And this leads to a discussion of what is commonly known in Ceylon as

the “Dixon washing machine.” This is an invention of Mr. G. G. Dixon who

constructed it at Marichchikadde in 1904 and 1905, at a total cost to

the government of about Rs.162,000,[154] including all expenses

incidental to the experiment. The machine involves two separate

processes; the first consists in separating the shells from the soft

portion of the oysters, and the second in recovering the pearls from the

resultant _sarraku_ after it has been dried. In 1905, about 5,000,000

oysters were put through this machine,[155] but with what result has not

been announced.

The shells having pearls attached to the interior surface are turned

over to skilled natives, who remove the valuable objects by breaking the

shell with hammers, and then with files and other implements remove the

irregular pieces of attached shell and otherwise improve the appearance.

In no fishery in the world is the average size of the pearls secured

smaller, nor is the relative number greater than in that of Ceylon. It

is rare that one is found weighing over ten grains, and the number

weighing less than two grains is remarkable. For roundness and orient

they are unsurpassed by those of any region. However, Ceylon pearls

worth locally Rs.1000 ($400) are by no means abundant. The most valuable

one found in the important fishery of 1904, is said to have been sold in

the camp for Rs.2500. The fishery of 1905 yielded one weighing 76½

_chevu_, and valued at Rs.12,000.

The quantity of seed-pearls obtained in the Ceylon fishery exceeds that

of any other—probably all other parts of the world. The very

smallest—the _masi-tul_,—for which there is no use whatever in Europe,

have an established value in India, being powdered for making _chunam_

for chewing with betel. Those slightly larger,—_tul_ pearls—for which

also there is no market in Europe, are placed in the mouth of deceased

Hindus of wealth, instead of the rice which is used by poorer people.

The great bulk of the Ceylon pearls are silvery white in color, but

occasionally yellowish, pinkish, and even “black” pearls are found,

although the so-called “black” pearls are really brown or slate-colored.

In some seasons these are relatively numerous, as in 1887, for instance.

Notwithstanding the large product at the fishery camp, it is difficult

to purchase single pearls or small quantities there at a reasonable

price, the merchants objecting to breaking a _mudichchu_, or the lot

resulting from washing a definite number of oysters.

The shells obtained in the Ceylon fisheries do not possess sufficient

thickness of lustrous nacre for use as mother-of-pearl, and are mostly

used for camp-filling. A few are burned and converted into _chunam_,

_i.e._: prepared lime for building purposes, or to be used by natives

for chewing with the betel-nut. Forty or fifty years ago, before the

large receipts of mother-of-pearl from Australia and the southern

Pacific, there was a good market for the shell for button manufacture

and the like, but since 1875 only the choicest have been used for this

purpose, and these are worth only about $25 per ton delivered in Europe.

It will be observed that up to the close of the season of 1906, the

Ceylon fisheries were operated by the colonial government as a state

monopoly. In 1904, proposals were made to the British colonial office by

a London syndicate with a view to leasing the fisheries for a term of

years. The original suggestion was that they should be leased for thirty

years in consideration of an annual rental of £13,000 or Rs.195,000,

together with a share of the net profits after payment of a reasonable

rate of interest on the investment; and later it was suggested that the

rental be Rs.100,000 a year and twenty per cent. of the profits after

seven per cent. on capital had been paid to the shareholders. But the

government preferred a definite money payment without any rights to

share in the profits realized; and after lengthy negotiations this was

fixed at Rs.310,000 annually, with certain preliminary payments.

Accordingly, on November 30, 1905, a preliminary agreement was executed

between the crown agents for the colonies, acting on behalf of the

government of Ceylon, and representatives of the Ceylon Company of Pearl

Fishers, Limited. On February 27, 1906, this agreement was confirmed and

made effective by special ordinance[156] of the governor and legislative

council of Ceylon, and the crown agents were authorized to execute the

lease as of January 1, 1906.

The principal financial terms of this lease required the company to

purchase the expensive Dixon pearl-washing machine at a cost of

Rs.120,000, which was Rs.42,000 less than it cost the government during

the preceding two years; to purchase at a cost of Rs.62,501 the

steamship _Violet_, which the government had used in its experimental

oyster-culture; to reimburse the government each year the amount spent

in policing, sanitation and hospital services at the fishery camp, which

had in some individual seasons amounted to more than Rs.200,000; to

expend each year from Rs.50,000 to Rs.150,000 in the development of

pearl-oyster culture; and to pay an annual rental of Rs.315,000, a rate

based roughly on the average return of the preceding twenty years,

including the record year of 1905.

The company was authorized to take up the pearl-oysters by means of

divers, or by steam dredges, or by such other mechanical means as might

appear most advantageous, and to carry on such experiments with the

immature oysters as appeared most conducive to the profitable working of

the fisheries, provided they do nothing to make the resources less

valuable at the expiration of the lease.

One of the most interesting features of the lease is that relating to

the power of the colonial government to grant an exclusive right of

fishing on the banks outside the three-mile limit. The question of this

exclusive right arose in 1890, but was not conclusively determined.

Fearing lest this authority did not exist, the terms in which the right

of fishing was conveyed were carefully chosen by the attorney general to

protect the government from liability “should any international question

arise”;[157] and the government leased to the company “all the right or

privilege which the lessors have hereto exercised and enjoyed of fishing

for and taking pearl-oysters on the coasts of Ceylon between Talaimannar

and Dutch Bay Point, to the intent that the company _so far as the

lessors can secure the same_ may have the exclusive right, liberty and

authority to fish for, take and carry away pearl-oysters within the said

limits.... But nothing in this lease shall be taken to make the lessors

answerable in damages if _owing to any cause beyond the control of the

lessors_ the company is prevented from fully exercising and enjoying

such exclusive right and privilege.”[158]

In the meantime, while the negotiations were in progress, there occurred

the very profitable fishery of 1905, from which the colonial government

derived a revenue of Rs.2,510,727, or approximately eight times the

proposed annual rental; and before the lease was finally concluded

occurred the fishery of 1906, with its revenue of Rs.1,376,746. While it

is true that a succession of barren seasons prevailed from 1892 to 1902,

yet, as the revenue in 1903 was Rs.829,548, and in 1904 it was

Rs.1,065,751, there was, in the four years ending in 1906, a revenue to

the government of Rs.5,782,772, or nearly as much as the total amount to

be derived from the lease during the twenty years it was to run. These

figures seemed to furnish strong reasons for retaining such a valuable

source of revenue, with its possibilities of still greater expansion

under the supervision and direction of specialists in the employ of the

government.

