Oisters bee, there
they make or plant a village with houses and a Bazaro, which
standeth as long as the fishing time lasteth, and it is furnished
with all things necessarie, and nowe and then it is neere unto
places that are inhabited, and other times farre off, according to
the place where they fishe. The fishermen are all Christians of the
countrey, and who so will may goe to fishing, paying a certain dutie
to the king of Portugall, and to the Churches of the Friers of Saint
Paule, which are in that coast. All the while that they are fishing,
there are three or foure Fustes armed to defend the Fishermen from
Rovers. It was my chance to bee there one time in my passage, and I
saw the order that they used in fishing, which is this. There are
three or foure Barkes that make consort together, which are like to
our litle Pilot boates, and a little lesse, there goe seven or eight
men in a boate: and I have seene in a morning a great number of them
goe out, and anker in fifteene or eighteene fadome of water, which
is the ordinarie depth of all that coast. When they are at anker,
they cast a rope into the sea, and at the end of the rope, they make
fast a great stone, and then there is readie a man that hath his
nose and his eares well stopped, and annointed with oyle, and a
basket about his necke, or under his left arme, then he goeth downe
by the rope to the bottome of the Sea, and as fast as he can hee
filleth the basket, and when it is full, he shaketh the rope, and
his fellows that are in the Barke hale him up with the basket: and
in such wise they go one by one untill they have laden their barke
with oysters, and at evening they come to the village, and then
every company maketh their mountaine or heape of oysters one distant
from another, in such wise that you shall see a great long rowe of
mountaines or heapes of oysters, and they are not touched until such
time as the fishing bee ended, and at the ende of the fishing every
companie sitteth round about their mountaine or heape of oysters,
and fall to opening of them, which they may easilie doe because they
bee dead, drie and brittle: and if every oyster had pearles in them,
it would be a very good purchase, but there are very many that have
no pearles in them: when the fishing is ended, then they see whether
it bee a good gathering or a badde: there are certaine expert in the
pearles whom they call Chitini, which set and make the price of
pearles according to their carracts [carats or weight], beautie, and
goodnesse, making foure sorts of them. The first sort bee the round
pearles, and they bee called Aia of Portugale, because the
Portugales doe buy them. The second sorte which are not round, are
called Aia of Bengala. The third sort which are not so good as the
second, they call Aia of Canara, that is to say, the kingdome of
Bezeneger. The fourth and last sort, which are the least and worst
sort, are called Aia of Cambaia. Thus the price being set, there are
merchants of every countrey which are readie with their money in
their handes, so that in a fewe dayes all is brought up at the
prises set according to the goodnesse and caracts of the
pearles.[126]
A remarkable instance of the immutability of custom in the Orient is
found in the fact that, except in a few minor particulars, Frederick’s
account, written more than three centuries ago, could serve as a
description of the methods of the fisheries in recent years. The
industry was then very extensive, as appears from an account shortly
afterward (about 1608) by Pedro Teixeira, who reported[127] that from
400 to 500 boats were employed, and from 50,000 to 60,000 persons
resorted to the fishery.
In 1658, possession of Ceylon and India passed from the Portuguese to
the Dutch, who for a time continued the pearl fisheries after the manner
practised by their predecessors; but owing to contentions as to the
details of management, they soon resorted to leasing them each year to
the highest bidder, or to several bidders, for a definite money payment.
The successful bidders prosecuted the industry in the same manner as the
government had previously done, employing the same native fishermen and
compensating them with one fourth of the oysters secured. Under the
Dutch rule the fisheries were very unprofitable, and particularly so
during the last seventy years of their authority. There was practically
no fishing from 1732 to 1746, and there was also a suspension—but not
entirely from lack of oysters or of pearls—from 1768 until the territory
passed into the control of the British in 1796.
The colonial government of the British Empire continued the Dutch policy
of leasing, only restricting the limits of territory and season for
fishing. Many objections were found to this method. It was difficult to
regulate the business properly, and there were no reliable means of
determining its proceeds and conditions. At length in 1835, the
government began to operate the fishery on its own account, as the
Portuguese had done two hundred years before, allowing the fishermen one
fourth of the oysters taken by them and selling the remaining three
fourths for the benefit of the treasury. In this way the full value of
the resources was realized without mystery, deception, or concealment,
and the plan worked satisfactorily for all concerned.
Owing, presumably, to the long period in which they had lain
undisturbed, the Ceylon oyster reefs were in excellent condition at the
beginning of British rule. In 1796 the government derived a revenue of
Rs.1,100,000 therefrom, and in 1797 the revenue was Rs.1,400,000; these
two years were by far the most productive during the first century of
British occupation.
Several very interesting reports on the industry were prepared about
that time. Especially to be noted among these were the accounts by Henry
J. LeBeck in 1798;[128] by Robert Percival in 1803;[129] and by James
Cordiner in 1807,[130] to which reference is made for detailed accounts
of the fisheries of that period.
The Ceylon fishery was prosecuted about every other year from 1799 to
1809, and the annual returns ranged from £15,022 in 1801 to £84,257 in
1808. From 1810 to 1813, inclusive, there was a blank so far as receipts
were concerned. In 1814 the fishery was very good, bringing in a revenue
of £105,187. With the exception of very slight returns in 1815, 1816,
and 1820, no oysters were then obtained until 1828. Excepting 1832 and
1834, the industry was prosecuted each year from 1828 to 1837, the
revenue to the government averaging about £30,000 annually. Then came a
long blank of seventeen years, for there was no fishing from 1838 to
1854, and likewise from 1864 to 1873. Indeed, so depleted had the beds
throughout the Gulf of Manaar become in 1866, that serious consideration
was given to the possibilities of securing seed oysters from the Persian
Gulf for restocking the reefs; but fortunately this was rendered
unnecessary by the discovery soon afterward of a few oysters on several
reefs on both the Ceylon and the Malabar coasts.
From 1855 to 1863, and also from 1874 to 1881, the returns were only
ordinary, the highest being £51,017 in 1863, and £59,868 in 1881,—the
best year since 1814; and during these two periods fishing was entirely
omitted in nearly one half the seasons. There were five lean years from
1882 to 1886, and the 1887 fishery was only fair, with a yield of
£39,609. But the returns for 1888 were large, amounting to £80,424; and
those for 1891 were even greater, being £96,370, representing a yield of
44,311,441 oysters. No oysters were caught from 1892 to 1902, inclusive.
In 1903, the fishery was profitable, yielding 41,180,137 oysters, and
the share of the government amounted to £55,303; and in 1904 the yield
was almost the same, being 41,039,085 oysters and a revenue of £71,050
to the government.
In 1905 occurred the greatest fishery in the modern history of Ceylon.
The season extended from February 20 until April 21, giving forty-seven
working days, exclusive of Sundays and five days of bad weather, the
longest period in over half a century.[131] The boats employed numbered
318, with 4991 divers and 4894 attendant _manduks_. The yield of oysters
exceeded all records, amounting to 81,580,716 in number, or nearly twice
as many as in any previous year within the period of British occupation.
The prices at which these sold ranged from Rs.24 to Rs.124 per thousand,
with an average of Rs.48.89 for the entire season. The government
received Rs.2,510,727 as its share of the revenue, which was twice as
much as in any previous year since the British have been in control, and
doubtless the largest received by any government in the history of the
industry. The oysters falling to the share of the divers must have sold
for at least Rs.1,255,363 (since 1881 the divers have received one third
of the catch as their compensation, instead of one fourth). The profits
of the merchants, who purchased and opened the government oysters as
well as those of the divers, doubtless amounted to fully as much, making
a total of Rs.5,021,453, or nearly $2,000,000 as a low estimate of the
local value of the pearls secured at Ceylon in 1905.
Owing to the great success in 1905, an enormous number of persons
flocked to the camp at the beginning of the season in 1906. Employment
was given to 473 boats, the largest number on record, and over 8600
divers were engaged, with an equal number of attendants. Owing to
unfavorable weather and the great quantity of oysters removed in 1905,
the catch in 1906 was less than in that record year, amounting to
67,150,641 in number, from the sale of which Rs.1,376,746 was realized.
The prices covered a wide range. For the large Cheval oysters, even
Rs.276, Rs.291, and Rs.309 per 1000 were received. The inferior, stunted
oysters from the Muttuvaratu paar ranged from Rs.20 to Rs.41 per 1000,
and even at these prices many buyers sustained losses. On the other hand
considerable money was made by the buyers of those from Cheval, in which
some very large and beautiful pearls were found.
The results of the 1907 fishery were surprisingly good, excellent prices
being obtained. The proceeds from the sale of two thirds of the
21,000,000 oysters amounted to Rs.1,040,000, or just under $350,000. The
fishery lasted thirty-six working days. Only 173 boats were used, as it
was considered that a fleet of this size is fully as large as can be
employed advantageously to the greatest satisfaction of all interested.
According to the compilations of the colonial secretary’s office, the
gross revenue to the government from 1796 to 1907, inclusive, amounted
to £2,098,830. If to this be added the fishermen’s share and the
merchants’ compensation, we have a total of about £4,200,000 or
$21,000,000 as the local value of the pearls produced in Ceylon during
the period of British occupation. The value of these in the markets of
Asia and Europe was undoubtedly very much greater.
In many respects the Ceylon pearl fisheries are the most interesting in
the world. Owing to their ready accessibility and thorough organization,
they are far better known than any others. Reliable data exist as to the
number of oysters taken during each season since 1854, and it is
possible to estimate roughly the pearls obtained therefrom. Throughout
the 112 years of British occupation, and previously to some extent under
the successive rule of the Cingalese kings, of the Portuguese, and of
the Dutch, for centuries, the reefs were annually examined by official
inspectors, and fishing was permitted only in those years when they
appeared in satisfactory condition.
A noticeable feature of these fisheries is their uncertainty, a
prosperous season being followed by an absence of fishing sometimes
extending over ten years or more. This is not of recent development.
Over eight hundred years ago a total cessation of yield for a
considerable period was recorded[132] by Albyrouni, who served under
Mahmud of Ghazni. He stated that, in the eleventh century, the oysters
which formerly existed in the Gulf of Serendib (Ceylon) disappeared
simultaneously with the appearance of a fishery at Sofala in the country
of the Zends, where previously the existence of pearls had been unknown;
hence it was conjectured that the pearl-oysters of Serendib had migrated
to Sofala.
In the 249 years since Ceylon passed from the dominion of the Portuguese
in 1658, there have been only sixty-nine years in which the pearl
fisheries were prosecuted. During the last century there were only
thirty-six regularly authorized fisheries. Enormous quantities of
oysters have appeared on the reefs, giving rise to hopes of great
results, only to end in disappointment, owing to their complete
disappearance. In the fall of 1887, for instance, examination of one of
the reefs revealed an enormous quantity of oysters, covering an area
five miles in length by one and a half miles in width, with “600 to 700
oysters to the square yard” in places. It was estimated by the
inspection officials that there were 164,000,000 oysters, which exceeded
the total number taken in the preceding sixty years, and which should
have yielded several million dollars’ worth of pearls in the following
season, according to the usual returns. But some months later not an
oyster was to be found on this large reef, the great host presumably
having been destroyed by action of the sea. Numerous reasons are
assigned for the failure of promising reefs. Those most frequently heard
are that the currents sweep the oysters away, that they are devoured by
predaceous enemies, that they are covered by the shifting bottom, or
that they voluntarily move to new grounds.