Many of the inhabitants of Ceylon saw in this a decided objection to the

lease, and there was a general feeling of indignation in the colony,

with public meetings in protest, and the like. In reply to a memorial

prepared at one of these meetings held in Colombo, Lord Elgin, the

British secretary of state for the colonies, wrote under date of May 9,

1906:

The memorialists have protested against the lease on the double

ground that a lease on any terms is contrary to the best interests

of Ceylon, and that the rent agreed upon is “under existing

circumstances wholly inadequate.” There must always be in cases of

this kind a difference of opinion as to whether a fixed annual sum,

with immunity from all expense and sundry other advantages, is or is

not preferable to continuing to face all the risks for the sake of

all the profits. In the present instance the lease appears to me to

have been drafted with a sincere desire to safeguard to the utmost

the property and interests of the Colony.

[Illustration:

Street scene in Marichchikadde, the pearling camp of Ceylon

]

[Illustration:

Return of the fleet from the pearl reefs to Marichchikadde, Ceylon

]

It may be true that the development of the fishery upon a scientific

system affords good prospect of a greater return in the future than

has been obtained in the past, and affords at least the hope that

the barren cycles which have been so common in the past will not

recur to the same extent. But the operations necessary to that end

are of a highly technical and experimental character, and I am very

doubtful whether any machinery which could be set in motion by the

Government would be suited to develop processes at once so doubtful

and so delicate. In twenty years’ time the Colonial Government will

receive back the fishery, not only intact, but in the most perfect

state to which commercial enterprise and scientific methods can

raise it, and, in the meanwhile, a regular and substantial payment

is assured. Twenty years are no doubt a considerable period in the

lifetime of individuals; but if within that time all the resources

that science can contribute toward systematic development of the

fisheries have been applied and thoroughly tested, the period will

not, I think, be regarded as excessive or unfortunate in the history

of a fishery which has lasted for more than two thousand years.[159]

The Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers, Limited, with a paid up capital of

£165,000, has just entered into possession of its lease, and it is

uncertain what changes will be made in the methods of the fishery or

what measure of success will follow the attempts at pearl-oyster culture

and the growth of pearls. The attention of the pearling interests of the

world is now directed to the work of this company in the development of

its magnificent leasehold, and it seems not unlikely that greater

changes will be made in the methods of the industry during the ensuing

decade than have occurred in the whole of the last ten centuries.[160]

A curious fishery, with the _Placuna placenta_ for its object, exists in

Tablegram Lake, a small bay in northeastern Ceylon adjacent to the

magnificent harbor of Trincomali, which Nelson declared to be “the

finest in the world.” At intervals during the nineteenth century, the

Ceylon government leased the Tablegram Lake fishery to native bidders

for a period of three consecutive years. In 1857, Dr. Kelaart visited

the place and calculated that in the three years preceding, eighteen

million oysters had been removed.[161] Owing to scarcity of the mollusk,

no fisheries have existed since 1890, but from 1882 to 1890 they were

regularly leased at an average of Rs.5000 for each term of three years.

Prof. James Hornell, who made a careful examination in 1905, reported

that if the business were carried on providently and systematically, “it

should become the source of a fairly regular annual revenue to

Government of from Rs.10,000 to Rs.12,000, possibly even more.”[162]

The _Placuna_ oysters are caught by Moormen divers, who are scarcely

equal physically to the pearl fishery in the sea. They rarely descend

more than four fathoms, and most of the work in Tablegram Bay is in less

than two fathoms. Each diver returns with from one to five or more

oysters, depending on their abundance, and receives one half of the

catch as his share of the proceeds. Unlike the method in the

pearl-oyster fishery of Ceylon, the _Placuna_ oysters are opened while

fresh, this work being performed by coolies, who are compensated at the

rate of about Rs.3 per 1000.

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF INDIA

There are two moments in a diver’s life:

One, when a beggar, he prepares to plunge;

Then, when a prince, he rises with his prize.

ROBERT BROWNING.

Notwithstanding the great fame of the pearl fisheries of India, those

prosecuted within the limits of British India proper are of small

extent. The only pearl resources within the empire are the rarely

productive reefs on the Madras coast in the vicinity of Tuticorin, the

relatively modern fisheries of Mergui Archipelago, and some small reefs

of only local importance on the Malabar coast and in the Bombay

presidency.

The celebrity of India in connection with the pearl fisheries has never

rested on the extent of those within the territorial limits or under the

control of this government. It originated in the fact that it is largely

Indian capital which finances the fisheries of Ceylon and of the Persian

Gulf; nearly all of the divers and others employed in Ceylon are from

the coast of this empire, and most of the pearls are purchased by

merchants of Bombay, Madura, Trichinopoli, and other large towns. Thus,

from an economic and industrial point of view, the pearl fisheries of

Ceylon, and to a less extent those of the Persian Gulf, have contributed

to the fame and to the wealth of the Empire of India.

The pearl fisheries off Tuticorin in the Madras presidency have been

referred to incidentally in the account of the fisheries of Ceylon. They

are separated by only a few miles of water, and are prosecuted by the

same fishermen and in precisely the same manner. Consequently, it is

difficult to discuss them separately, especially in their early history

and during the time that this part of the world was under the rule of

the Portuguese and later of the Dutch.

[Illustration:

The pearling regions in Ceylon and British India

]

The fisheries of the Madras coast compete in antiquity with those of

Ceylon. Indeed, from the time of Ptolemy to the seventeenth century, the

industry seems to have been prosecuted largely from the Madras side of

the gulf, centering at Chayl or Coil on the sandy promontory of Ramnad.

This place appears to be the Κόλχοι of Ptolemy, the Ramana Koil of the

natives, as well as the Cael of the travelers of the Middle Ages. But

during the last three hundred years, the Ceylon side has been the scene

of the greatest pearling operations; and from the Madras coast, the

fisheries have not been prosecuted except at long intervals, averaging

once in fifteen or twenty years.

Owing to the scarcity of oysters and to other causes, the fishery was

prosecuted on the Madras coast in only eight years of the whole period

from 1768 to 1907. These years of productivity were 1822, 1830, 1860,

1861, 1882, 1889, 1890, and 1900; and even then the yield was relatively

small. The largest was 15,874,500 oysters in 1860, from which the Madras

government derived a revenue of Rs.250,276; and about half as many

oysters were obtained in 1861 with a revenue of Rs.129,003. Numerous and

prolonged experiments in conserving the reefs and in cultivating the

oysters have been made without success. The reason usually given for the

greater wealth of oysters on the Ceylon side is, that it is more

sheltered from the strong currents which sweep down the Bay of Bengal

into the Gulf of Manaar and impinge directly on the coast of the

mainland.

The headquarters of the fishery are at Tuticorin, near to Madura, the

Benares of the south, the holy “City of Sweetness” which the gods have

delighted to honor from time immemorial. But the camp is commonly

erected of palmyra and bamboo on the barren shore several miles distant

from Tuticorin. The 1890 fishery was at Salápatturai, and that of 1900

at a place which received the mouth-filling name of Veerapandianpatanam.

The preparations for pearling at Tuticorin are similar to those on the

Ceylon coast. In the autumn the reefs are examined by government

inspectors, and if the conditions seem to warrant a fishery in the

following spring, arrangements are made therefor and the proper

notification issued. The announcement follows the general plan of that

in Ceylon. The following, from the Fort St. George “Gazette,” Madras,

January 16, 1900, is a copy of the notification preceding the last

fishery which has occurred:

Notice is hereby given that a pearl fishery will take place at

Veerapandianpatanam on or about the 12th March, 1900.

1. The bank to be fished is the Theradipulipudithapar, estimated to

employ 100 boats for twenty days with average loads of 7,000 oysters

per day.

2. It is therefore recommended that such boat owners and divers as

may wish to be employed shall be at Tuticorin on or before the 1st

of March next and anchor their boats abreast of the government

flagstaff; the first day’s fishing will take place on the 12th of

March, weather permitting.

3. The fishery will be conducted on account of Government, and the

oysters put up for sale in such lots as may be deemed expedient.

4. The arrangements of the fishery will be the same as have been

usual on similar occasions.

[Illustration:

PEARLS PRESENTED BY THE IMAM OF MUSCAT TO PRESIDENT VAN BUREN

Now in the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C.

]

5. Payments to be made in ready money in rupees or in Government of

India notes. Checks on the Bank of Madras or Bank Agencies will be

received on letters of credit being produced to warrant the drawing

of such checks.

6. All particulars can be obtained on application to the

Superintendent of Pearl Fisheries, Tuticorin.

Sd/—J. P. BEDFORD,

_Collector_.

Tinnevelly Collector’s Office,

16th November 1899.

On the long sweep of desolate shore at a place convenient to the reefs,

a temporary camp is erected, just as is done on the Ceylon coast.

However, this camp is not nearly so large, only about one fourth or one

fifth the size of that on the eastern side of the gulf. It resembles the

larger one in the quarters for divers and merchants, the bazaars, the

bungalows for the officials, the hospital, the sale and washing

inclosures, etc.; in addition to these is the temporary Roman Catholic

chapel.

The divers are mainly of the Parawa caste from Tuticorin, Pinnacoil,

Pamban, etc. on the Madras coast. Although influenced by many Hindu

superstitions, they are nominally Roman Catholics, as evidenced by the

scapulars suspended from the neck, their ancestors having been converted

and baptized through the zealous work of that prince of missionaries,

St. Francis Xavier, in the sixteenth century. Even yet a chapel at

Pinnacoil is held in special reverence by these people as a place where

the saintly father preached. Professor Hornell writes that the present

hereditary head of this caste is Don Gabriel de Croos Lazarus Motha Vaz,

known officially as the Jati Talaiva More, or Jati Talaivan. He resides

at Tuticorin, and is largely the intermediary between the government and

the Parawa fishermen.

In the details of its prosecution, the Madras fishery differs in no

important particular from that of Ceylon. The boats are manned and

operated in precisely the same way; they fish in the morning only,

taking advantage of the prevailing favorable winds; the divers carry the

oysters into the government inclosure, and divide them into three equal

lots, of which they receive one; the share of the government is

auctioned daily, the divers disposing of theirs as they choose; and the

oysters are rotted and washed in the same manner as in Ceylon.

In addition to the fishery for pearl-oysters at Tuticorin, two other

species of pearl-producing mollusks are collected in the Madras

presidency; one of these is a species of mussel (_Mytilus smaragdinus_,

according to Dr. Edgar Thurston of the Madras Museum), which is

collected from the estuary of the Sonnapore River near Berhampore; and

the other is the _Placuna placenta_, found in many places in this

presidency, and especially in Pulicat Lake and in the vicinity of

Tuticorin.

The Sonnapore mussels, which are small and bright green in color, are

found adhering to the masses of edible oysters in depths of ten or

twelve feet of water. They are caught in a novel manner, as described in

a letter from the acting collector of customs at Ganjam. Thrusting a

long bamboo pole deep into the bottom of the reef, the fisherman dives

down, and holding on to this bamboo, breaks off as large a mass of the

oysters as he can bring to the surface in one hand, helping himself up

the bamboo pole with the other. Removing the mussels from the mass, he

opens them with a suitable knife and by running his thumbs and fingers

over the flesh tissues, detects the pearls therein. These pearls are of

very inferior quality and of little ornamental value. They are sold

mostly for chunám and for placing in the mouth of deceased Hindus.

Along the west coast of India, in the Bombay presidency, a few pearls

are found at various places, but the output is of slight value. The most

important of these is off the coast of Nawanagar, on the south side of

the Gulf of Cutch, where the true pearl-oyster is found.

According to the “Jamnagar Diwan,” the yearly value of the Nawanagar

fisheries is about Rs.4000. This is smaller than formerly, as the reefs

are in a depleted state; to give them a chance to recuperate, a close

season was established in 1905. The oysters are found along a coast-line

eighty miles in length extending from Mangra, near Jodya Bunder, to

Pindera in the Gulf of Cutch, and also about the islands of Ajad, Chauk,

Kalumbar, and Nora, which are also situated in the Cutch Gulf. They are

not procured by diving, but are gathered off the rocks when the tide is

out. During the monsoon, the collection is limited to eight days in the

month; _i.e._, from the twelfth to the fifteenth of each half according

to the Hindu calendar.

The fisheries are by law restricted exclusively to the _waghers_ of ten

villages, which are Varinar, Sashana, Sika, Balachedi, Jhakher, Sarmat,

Bharana, Salaya, Chudesar, and Bedi. The collection of the pearls is

left entirely to these men, who at Divala—the Hindu new year—bring all

the pearls gathered by them to the durbar. There an estimate is made of

their value, one fourth of which is paid to the _waghers_, and the

pearls are turned over to the representatives of the state treasury for

sale. This method of conducting the industry has been long established.

In recent years the government experimented in farming out the revenue,

but the old custom has been resumed in order to placate the native

fishermen.

A few pearl-oysters are also found on the Ratnagiri coast below Bombay,

and likewise at Kananur in the Malabar district. In 1901–1902, there was

some local excitement about pearls found at Belapur and quantities were

reported as collected; but since then little has been heard of the

industry in that region.