The oysters are found in well-known and permanently located banks or
paars in the upper end of the Gulf of Manaar, in the wide shallow
plateau off the northwest end of the island and directly south of Adams
Bridge. The hard calcrete bottom is formed mostly of sand combined with
organic remains in a compact mass and with more or less coral and shell
deposits. The density of the water, as determined by Professor Herdman
(to whose important and valuable report[133] we are indebted for much
information), is fairly constant at 1.023, and the temperature has a
normal range of from 82° to 86° F. during the greater part of the year.
The charts and records refer to about twenty paars, but most of these
have never yielded extensively, either to the English or to the Dutch.
In the aggregate, they cover an area fifty miles in length and twenty
miles in width. Most of them are from five to twenty miles from the
shore, and at a depth of five to ten fathoms. The principal paars are
Cheval, Madaragam, Periya, Muttuvaratu, Karativu, Vankalai, Chilaw, and
Condatchy. Only three have afforded profitable fisheries in recent
years, _i. e._: Cheval, Madaragam and Muttuvaratu.
The other paars are of practically no economic value at the present
time. They become populated with tens of millions of oysters, which
mysteriously disappear before they are old enough for gathering.
Especially is this true of the Periya paar, which is about fifteen miles
from the shore, and runs eleven miles north and south, varying from one
to two miles in width. Frequently this is found covered with young
oysters, which almost invariably disappear before the next inspection,
owing, probably, to their being covered by the shifting bottom caused by
the southwest monsoon. The natives call this the “Mother paar,” under
the impression that these oysters migrate to the other paars.
The Ceylon government has given very careful attention to all matters
affecting the prosperity of the pearl resources. It has maintained a
“Pearl Fishery Establishment,” consisting of a superintendent, an
inspector and numerous divers, attendants, and sailors. The inspector
examines the paars, determines when and to what extent they should be
fished, and directs the operations. The superintendent conducts the work
on shore, divides and sells the oysters, etc. The expense of this
establishment has approximated $40,000 per annum when there has been a
fishery, and about $22,500 without fishery expenses.
It has been decided by naturalists that Ceylon oysters less than four
years old produce very few marketable pearls; in the fifth, and again in
the sixth year the value of the yield doubles, and in the seventh it is
supposed to increase fourfold. Beyond that age there appears to be
little increase, and there is the risk of the oysters dying, and of the
pearls deteriorating or becoming lost. Eight years seems to be the
natural limit of life. While experience has shown that the most
profitable period for taking the pearl-oysters is when they are from
five to seven years old, the mollusks are liable to disappear,
especially after the fifth year, and the danger of waiting too long is
as great as that of beginning too early. The fishing on any particular
bank is determined by various circumstances and conditions, and is
permitted only after careful examination.
The different beds are inspected from time to time, and no fishing is
permitted until the condition of the pearl-oysters on the particular
reef thrown open seems to warrant the most valuable returns. In the
examination of a bed apparently in suitable condition, several thousand
oysters—usually eight or ten thousand—are taken up and the pearls found
therein are examined and valued. If they average Rs.25 or Rs.30 per
thousand oysters, profitable results may be expected, provided there is
a sufficient quantity of oysters on the bed. This method of determining
the fishery is very ancient. Tavernier wrote, about 1650, “before they
fish, they try whether it will turn to any account by sending seven or
eight boats to bring 1000 oysters each, which they open, and if the
oysters per 1000 yield five _fanos_ or above, they then know the fishing
will turn to account.”[134] And much the same method was described by
Ribeiro in 1685.
When it has been decided to hold a fishery, public notice is given by
advertisement, stating which of the many paars or reefs will be open,
and the estimated quantity of oysters to be removed, the number of boats
that will be given employment, and the date for beginning the season and
the length of time it will probably last. This notice is usually given
in December preceding the fishery, and it is the signal for preparation
by tens of thousands of persons in this part of Asia, and especially on
the Madras and the Malabar coasts of India, and on the coast of Arabia.
The fishermen, the merchants, and the multitude of artisans, mechanics,
and laborers who contribute to the industry, set their homes and
business in order so that they may attend. We give the notice issued in
1907, both in Cingalese and in English.[135]
[Illustration:
THE LATE MAHARAJAH OF PATIALA
]
Early in February the area to be gleaned is again examined, the limits
of the oysters are charted and buoyed off, the number that may be
obtained is estimated as accurately as possible, and valuation samples
are collected. Several thousand oysters are taken up, the pearls are
removed, examined, and valued by uninterested experts, and the results
are published, so that prospective buyers may have a reliable idea as to
their value. Otherwise this would not be possible until the merchants
had washed some of their own purchases, which ordinarily would not be
for a week or ten days after the opening of the season.
The fishery usually begins late in February or early in March, as the
sea is then relatively calm, the currents least perceptible, and there
is less danger of storms. It is prosecuted from a temporary settlement
or camp on the sandy shore at a place conveniently near the reefs. The
important fisheries of the five years ending in 1907, were centered at
the improvised settlement known as Marichchikadde. Although prosecuted
from the coast of Ceylon, relatively few Cingalese attend compared with
the large numbers who assemble from India, Arabia, and elsewhere.