Elsewhere on the west coast of India, pearls are obtained from the

so-called “window-glass” shell, of the genus _Placuna_. The individual

shells are flat, thin, and transparent, and are still used in Goa and

vicinity as a substitute for glass in windows. This mollusk is abundant

from Karachi, near the Baluchistan border, to the Kanara district south

of Bombay; and wherever it occurs in any abundance it is collected for

the sake of the small pearls found therein.

Of the fishery at Karachi, Mr. E. H. Aitken writes: “It is farmed out by

Government for a good sum. In 1901, the amount realized was Rs.3650 for

a period of three years; but the lessee lost heavily, and in 1904 the

highest offer for a similar period of three years was Rs.1851. Pearls

may be found in as many as ten to twenty per cent. of the mature

mollusks.” Pearls are far more numerous in the _Placuna_ than in the

pearl-oysters, but few of them are of sufficient size or luster to be

used as ornaments, ranking with the so-called medicinal pearls of

Europe. They are much softer in texture than the pearls of the

Margaritiferæ. The largest are commonly of irregular form, with the

surface slightly botryoidal or like the “strawberry” pearls of the

Mississippi. While not often used as ornaments, they are highly valued

by the Hindus in calcined or powdered form for medicinal purposes, and

especially to be chewed with the betel-nut, and are also used in the

original form in funeral rites, a small quantity being placed in the

mouth of a deceased person.

In the Mergui Archipelago, which is within the territory of lower Burma

and under the jurisdiction of the government of British India, patches

of pearl-oyster reefs are scattered over an area roughly computed at

11,000 square miles, taking 97° 40′ as the western boundary. They occur

principally in the strong tidal passages among the islands. The bottom

is formed largely of porphyritic granite interspersed with sand and

thinly covered with corals, coral cups, the long whip-like black coral

(_Antipathes arborea_), and other submarine animal and vegetable

growths.[163] These constitute a home most favorable to the growth and

development of molluscan life.

Of the several species of pearl-bearing mollusks occurring in the Mergui

Archipelago, by far the most important is the “mok,” or large Australian

pearl-oyster (_Margaritifera maxima_). The shell attains a maximum size

of about thirteen inches in diameter, and the nacre is of a milky or

silvery color. This species occurs in its two varieties of “golden lip”

and “silver edge,” the former being in greater abundance. The “silver

edge” shell is the more valuable owing to its uniformity of coloring,

and the pearls found therein are of superior luster and orient.

The “pate goung,” or Lingah pearl-oyster (_Margaritifera vulgaris_), is

similar to that of the Gulf of Manaar. It is circular in shape and

measures about two and one half inches in diameter. The nacre is

silvery, with slight yellowish tinge. Many of the pearls from this

species are of a silvery color, but most of them are yellowish or

golden. The fishery for this mollusk is of little importance compared

with that for the larger pearl-oyster, which is the species referred to

in Mergui when not otherwise mentioned.

The pearl fisheries of Mergui originated with the Selangs or Salangs, a

nomadic race of maritime gipsies, the last remnants of whom live among

the three thousand islands of this group. They are supposed to be of

Malay descent; but their early history is unknown, and they are rapidly

passing away in the conflict of existence with the neighboring peoples.

Probably in no part of the world are the pearl fisheries prosecuted by a

more primitive class of men. With their women and children, they live

mainly in roomy dug-out boats; but during the southwest monsoon they

erect temporary shelters on the shore, these consisting of a few frail

sticks, supporting coverings of braided mats, and floors of bamboo

strips.

They have few wants and derive a livelihood principally from gathering

and bartering shells, pearls, cured _thadecon_, and nests of the

sea-swallow (Collocalia). Within depths of six or eight fathoms they are

fairly good divers, both the men and the women, but their physical

endurance is slight. Their trade is mostly with Chinese merchants who

visit them in small vessels. No information exists as to when the

Selangs first found profit in searching for pearls; but it was probably

many centuries ago, and for a long time they made contributions of them

to the Buddhist rulers of Burma.

Shortly after the acquisition of Mergui Archipelago in 1826,

representatives of the British government brought experienced divers

from southern India to examine more fully the resources which the

Selangs had made known; but as only seed-pearls were secured, the

government concluded that they would yield an insignificant revenue, and

the attempt to develop these resources was given up.[164]

However, the Selangs continued to fish in their primitive fashion; and

as the market for the shell developed, the profits increased. But their

wants were easily appeased, and the increased profits were

counterbalanced by decreased activities. Old traders among the islands

tell of the opportunities of those days when choice pearls could be

obtained for a pinch of opium or for a few ounces of tobacco.

Far from the highways of the world, the Selangs remained undisturbed in

their beautiful seas until nearly twenty years ago. Meanwhile, 800 miles

distant, Singapore had arisen from a desert shore to the rank of a great

seaport, and the headquarters for the pearl fishery of the Malay

Archipelago and of the northwestern coast of Australia. In this fishery

the vessels were well equipped and depended on the use of diving

apparatus rather than on nude divers.

Beginning about 1888, some of these vessels made occasional visits to

the Mergui pearl-oyster reefs, and usually with very profitable results.

This was the first instance in which diving apparatus was successfully

introduced on any part of the Asiatic coast from the Red Sea to Malacca

Strait. So great was the profit that nearly every one on the lower coast

of Burma with sufficient capital or credit hastened to obtain a boat and

diving equipment. The success of some of these early ventures was

remarkable, single pearls worth $3000, $5000, and even $10,000 each

being secured. The reefs in the shoal waters were rapidly depleted, to

the great disadvantage of the nude Selangs, who can do little in deep

water.

With a view to deriving a revenue from these well-equipped vessels, the

government of Burma in 1898 divided the 11,000 square miles of pearling

territory into five definite areas known as “blocks.” The area within

each of these blocks was surveyed, marked, and charted; and the

financial commissioner from time to time determined as to each block

whether licenses for pearl fishing should be issued, or whether the

exclusive right therein should be leased. These leases were disposed of

either by inviting tenders and granting the lease to any of the persons

who might tender, or by public auction, as the financial commissioner

might direct. By the terms of the lease, the lessee was obliged to

register at the office of the deputy commissioner of finance the number

of boats and pumps employed by him; to declare by letter, at the end of

each month, the number, weight, and estimated value of all

mother-of-pearl shell and pearls collected during the month, and to

refrain from taking any mother-of-pearl measuring less than six inches

from lip to hinge.

Outside the limits of blocks in which the exclusive pearl fishing was

leased, licenses to use diving implements were granted in such number

and on payment of such fees, not exceeding Rs.1000 per apparatus, as

might from time to time be fixed, every such license expiring on June 30

next following the date on which it was granted, and no license was

transferable.