A week or two before the opening of the season, the boats begin to
arrive, sometimes fifty or more in a single day, laden with men, women
and children, and in many cases with the materials for their huts. In a
short time the erstwhile desolate beach becomes populated with thousands
of persons from all over the Indian littoral, and there is the noisy
traffic of congregated humanity, and a confusion of tongues where before
only the sound of the ocean waves was heard. Beside the eight or ten
thousand fishermen, most of whom are Moormen, Tamils, and Arabs, there
are pearl merchants—mainly Chetties and Moormen, boat repairers and
other mechanics, provision dealers, priests, pawnbrokers, government
officials, koddu-counters, clerks, boat guards, a police force of 200
officials, coolies, domestic servants, with numbers of women and
children. And for the entertainment of these, and to obtain a share of
the wealth from the sea, there are jugglers, fakirs, gamblers, beggars,
female dancers, loose characters, with every allurement that appeals to
the sons of Brahma, Buddha or Mohammed. Natives from the seaport towns
of India are there in thousands; the slender-limbed and
delicate-featured Cingalese with their scant attire and unique
head-dress; energetic Arabs from the Persian Gulf; burly Moormen, sturdy
Kandyans, outcast Veddahs, Chinese, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch,
half-castes, the scum of the East and the riffraff of the Asiatic
littoral, the whole making up a temporary city of forty thousand or more
inhabitants.[136]
THE
Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers,
LIMITED.
NOTICE
Is hereby given that a Pearl Fishery will take place at
Marichchukkaddi, in the Island of Ceylon, on or about February 20,
1907.
The Banks to be fished are—
The Karativu, Dutch Moderagam and Alanturai Pars, estimated to contain
21,000,000 oysters, sufficient to employ 100 boats for twenty-one days
with average loads of 10,000 each per day.
The Northwest and Mid-West Cheval, estimated to contain 2,000,000
oysters, sufficient to employ 100 boats for two days with average
loads of 10,000 oysters.
The Muttuvaratu Par, estimated to contain 8,000,000 oysters,
sufficient to employ 100 boats for eight days with average loads as
before stated: each boat being fully manned with divers.
2. It is notified that fishing will begin on the first favourable day
after February 19. Conditions governing the employment of divers will
be issued separately.
3. Marichchukkaddi is on the mainland, eight miles by sea south of
Sillavaturai, and supplies of good water and provisions can be
obtained there.
4. The Fishery will be conducted on account of the Ceylon Company of
Pearl Fishers, Ltd., and the oysters put up to sale in such lots as
may be deemed expedient.
[Illustration]
A populous town springs up with well-planned and lighted streets and
vast numbers of temporary abodes of all sorts, according to the means
and the caste of the occupants, some of them just large enough for two
or three persons to creep into. Although made mostly of poles, mats,
_cajans_ or plaited fronds of the cocoanut tree, they furnish ample
shelter for the locality and season, the uncertainty of the fishery from
year to year being sufficient argument against expensive and substantial
buildings. Numerous wells and cisterns yield water for the use of all.
Sanitary measures are strictly enforced, with a liberal use of
disinfectants. At a considerable distance southward from the settlement
are constructed the private _toddis_, or inclosures, for decomposing the
oysters and washing the pearls therefrom. Nearer the camp or settlement
itself are the police court, the jail, the bank, the post and telegraph
offices, the auction room, the hospital and the cemetery—all to endure
through a strenuous six weeks of toil and labor, of money-getting and
gambling, and then the inhabitants “fold their tents like the Arabs, and
silently steal away,” leaving the debris to the shore-birds and the
jackals.
The fishing fleet consists of several hundred boats[137] of various rigs
and sizes. These are interesting on account of their picturesque
appearance and also their remarkable diversity of types in hull and
rigging: there is the broad and roomy Jaffna dhoney, commonly painted
black; the lugger-like Paumben boat; the very narrow and speedy
canoes,—not unlike the single masted bugeyes of the Chesapeake
region—from Kilakarai and neighboring villages, most noticeable owing to
their great number and their bright colors—red, green, or yellow; the
clumsy looking, single masted Tuticorin lighters, sharp sterned and
copper bottomed, the largest boats in the fleet, ranging in capacity
from twenty to forty tons each; and, most singular of all, the three
masted great canoes from Adirampatnam and Muttupat on the Tanjore coast,
pale blue in color and with curved prow. In addition to these standard
types, added novelty is imparted by a few boats of design so odd and
fantastic as would be conceived only by the mind of an oriental builder.
Reaching the camp at the beginning of the season, these boats are
examined by the officials as to condition and equipment and, if found
satisfactory, are registered and numbered. When the quantity of oysters
to be removed is small, many more boats may arrive than is necessary or
than can find profitable employment. Formerly when this occurred a
lottery was held to determine those to be employed. More recently the
officials have endeavored to engage all boats passing the inspection,
although to do so might necessitate arranging the fleet into two
divisions, each fishing on alternate days. In 1874, the boats were
arranged in three divisions, the red, blue and green, with fifty boats
in each; in 1879, and again in 1881, there were two divisions, the red
and the blue; and likewise in 1880, in 1903 and in 1906 there were two,
the red and the white divisions. Of the 318 boats employed in the 1905
fishery, 143 were from Kilakarai, seventy-four from Jaffna, thirty-five
from Tuticorin, thirty-four from Paumben, nine from Manaar, six from
Negapatam, five from Colombo, four each from Tondi and Kayalpatam, and
one each from Devipatam, Adrapatam, Ammopatam, and Koddaipatam.
The number of persons on each boat ranges from about twelve to
sixty-five, with an average for the entire fleet of about thirty-five
men per boat. This includes the _sammatti_, or master, who represents
the owner; the _tindal_, or pilot; the _todai_, or water-bailer, who is
very necessary on these leaky craft, and who also takes charge of the
food and drinking water; at times a government inspector or “boat
guard”; and from five to thirty divers, with an equal number of
_manducks_, or attendants.[138] The _sammattis_, _tindals_, and _todais_
are nearly all from the coast of southern India. The “boat guards” or
inspectors are natives of Ceylon, and are employed by the government to
prevent the fishermen from opening the oysters. Most of the _manducks_
are from the Indian coast.
Of the 4991 divers employed in 1905, 2649 were Moormen or Lubbais from
Kilakarai, Tondi, etc., on the Madura coast; 923 were Arabs; 424 were
Erukkalampiddi Moormen from Ceylon, and the remaining 995 were Tamils
from Tuticorin, Rameswaram and elsewhere on the Madras coast, Malayalans
from the Malabar coast, with small numbers from other localities on the
Asiatic coasts.