The five blocks in which the Mergui pearling rights were leased are of

large area, averaging somewhat over 2000 square miles each. The lessees

customarily granted permits to subsidiary fishermen to operate in their

respective blocks, on payment of a royalty, this ranging in amount from

12½ to 25 per cent. of the mother-of-pearl secured, and the pearls found

were the absolute property of the fishermen.

Until 1900 the pearling rights were leased by blocks as above noted.

Rights to catch trochus, green snail shells, and sea-slugs, were

included in the lease. It was noticed that European pearlers always

sublet the trochus and green snail rights, and it was decided to auction

these separately; while as regards pearling proper the auction system

was abolished in that year in favor of a system of licensing individual

vessels for a fee of Rs.400 each. The right to collect pearls by nude

diving was thought for some time to have been left free; but

subsequently it was auctioned along with the rights to collect green

snails, trochus and sea-slugs.

The following summary, compiled from data furnished by Mr. I. H. Burkill

of the Indian Civil Service, shows the extent of the pearl and shell

fisheries of Mergui for a series of years.

Year. No. of Revenue from Revenue from Reported Value of

Pumps. Pumps. Auction Rights. Yield.

Rs. Rs. Rs.

1904 70 28,000 22,500 149,239

1905 77 30,800 14,200 131,921

1906 80 32,000 15,300 124,798

1907 76 30,400 19,700

The local headquarters of the industry are at Mergui, but most of the

supplies are drawn from Maulmain and Rangoon, or from the more distant

Singapore, where the industry is financed. The season extends from

October to April or May, when the southwest monsoon begins and puts a

stop to the fishery on this exposed coast.

The boats used are mostly of Burmese build. They measure from 25 to 35

feet in length, and 7 or 8 feet in width, and have 18 to 24 inches of

draft, with curved or half-moon shaped keels, and with high square

sterns. Owing to the very light draft and the amount of free-board, they

are deficient in weatherly qualities; but are fast sailors before the

wind and are easily rowed from place to place. For this reason they are

especially suited to the industry in Mergui, because during the pearling

season calms and light winds prevail and oars form the principal motive

power, especially in the channels and passageways between the islands

where the tides are frequently very swift.

If a number of boats are of the same ownership, a schooner of thirty to

one hundred tons’ capacity is commonly provided as a floating station

and base of supplies for them; the gathering of such a fleet presents an

interesting sight, like a great white hen among her brood of chickens.

[Illustration:

FROM THE TREASURY OF THE EMIR OF BOKHARA

Necklace and earrings. Property of an American lady

]

Most of the boats are from Mergui, and are chartered at a monthly rate

of from Rs.105 to Rs.120 each, including a crew of four or five Burmans

with their subsistence, consisting principally of rice and salted fish;

the charterer is further required to pay each member of the crew four

annas, or one rupee, for each day actually employed in operating the

diving pump. In addition to these men, each boat carries one diver and

an attendant, commonly known as “tender.” The boat is sailed or rowed by

the crew, as directed by the diver; and while the latter is submerged,

the boat and crew are under the supervision of the attendant.

The divers are the most important men in the fleet, for on their ability

and efficiency depends the success of the enterprise. A very

considerable portion of them are natives of the Philippine Islands,

although many Japanese have been employed recently, and the number is

increasing. The compensation is at the rate of £2 to £4 per month, and

£20 for each ton of mother-of-pearl secured. The attendants are likewise

mostly Manilamen, but many Malayans and Burmans are employed; the wages

range from Rs.50 to Rs.80 per month, including provisions. The peculiar

duties of the attendant are to help the diver into his dress, place the

shoulder leads into position, screw on the helmet, and especially to

receive and respond to signals and to direct the movements of the vessel

in accordance therewith.

The scaphander, or diving dress, is composed of solid sheet rubber,

covered on both sides with canvas. The head-piece is made of tinned

copper, and is fitted with three glasses, one at the front and one on

each side, so as to afford the diver as wide a view as is consistent

with strength of construction. It has a valve by which he can regulate

the pressure of the atmosphere. The dress has a double collar, the inner

portion coming up around the neck, and the other hermetically fastened

to the breastplate. The breastplate is likewise made of copper. The suit

is connected with the air-pump by means of a stout rubber tube which

enters the helmet, and through which air is supplied to the diver

incased therein. This air-tube consists of three or four lengths—each of

fifty feet—of light hose, commonly called “pipe.” This is buoyant so

that it may be easily pulled along, and may not readily foul among the

rocks. However, when working on very rough bottom with sharp-edged

stones, the lower length is of stouter material in order to resist the

chafing on the bottom. Before descending, the air-line is loosely coiled

around the diver’s arm to prevent a sudden strain on it when it is

tightened, and a signal-line is attached to his waist to enable him to

communicate with the men above.

In fishing, if the current is slight, the boat is permitted to drift

therewith, and if there is little or no current, it is propelled by oars

as may be required. The diver—fully dressed in the rubber suit with

helmet, etc.,—goes overboard easily by means of a Jacob’s ladder of five

or six rungs on the port side of the boat, and is lowered by an

attendant, who gives close attention to the lines, the crew having

manned the pump in the meantime. On reaching bottom, the diver walks

along, following the course of the moving boat and swinging his

shoulders from side to side to take in a wide vision in his search for

oysters. In clear water he can discover them at a distance of

twenty-five or thirty feet, even when fifteen fathoms below the surface;

but sometimes the water is so clouded that it may be necessary for him

to go almost on hands and knees to see them, and when the seaweeds are

thick and high, he may locate them almost as much by feeling as by

sight. Owing to this difficulty in seeing the oysters, the work is

suspended in rough weather and for many days following. The catch is

placed in a sack or basket of quarter inch rope, which is raised when

filled, emptied, and returned to the bottom by means of a rope.

Finding the shell is by no means an easy matter, and much natural

hunter-craft is necessary. Of a neutral color, it is not at all

conspicuous as it lies on a gray coral bed, itself covered with coral or

sponge or hidden in dense masses of gorgeous seaweeds. Still less

visible is the shell on a muddy bottom, for there it embeds itself and

exposes only half an inch or so of the “lip.” As the boat is impelled by

the tide, the diver may have to walk rapidly in a swinging gait; and if

he should stumble or fall while stooping to pick up the shell, recovery

of balance may be difficult. He must be constantly on the alert and has

many dangers to avoid. Sharks are numerous in these clear tropical

waters; but although disaster sometimes results, they are timid, a

stream of air bubbles from the sleeve of the dress sending them away in

fright. More fruitful sources of danger are fouled air-pipes, broken

pumps, falling into holes, and especially paralysis from recklessly deep

diving.