Among the 8600 divers in 1906, were 4090 Arabs, the largest number of
those people employed in recent years. In 1905 there were only 923 Arab
divers, in 1904 only 238, and previously the number was much less. Some
have worked on the Ceylon coast since 1887, but most of them are newly
arrived from Bahrein and Kuweit, where they received their training as
pearl-divers. They are very energetic and skilful fishermen, far
surpassing the Tamils, coming early in the season and staying late, and
working on many days when rough seas deter the Indian divers from
venturing out.
The Erukkalampiddi divers of Ceylon are by no means so energetic or
steady in work as the Arabs, and commonly desert the fishery before the
close. The Tamil divers belong to the Parawa and Kadeiyar castes.
The season in the Ceylon fishery is very short, only about six or eight
weeks at the most; and the holidays and storms usually reduce the number
of actual working days to less than thirty. In no other pearl fishery of
importance is the season less than four months in length, and in most of
them it extends through more than half of the year. Owing to this
restricted time, there is greater activity in the Ceylon fishery
compared with the value of the output than in any other pearl fishery in
the world.
Although the season is short, it is strenuous. Arising shortly after
midnight, the thousands of fishermen breakfast, perform their devotions
and prepare to get under way so as to reach the reefs about sunrise.
There each boat takes its position on the ground allotted for the day’s
work, and which has been marked in advance by buoys topped with flags;
and shortly afterward, on a signal from the guard vessel, the diving
commences. This is carried on in the same manner as already described
for the Persian Gulf, except that the Indian divers do not use
nose-clips, only compressing the nostrils with the fingers during the
descent. Rarely do they descend to a greater depth than ten fathoms.
The divers work in pairs, each pair using a single diving stone in
common, and descending alternately, precisely as in the Persian Gulf. It
is remarkable what few changes have occurred in the methods of the
fishery in the last six centuries; the description[139] of Marco Polo,
who visited the region about 1294, and of writers somewhat more recent,
indicating that, in the main features, it was then conducted in the same
manner as at the present time.
An exception to the usual mode of diving is practised by the Malayalam
fishermen, who, in some seasons—as in 1903, for instance—attend in large
numbers from Travancore and northward on the Malabar coast. These men
are rather low in skill and physical endurance.[140] They dive head
foremost from a spring-board, and even with this assistance,—or possibly
we should say, handicapped by this method,—they find the average depth
of eight fathoms too great for them to work in with much comfort, rarely
remaining under water longer than forty-five seconds.
The number of oysters secured on each visit to the bottom ranges from
nothing to seventy-five or more, averaging between fifteen and fifty.
This depends not only on the ability of the fishermen, but also on the
abundance of oysters and the ease with which they may be collected.
Sometimes they are held together in loose bunches of five to ten in
each, and a diver can easily gather one hundred in the short length of
time he remains submerged. In other localities they may be somewhat
firmly attached individually to the bottom, so that some force is
necessary to release them, thus reducing the possible quantity.
Ordinarily one dive clears a space of several square yards.
[Illustration:
Unloading oysters from the vessels into the kottus, at Marichchikadde,
Ceylon
]
[Illustration:
The pearling fleet on the shore at Marichchikadde, Ceylon
]
[Illustration:
Hindu workmen preparing to drill pearls, Marichchikadde, Ceylon
]
Since 1904, a steamer has been employed each season by the government
for dredging oysters in connection with experiments in oyster-culture.
The officer in charge of this work concludes that “dredging is
economically a more sound method of fishing than is diving.”[141] This
view is disputed by the superintendent of the fishery, who points out
that the average catch by the steamer when dredging mature oysters only
slightly exceeds that of an ordinary diving boat, and the cost of
maintenance and operation is vastly greater.[142] A remarkable tribute
to the skill of the nude divers, brought out by this discussion, is
that, during some days when they were at work, the sea was too rough for
dredging by the steamer, notwithstanding that she was a typical Grimsby
or North Sea trawler of 150 tons measurement, built in 1896.[143]
A rough comparison of the Ceylon method of catching pearl-oysters with
that practised by the American oyster-growers may not be uninteresting.
On a basis of 400 to the bushel, the total Ceylon catch of 81,580,716
pearl-oysters in 1905 represents a trifle more than 200,000 bushels, or
about the quantity annually produced by each of the half dozen leading
oyster-growers of this country. Each one of these growers requires only
about three steamers, at a total cost, maybe, of $25,000, and manned by
twenty-five men; instead of one steamer at a cost of $25,000 and 318
diving boats manned by 10,000 men, which was the equipment in Ceylon. To
be sure, the conditions under which the work is prosecuted are
different—however, not so entirely unlike as might be supposed—and the
American season is about six months long instead of the two months in
Ceylon; but the comparison is presented simply as a suggestion of the
possibilities of dredging on the Ceylon reefs.
Until 1885, one of the most novel features of the fishery was the
employment of shark-charmers or “binders of sharks” (_kadal-kotti_ in
the Tamil language, _hai-banda_ in Hindustani), whose presence was
rendered necessary by the superstition of the Indian divers. The
fishermen placed implicit reliance upon the alleged supernatural powers
of these impostors, resembling in some respects that reposed in the
“medicine men” by the American Indians, and would not dive without their
supervision. It is unknown at what period the influence of these
semi-priests developed, but at the time of Marco Polo’s visit about
1294, they were in the full bloom of their authority, receiving one
twentieth of the total catch of oysters,[144] which amounted to a very
considerable sum. It is probable that the number of shark-charmers was
then quite large, some writers more recently referring to one for each
boat. During the Portuguese occupation the number was reduced to twelve,
and at the beginning of the British influence, it was further reduced to
two.