When the diver wishes to come up, he closes the escape valve in his

helmet; his dress fills and distends with air, causing a speedy return

to the surface, and the tender hauls him alongside by means of the

life-line. After “blowing” for a few minutes with the helmet removed,

and usually enjoying the indispensable cigarette, he returns to the

bottom.

When the Mergui reefs were first exploited by diving apparatus, the bulk

of the shells were secured from depths of ten to twelve fathoms. These

shallow reefs have been exhausted, temporarily, at least, and the divers

now work in deeper water, fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five fathoms,

if the bottom is very uneven and rocky. Many shells are found in the

depressions between the large boulders, which may be twenty or thirty

feet deeper than the surrounding areas.

The oysters are opened by means of the long-bladed working-knife of the

country, known as _dah-she_. The flesh is thrown into a large basket or

washtub, where it is searched by the proprietor of the boat, who takes

each piece between the hands and squeezes and feels through every part

of it. After the flesh has been carefully examined, the sediment at the

bottom of the tub is washed and panned to obtain those pearls which have

fallen through the flesh tissues. The Mergui pearls are commonly of good

color and luster, and compare favorably with those from the Sulu

Archipelago or the Dutch East Indies.

The sea-green shell of the snail (_Turbo marmoratus_) is gathered in

large quantities by the nude diving Selangs, who barter it to Chinese

traders at the equivalent of Rs.8 or 10 per 100 in number. The flesh is

also dried and disposed of to these traders under the name of

_thadecon_, at about Rs.3 per _viss_ of 3.33 pounds. This mollusk yields

a few greenish yellow pearls.

In 1895, three pearl reefs were discovered off the Bassein coast in the

district of Irawadi.[165] These proved fairly remunerative for one

season and a portion of another, when they were abandoned.

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF THE RED SEA, GULF OF ADEN, ETC.

Under the Ptolemies, and even long after—under the Califs—these were

islands whose merchants were princes; but their bustle and glory

have since departed from them, and they are now thinly inhabited by

a race of miserable fishermen.

JAMES BRUCE (1790).

The Red Sea was one of the most ancient sources of pearls, furnishing

these gems for centuries before the Christian era, and particularly

during the reign of the Ptolemies. These pearls were alluded to by

Strabo, Ælianus, and other classical writers. Although the prominence of

the fisheries has suffered by comparison with those of Persia and

Ceylon, the yield has been more or less extensive from the days of

Solomon up to the present time.

Of the several pearl-yielding mollusks in the Red Sea and on the

southeast coast of Arabia, the largest and best known is that called

“sadof” by the Arabs, and which has been identified by Jameson as

_Margaritifera m. erythræensis_. This is closely related to the large

species in the Persian Gulf. It is commonly four or five inches in

diameter, and in exceptional instances attains a diameter of eight

inches and a weight of three pounds or more. In addition to its size, it

is distinguished by a dark green coloring about the edges, and a more or

less greenish tint over the nacreous interior surface; this color is

darker in the vicinity of Jiddah and Suakin than at the southern end of

the sea, or in the Gulf of Aden. This species occurs singly rather than

congregated in beds or reefs. Although it is found in depths of fifteen

fathoms or more, most of the fishing is in less than five fathoms of

water.

[Illustration:

Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, the pearling center of the world

]

The “sadof” yields pearls only rarely, and is sought principally for the

shells, which afford good qualities of mother-of-pearl, the pearls

furnishing an additional but always looked-for profit to the regular

source of income. As in other regions, there is no constant relation

between the value of the pearls and the quantity of mollusks taken. The

oysters of some reefs are comparatively rich in certain years; while in

other seasons or on other reefs the mollusks may be numerous but yield

very few pearls.

The second species of importance in the Red Sea is similar to the Lingah

oyster and is known to the Arabs as “bulbul.” This is much smaller than

the “sadof,” averaging less than three inches in diameter. It is

collected for the pearls exclusively, the shells being too small for

industrial use; but only 3 or 4 per cent. of the individuals yield

pearls.

It is claimed by writers of authority that it is the red Pinna pearl

from this sea that is referred to in the Scriptures under the name

_peninim_ as the most precious product, and which has been translated as

rubies.[166] The shell is extremely fragile, and the nacreous interior

is white tinged with a beautiful red. It is of little importance in the

commercial fisheries of the Red Sea at the present time.

The “sadof” is more scattered and less numerous than the “bulbul”; and

in order to save much useless diving, it is customary to inspect the

bottom before descending. Therefore, operations are largely restricted

to calm weather, when the water is sufficiently clear to enable the

divers to sight the individual oysters on the bottom. In recent years,

water-telescopes have been used to assist in locating them. The most

popular form consists of a tin can with a sheet of glass inserted in the

bottom. The glazed end of the tin is submerged several inches below the

surface, affording a far-reaching and much clearer vision. In this

fishery the divers work from small canoes (_uri_), each manned by two

men, one of whom rows while the other leans over the bow and searches

for the oysters. When one is sighted, he dives into the water for it,

and then returns to the boat to resume the search.

The pearling season begins commonly in March or April, and continues

until about the end of May; it is renewed in the autumn, continuing

through September and October.[167] The vessels employed are of two

varieties: _dhows_ carrying from twenty to eighty men each, and the much

smaller _sambuks_ or sail-boats without decks, each with from six to

twenty-five men, most of whom are Negro slaves. Many of the large

vessels are from the Persian Gulf. The _sambuks_ are owned principally

by Zobeid Bedouins inhabiting the coast between Jiddah and Yambo, and

also the islands near the southern end of the sea, which are very

hot-beds of pearls, shells, religious frenzy and half famished Arabs and

Negro slaves.

The “bulbul” oysters are taken in nearly the same manner as in the

Persian Gulf. When the vessel is located over the reef, each diver

descends, commonly with a short stick of iron or hard wood, with which

he releases the oysters within reach; placing them in a sack, he is

pulled up by an attendant when his breath is nearly exhausted.

The fisheries are prosecuted along both sides of the Red Sea and in the

channels among the islands, from the Gulf of Akabah to Bab-el-Mandeb.

They are especially extensive among the Dahlak Islands on the coast of

the Italian colony Eritrea, where the population is largely supported by

them. This was the center of the industry during the time of the

Ptolemies and in the early Christian era. The fisheries are also

important in the vicinity of Jiddah, the port of entrance for Mecca and

Medina, holiest places of Islam. They likewise exist near Kosseir at the

northern end of the sea, and at Suakin, Massawa, the Farsan Islands, and

Loheia, near the lower end. They are carried on by Arabs, who succeed in

evading efforts at control on the part of the local governments. Even on

the African side, the Arab fishermen predominate, for the native

Egyptian has never evinced much fondness for venturing on the sea.