Interesting descriptions have been given of the methods by which these
men exercised their alleged powers. In 1807, Cordiner stated:
One goes out regularly in the head pilot’s boat. The other performs
certain ceremonies on shore. He is stripped naked, and shut up in a
room, where no person sees him from the period of the sailing of the
boats until their return. He has before him a brass basin full of
water, containing one male and one female fish made of silver. If
any accident should happen from a shark at sea, it is believed that
one of these fishes is seen to bite the other. The divers likewise
believe that, if the conjurer should be dissatisfied, he has the
power of making the sharks attack them, on which account he is sure
of receiving liberal presents from all quarters.[145]
Amusing stories are told of the shrewdness displayed by these fellows in
inventing explanations to redeem their credit when a fisherman became a
victim of the sharks. These accounts are by men who evidently bore no
good-will toward the shark-charmers, and it would be of interest to hear
from the other side; but we have been unable to find any one who has
appeared in print in their defense.
The British government, in its policy of noninterference with the
superstitions or semi-religious customs of the natives, tolerated these
seeming impostors, owing, probably, in a measure, to the fact that the
superstitious belief in their necessity was favorable to the
preservation of the resources, since it restricted poaching on the
reefs. However, the government endeavored to prevent an extravagant
misuse of the influence, and restricted the compensation of the
shark-charmers to one oyster per day from each diver. Later, they were
remunerated by the government, and were not allowed, under any pretense
whatever, to demand, exact, or receive oysters or any other compensation
from the boatmen, divers, or any other persons. And, finally, in 1885,
the shark-charmers were done away with entirely, after having exacted
their toll for upward of six centuries at least.
The dangers to which the Ceylon divers are exposed have been greatly
exaggerated, and especially the risks from sharks. Poets tell how “the
Ceylon pearler went all naked to the hungry shark,” and the struggle of
the diver has been a favorite theme with sensational writers. As a
matter of fact, the trouble from this source is very slight, and the
occupation is less dangerous than that of most of the deep-water
fisheries, not to be compared, for instance, with that of the winter
haddock-fishery off the New England coast. Even in 1905, when 4991
divers and an equal number of assistants were employed in pearling, not
a single fatal accident was reported, and although much rough weather
prevailed, not a fishing boat was lost. In the important fishery of
1904, with 3049 divers, only one fatal accident occurred, this was an
elderly Moorman, whose death at the bottom was apparently due either to
apoplexy or to exhaustion from remaining under water too long.
The superintendent of the fishery reported that not a single shark was
seen during the 1904 season.[146] According to the statement of Sir
William Twynam, whose Ceylon pearl fishing experience and observation
equal those of any European, he has never known of a diver being carried
off by a shark, and has heard of only one case—“which was a very
doubtful one.”[147] Prof. James Hornell, the inspector of pearl banks,
reported in 1904: “During all the months I have spent upon the pearl
banks during the last two years and a half I have never had a glimpse of
a shark dangerous to man. Several times the boatmen have caught basking
sharks of considerable size, but all were of a species that lives almost
entirely upon small crustaceans.”[148] The late Mr. A. M. Ferguson wrote
in 1887: “I think it is pretty certain that in the whole course of the
Ceylon fisheries only two human beings have fallen victims to these
fierce fishes.”[149]
The diving continues until a signal is given from the guard vessel about
twelve or one o’clock, this time depending largely on the beginning of
the sea breeze which roughens the water and interferes with the work,
and likewise serves to speed the passage of the sail vessels to the
shore. Occasionally the breeze is unfavorable, and the boatmen are
obliged to row for miles, delaying their return in some instances until
nightfall. Then the shore is lighted up to guide them to the landings,
and extra precautions are maintained to prevent them from getting away
with some of the oysters in the darkness.
It is claimed—and doubtless with much truth—that it is not unusual for
the boatmen to take advantage of the time spent in reaching the shore to
surreptitiously open many of the oysters and extract the pearls
therefrom, throwing the refuse back into the sea. It would appear from
some authorities that this is a general practice. One official—and
probably the one in the best position to know—reported in 1905 that more
than 15,000,000 oysters, or nearly one fifth of the enormous catch
during that season, were illicitly opened.[150] However, this statement
is strongly disputed by the superintendent of the fishery, who states:
As a matter of fact the opening of oysters that goes on in the boats
is of a much more casual description than this. The divers
occasionally pick out some of the best looking oysters that happen
to be conspicuous, or some that open, and look inside them. It is
quite possible that a valuable pearl might be found in this way, but
the chances are against it. It is hardly likely that the divers
would throw into the sea an enormous quantity of perfunctorily
examined oysters in which they have a share and which contain
pearls, while they were aware that immediately on landing they could
get good prices for their shares.[151]
The government officials have endeavored to put a stop to whatever
looting may exist, searching boats and occupants at the shore, revoking
the license of any boat showing evidence of oysters having been opened
or carrying knives or other appliances for that purpose. The fishermen
are alleged to resort to all sorts of devices to secrete their illicit
find of pearls, concealing them in the nose, ears, eyes, and other parts
of the body, and even hiding them in parcels in the furled sails or
attached to the embedded anchor. In some seasons—as in 1904 and 1905—the
government employed a guard for each boat. But serious criticism has
been made of the integrity of these guards, who, with compensation of
only one rupee per diem, could scarcely be expected to resist the action
of thirty or forty fishermen and report their doings, when by silence
they would have much to gain, and “the guards simply add to the number
of thieves on board” was reported by one superintendent.
Doubtless the most interesting sight in the Ceylon fishery is afforded
by the return, about mid-afternoon, of the hundreds of novel,
sail-spreading boats running before the wind and crowded with turbaned
fishermen dressed in their few brilliant rags, and each anxious to be
the first at the wave-washed beach, where they are welcomed by an equal
if not greater number of officials, merchants, laborers, and camp
followers, gathered on the shore to learn the result of the fishery. The
fantastic appearance of the boats, the diversified costumes of the
people, the general scene of animation, afford a view which for novelty
is rarely equaled even in the picturesque Orient.