On the southeast coast of Arabia, pearl fishermen are to be found at the

various harbors from Aden to Muscat. Their fantastic dhows are met with

in the harbor of Makalla, and also in that of Shehr. On the Oman coast,

the ports of Sur and of sun-scorched Muscat do a considerable pearling

business, not only locally but to the Sokotra Islands, and even on the

coast of East Africa and Zanzibar, the trading baggalas adding pearling

and illicit slave-trading to their many sources of income. A number of

these traders, each with an instinct for pearls equal to that of a

trained hound for game, visit the fishing centers at intervals, and

exchange needful commodities for pearls and shells.

The Arab pearl-divers of the Red Sea have been noted for the depths to

which they can descend. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted, of the Indian Navy,

who had unusual facilities for acquaintance with their exploits,

reported that in the Persian Gulf the fishermen rarely descended beyond

eleven or twelve fathoms, and even then they exhibited signs of

exhaustion; but that in the Red Sea they go down twice that depth. Among

the most noted of these divers of the last century was old Serúr, who

attracted the notice of many travelers. Lieutenant Wellsted states that

he saw him descend repeatedly to twenty-five fathoms without the

slightest evidence of distress; that he frequently dived in thirty

fathoms, and is reported to have brought up mud from the bottom at a

depth of thirty-five fathoms, which is about the record, the pressure of

the water being nearly 90 pounds to the square inch. His sons were also

remarkably expert; one of them when scarcely thirteen years of age would

descend to a depth of twenty-five fathoms.[168]

[Illustration:

CARVED “JERUSALEM SHELL” FROM THE RED SEA

In the collection of Dr. Bashford Dean

]

An interesting story of an Arab’s diving ability is told by Lieutenant

Wellsted: “In 1827, we were cruising in the sloop _Ternate_ on the pearl

banks. Whilst becalmed and drifting slowly along with the current,

several of the officers and men were looking over the side at our Arab

pilot, who had been amusing himself in diving for oysters. After several

attempts, his search proved unsuccessful. ‘Since I cannot get oysters I

will now,’ said he, ‘dive for and catch fish.’ All ridiculed the idea.

He went down again, and great was our astonishment to see him, after a

short time, rise to the surface with a small rock-fish in each hand. His

own explanation of the feat was, that as he seated himself at the

bottom, the fish came around and nibbled at his skin. Watching his

opportunity, he seized and secured his prey by thrusting his thumb and

forefinger into their expanded gills.”[169]

Owing to the character of the fishery and the lack of government

supervision, it is extremely difficult to determine accurately the

extent of this industry in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. All over

this coast extends the influence of the Hindu traders, who finance the

fisheries and purchase most of the catch. The pearls are sent mostly to

Bombay, and are not reported in the official returns of the Red Sea

ports. The fishermen are suspicious of outside inquiries, and are far

from anxious to impart reliable information. Probably the best estimates

of the catch are to be obtained from Bombay merchants, from whom A.

Perazzoli learned in 1898 that pearls to the value of 2,000,000 lire

($400,000) were carried from the Red Sea to Bombay each year.[170] In

the last four or five years the output has been smaller than usual,

owing to disturbed political conditions.

The annual product of “Egyptian” and “Bombay” shells in these fisheries

is usually upward of 1000 tons, worth from $100 to $600 per ton,

according to quality. Most of these go to Austria and France, only about

200 tons reaching London each year. Owing to the dark color and the lack

of thickness in the nacreous layer, they are scarcely suitable for

anything else than button manufacture. Many of them are sent to

Bethlehem and Jerusalem, where they are cut into various shapes for

crosses, crucifixes, wafer-boxes, beads, and nearly every conceivable

article in which mother-of-pearl is manufactured. Many of the choicest

shells are incised with scriptural or allegorical designs for sale to

tourists as well as for export. The best of the engraved shells sell for

$10 to $50, and the cheaper ones for less than $1 each. This industry is

of great importance in Bethlehem, giving employment to a considerable

percentage of the eight thousand inhabitants of the village.

Doubtless in no pearl fishery in the world are greater hardships endured

than in the Red Sea and along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. In

practically every other region, the industry is carried on under

government supervision, and there is little opportunity for

ill-treatment of the humbler fishermen. But the fanatics who control the

fishery on the Arabian coast—untrammeled by authorities and responsible

to none—show little consideration for the poor divers, and particularly

for the unfortunate black slaves brought from the coast of Africa.

These pearl fishermen lead a very eventful life, the divers especially.

They see some wonderful sights down below the surface-plant life and

creeping things and enemies innumerable. Dropping from the sun-scorched

surface down into the deep cool waters, everything shows “a sea change,

into something rich and strange,” just as the eyes of the drowned man in

Ariel’s song are turned into pearls and his bones into coral.

And there are enemies innumerable. The terrible sharks, prowling about

near the bottom, prove a source of perpetual uneasiness, and in the

aggregate many fishermen are eaten by these bloodthirsty tigers of the

sea. There are horrible conflicts with devil-fish equaling that in

Hugo’s “Toilers of the Sea.” The saw-fish is also a source of danger,

particularly in the Arabian Gulf, and instances are reported in which

divers have been cut in two by these animals, which sometimes attain a

length of twelve or fifteen feet, and possess a saw five feet long and

three inches broad, armed on each edge with teeth two inches in length.

Another menacing peril is the giant clam (_Tridacna gigas_), a monster

bivalve, whose shell measures two or three feet in diameter, and is

firmly anchored to the bottom. This mollusk occurs on many of the

Asiatic pearling grounds. Lying with the scalloped edges a foot or more

apart, a foot or a hand of the diver may be accidentally inserted. When

such a fate befalls a fisherman, the only escape is for him to amputate

the member immediately. Once in a while on the pearling shores a native

may be found who has been maimed in this manner, but usually the

unfortunate man does not escape with his life.

[Illustration:

CAP OF STATE, FROM LOOTING OF SUMMER PALACE, PEKIN, IN 1860

Now in South Kensington Museum

]

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CHINA, JAPAN, SIBERIA, ETC.

Do churls

Know the worth of Orient pearls?

Give the gem which dims the moon

To the noblest or to none.

EMERSON, _Friendship_.