The average number of oysters brought in daily by each boat is about
10,000. Some days when the weather is unfavorable many of the boats
return empty; on other days they may have 25,000 or more. In 1905 the
maximum catch in one day for one boat was 29,990, while in 1904 a single
boat brought in 37,675 oysters. The catch by the entire fleet one day in
1905 was 4,978,686 oysters, or an average of 16,485 for each of the 302
boats out on that occasion.
Each person taking part in the fishery receives as his compensation a
definite portion of the oysters. By government regulations, published in
1855 and yet operative, each _sammatti_, _tindal_, and _todai_ receives
daily one dive of oysters from each diver in the boat to which they are
respectively attached. In some instances the hire of the boat is paid
for in cash—about Rs.1.50 per day from each diver,—but in most cases
either one fifth or one sixth of each diver’s portion is devoted to this
purpose. After these provisions have been made, each diver gives one
third of his remaining portion to his _manduck_, retaining the balance
for himself. The Moormen divers from Kilakarai commonly contribute one
dive daily to the mosque of their native town,[152] in addition to the
portions given to the _sammatti_, _tindal_, and _todai_. Previous to
1855, the Hindu temples of the Madras Presidency were allowed to operate
a certain number of boats on their own account, but this led to so many
abuses that it was abolished.
After the boats are run up on the firm, hard beach, all the oysters are
removed by the crews of the boats into the government _koddu_ or
palisade, a large wattle-walled and palm-thatched inclosure with square
pens, each bearing a number corresponding to that of each boat. This is
done under close supervision to prevent a diversion of the oysters from
the regular channels, which otherwise would be relatively easy among the
animation and excitement caused by the thousands of persons about the
landing-place.
Within the government inclosure, the oysters taken by each boat are
divided by the fishermen themselves into three portions as nearly equal
as possible. This applies not only to the oysters falling to the share
of the divers and _manducks_, but also to those set apart for the
_sammatti_, _tindals_, and _todais_, for hire of the boat and even for
the Kilakarai mosque. An official indicates one of these as the share of
the fishermen, who at once remove their portion from the inclosure
through a narrow gate on the landward side. By this arrangement a
satisfactory division of the oysters is secured and all cause for
complaint or unfairness is removed. Previous to 1881, the fishermen
received only one fourth of the catch as compensation for their work;
but in that year their portion was increased to one third, at which it
has since remained.
As soon as the fishermen pass out of the government _koddu_ with their
quota, they are met by a crowd of natives eager to buy the oysters in
small lots, and frequently at so many per rupee—ranging from eight to
twelve ordinarily. This “outside market” is one of the many interesting
features of the camp, for there are few persons on the shore who do not
risk small sums in testing their fortunes in this lottery. And a
wonderful lottery it is too, in which a man may risk a few coppers and
win a prize worth hundreds of dollars. A poor Tamil once bought five
oysters for half a rupee, and in one of them he found the largest pearl
of the season. Any not sold among this eager, animated throng are at
once marketed with a native buyer. The diver then hastens to immerse
himself in one of the bathing tanks provided for the purpose. It is
claimed that if this bath is omitted after immersion all the morning in
the salt water of the gulf, the diver is liable to fall ill; and a
sufficient supply of fresh water for this purpose is an important factor
in the arrangement of the camp.
Owing to their sale in much smaller lots, or as we may say, at retail,
the fishermen succeed in getting relatively high prices for their
oysters, and their earnings exceed one half of the government’s share.
In 1905 this amounted to probably £86,000, or an average of about $1350
for each of the 318 boats. However, some crews made very much more than
this, with a corresponding decrease for the others. Although 1905 was a
record year for large returns, even in an ordinary season pearl fishing
is relatively profitable, as a skilled diver earns five or six times as
much as a common laborer in Ceylon. The regulations particularly forbid
the employment of divers for a monetary consideration instead of for a
share of the oysters according to the established custom.
The remaining two thirds of the oysters in the _koddu_ are the property
of the government. These are combined and counted. At nine o’clock each
evening they are sold at auction, and by noon of the following day all
have been removed, and the inclosure is ready for the incoming catch.
At the auction the number of oysters to be sold that evening is
announced, and bids are invited. Some one starts the bidding at, maybe,
Rs.20 or 25, and this is advanced by successive bids until the limit
appears to be reached, which may possibly be Rs.50 or 60. The successful
bidder is permitted to take as many oysters in multiples of 1000 as he
chooses; and after he is supplied, other merchants desiring them at that
particular price are accommodated. If there is no further demand for
them at that price, the bidding on the remaining oysters is begun
precisely as at first, and when the maximum bid is reached, all
merchants willing to give that amount are furnished with as many as they
wish in multiples of 1000 as before. If this does not exhaust the
oysters, the bidding on the remainder is started up again, and so on
until all are sold.[153] No one knows at the time whether he is buying a
fortune in gems or only worthless shells.
[Illustration:
Indian pearl merchants ready for business
]
[Illustration:
Children of Persian pearl dealers
]
The prices at which the oysters are sold at auction may differ greatly
from the estimated valuation of the samples secured in the February
examination. For instance, in 1905 the valuation of the South Madaragam
oysters was Rs.17.86 per 1000, yet the auction sales on the first day
began at Rs.53 and went up to Rs.61 per 1000, or three times the
valuation; and about the same general proportion of increase prevailed
for the oysters from the remaining banks, a result of great advances in
the market for pearls.
The auction prices for the different lots and from day to day are fairly
constant. But the shrewd Indian merchants know their business well and
keep in close touch with the yield, so that there are many variations in
the selling price that are puzzling to the uninitiated. A somewhat
higher estimation is placed on the oysters from certain banks, and also
on those from rocky portions of a particular reef, owing to their
reputation for yielding a larger percentage of pearls. The estimation of
particular oysters varies to some extent according to the amount of
adhering rock and coral growth. As already shown, the prices in 1906
covered the remarkable range of from Rs.20 to 309 per 1000.
Superstitious belief in luck also has its influence, and a buyer may
consider a certain day as unfavorable for him and abstain from bidding
on that occasion; or considering a particular day as lucky, he may bid
very high to secure a considerable portion of the sales.
The prices in different seasons vary greatly. In 1860, the average was
Rs.134.23 per 1000, which was unprecedentedly large; the nearest to this
was Rs.79.07 in 1874 and Rs.49 in 1905. In 1880, the average price per
1000 was only Rs.11, which was the lowest ever recorded. The records for
individual days greatly exceed these limits. The highest figures at
which oysters have sold on any one day was Rs.309 per 1000 in 1906, the
equivalent for each oyster of 10½ cents in American money. In 1874, the
price reached Rs.210 per 1000, and in 1905, the maximum price was
Rs.124, or about 4¼ cents for each oyster.
The oyster-buyers are principally wealthy Chetties from Madura, Ramnad,
Trichinopoli, Parambakudi, Tevakoddai, Paumben, Kumbhakonam, and other
towns of southern India. These are quite different from the scantily
clothed Naddukoddai Chetties so common in Ceylon. Many of them are
fashionably dressed in semi-European costume, with walking-stick, patent
leather boots, and other evidences of contact with Europe. Smaller
quantities of oysters are purchased by Moormen of Kilakarai, Ramnad,
Bombay, Adrampatam, Tondi, etc. A few oysters are also purchased by the
Nadans or Chánár caste people of Perunali, Kamuti, and Karakal. Over 99
per cent. of the 50,346,601 oysters sold by the government in 1905 were
secured by Indian buyers, and less than one per cent. by Cingalese. A
few of the oysters—from two to five per cent.—are sent to Indian and
Ceylon ports, but most of them are opened at the fishing camp.
The purchaser of only a small number of oysters may open them at once by
means of a knife, and with his fingers and eyes search for the pearls.
By this method very small pearls may be easily overlooked, and it is
scarcely practicable in handling large quantities of oysters. These are
removed to private inclosures known as _toddis_ or _tottis_, situated
some distance from the inhabited portions of the camp; where, exposed to
the solar heat, they are permitted to putrefy, and the fleshy parts to
be eaten by the swarms of big red-eyed bluebottle flies, and the residue
is then repeatedly washed.
Shakspere may have had in view some such scene as this when he spoke of
the “pearl in your foul oyster.” The lady who cherishes and adorns
herself with a necklace of Ceylon pearls would be horrified were she to
see and especially to smell the putrid mass from which her lustrous gems
are evolved. The great quantity of repulsive bluebottle flies are so
essential to success in releasing the pearls from the flesh, that a
scarcity of them is looked upon as a misfortune to the merchants.
However, except it may be at the beginning of a fishery, there is rarely
ever a cause for complaint on this score, for commonly they are so
numerous as to be a great plague to persons unaccustomed to them,
covering everything, and rendering eating and drinking a difficult and
unpleasant necessity, until darkness puts a stop to their activities.
But the intolerable stench, impossible of description, the quintessence
of millions of rotting oysters, fills the place, and makes existence a
burden to those who have not acquired odor-proof nostrils. This animal
decomposition seems almost harmless to health; indeed, the natives
evidently thrive on it, and eat and sleep without apparent notice of the
nauseous conditions. And yet vegetable decomposition in this region is
usually followed by fatal results. Notwithstanding sanitary precautions
and the usual quarantine camp and hospitals, cholera occasionally
becomes epidemic and puts a stop to the fishery, as was the case in
1889; but this probably was due more to the violation of ordinary
sanitary laws than to the decaying oysters.
In a large _toddi_ the oysters are placed in a _ballam_, or a dug-out
tank or trough, fifteen or twenty feet long and two or three feet deep,
smooth on the inside so that pearls may not lodge in the crevices. This
tank is covered with matting, and the _toddi_ is closed up, sealed, and
guarded for a week or ten days, when the fly maggots will have consumed
practically all of the flesh tissues, leaving little else than the
shells and pearls. The tank is then filled with sea water to float out
the myriads of maggots. Several nude coolies squat along the sides to
wash and remove the shells. The valves of each shell are separated, the
outsides rubbed together to remove all lodgments for pearls, and the
interior examined for attached or encysted pearls. The washers are kept
under constant supervision by inspectors to prevent concealment of
pearls; they are not permitted to remove their hands from the water
except to take out the shells, and under no circumstances are they
allowed to carry the hands to the mouth or to any other place in which
pearls could be concealed.
After the shells have been removed, fresh supplies of water are added to
wash the debris, which is turned over and over repeatedly, the dirty
water being bailed out through sieves to prevent the loss of pearls.
After thorough washings, every particle of the _sarraku_, or material at
the bottom of the _ballam_, consisting of sand, broken pieces of shell,
pearls, etc., is gathered up in a cotton cloth. Later the _sarraku_ is
spread out on cloths in the sun to dry, and the most conspicuous pearls
are removed. When dry, the material is critically examined over and over
again, and winnowed and rewinnowed, and after it seems that everything
of value has been secured, the refuse is turned over to women and
children, whose keen eyes and deft fingers pick out many _masi-tul_ or
dust-pearls; and even after the skill of these has been exhausted, the
apparently worthless refuse has a market value among persons whose
patience and skill meets with some reward. It is due largely to the
extreme care in the search that so many seed-pearls are found in Ceylon.