It appears from ancient Chinese literature, noted in the first chapter

of this book, that pearl fisheries have existed in the rivers of China

for several thousand years. The Chinese also derived pearls from the

sea, and especially from the coast of the province of Che-kiang. Little

is known of the early fisheries, but the fragmentary literature contains

so many allusions to pearls as to lead us to believe that they were of

considerable extent and importance.

It is related that about 200 B.C., a pearl dealer at Shao-hing, an

ancient city between Hang-chau and Ning-po, on the shore of Hang-chau

Bay, furnished to the empress a pearl one inch in diameter, for which he

received five hundred pieces of silver; and to an envious princess the

same dealer sold a “four-inch pearl.” A hundred years later, the

reigning emperor sent an agent to the coast to purchase “moon pearls,”

the largest of which were two thirds of an inch in diameter.

In the tenth century A.D., Mingti, one of the most extravagant of the

early monarchs, used so many pearls—not only in his personal decoration

but on his equipage and retinue,—that after a formal procession the way

would be rich in the jewels which dropped from the gorgeous cortège.

About 1000 A.D., an embassy to the emperor brought as tribute an

ornament composed of strings of pearls, and also 105 liang (8¾ lbs.) of

the same gems unmounted.

An interesting story is told of “pearl-scattering” by an embassy to the

Chinese court from a Malayan state about 1060. Following the customs of

their country, the ambassadors knelt at the threshold of the audience

chamber, and then advanced toward the throne, bearing a golden goblet

filled with choice pearls and water-lilies wrought of gold. These they

scattered upon the floor at the feet of the emperor; and the courtiers,

hastening to pick them up, secured ten hang (15 oz.) of pearls.[171]

The Keh Chi King Yuen, a Chinese encyclopedia, describes a pearl fishery

in the southern part of Kwang-tung province, in the department of

Lien-chau and near the city of Hóhpú. Fishing began in the spring, and

was preceded by conciliating the gods through certain sacrifices, in

order that the weather might be propitious and that no disaster might be

suffered through sharks and other agencies. The five sacrificial

animals,—horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and fowls,—were presented; but

ordinarily paper images of these were economically substituted, as

equally acceptable to the Chinese rulers of destiny. In the details of

the diving, the fishery resembled somewhat that prosecuted about the

same period in the Gulf of Manaar. The diver was let down by a rope, and

after collecting the mollusks and placing them in a basket, he was drawn

up at a given signal. Much complaint was made that the divers would open

the mollusks, extract the pearls and conceal them in the mouth before

returning to the surface.

The business became so perilous and the loss so great, that about the

beginning of the sixteenth century, according to the same encyclopedia,

dredges were adopted. These at first were simple rakes; later large

dredges were trailed along between two boats, by means of which great

quantities of shells were gathered. So important was the industry that

an officer was designated by the viceroy of Canton to collect a revenue

therefrom. It does not appear that pearls have been collected in

considerable numbers on this part of the Chinese coast for very many

years, probably not since the advent of Europeans.

Pearls are yet found in the river mussels in all parts of eastern Asia,

from Siberia to the Indian Ocean, and from the Himalayas to the Pacific.

It is represented that they are not from the _Unio margaritifera_, the

common river-mussel of Europe, but from other species, such as _Unio

mongolicus_, _U. dahuricus_, _Dipsas plicatus_, etc. It is quite

impossible to obtain a reliable estimate of the total number of persons

employed, or the output of pearls in China, but these items are

certainly very much larger than the average Occidental believes.

In the vicinity of Canton the _Dipsas plicatus_ has been used for

centuries by the Chinese in the production of artificial pearls, this

industry giving employment to thousands of persons.[172]

The pearl-mussel fishery is of importance in Manchuria, where it has

been carried on for hundreds of years, not only by the citizens, but by

the military department on account of the government, and especially in

the streams which flow into the Songari, a tributary of the Amur.

Jacinth relates that in case of a deficit, the officers and subalterns

were punished by a deduction from their pay, and also by corporal

chastisement.[173] Witsen speaks of the pearls from the River Gan, a

tributary of the Amur, and also from the islands of the Amur, the

boundary river of Manchuria. Pearl fisheries were established at these

places by the Russians nearly two centuries ago.[174]

Pearls become finer and more plentiful the further we penetrate into

Manchuria; and they are numerous in the lake of Heikow or Hing-chou-men,

“Black Lake” or “Gate of Precious Gems,” where they have long been

exploited for the account of the emperor of China.

The occurrence of pearls in many parts of Asiatic Russia was noted by

Von Hessling. In northern Siberia, according to Witsen, writing in

1705,[175] pearls were found in the waters about the town of Mangasea on

the Turuchan; and Von Middendorf notes that they were found in the

Tunguska River, which flows into the Yenisei. Whether, however, they

come from the _Unio margaritifera_ is considered doubtful by Von

Middendorf. Witsen referred to their occurrence in the rivers and

streams of Irkutsk and Onon, and this is confirmed by several writers of

more recent times. Pallas says that the mussels found there are quite

large, and speaks of the Ilim, which flows into the Angara, as another

river where they occur.

Ancient books relating to Japan repeatedly allude to the occurrence of

pearls on the coasts of that country. They are mentioned in the Nihonki,

of the eighth century, the oldest Japanese history.

Tavernier wrote about 1670: “It is possible that of those who have

written before me concerning pearls, none have recorded that some years

back a fishery was discovered in a certain part of the coasts of Japan,

and I have seen some of the pearls which the Dutch brought from thence.

They were of very beautiful water, and some of them of large size, but

all baroques. The Japanese do not esteem pearls. If they cared about

them it is possible that by their means some banks might be discovered

where finer ones would be obtained.”[176]

In 1727, Kaempfer wrote that pearls, called by the Japanese _kainotamma_

or shell jewels, were found in oysters and other mollusks almost

everywhere about Saikokf. Every person was at liberty to fish for them.

Formerly the natives had little or no value for them, till they learned

of their estimation by the Chinese, who were ready to pay good prices

for them, their women being very proud of wearing necklaces and other

ornaments of pearls. “The largest and finest pearls are found in the

small sort of oysters, called _akoja_, which is not unlike the Persian

pearl-oyster. These are found only in the seas about Satzuma and in the

Gulf of Omura (Kiusiu). Some of the pearls weigh from four to five

candareens[177] and these are sold for a hundred kobans each.[178] The

inhabitants of the Loochoo Islands buy most of those about Satzuma,

since they trade to that province. Those found on the Gulf of Omura are

sold chiefly to the Chinese and Tunquinese, and it is computed that they

buy for about 3000 taels[179] a year. This great profit occasioned the

strict orders, which were made not long ago by the princes both of

Satzuma and Omura, that for the future there should be no more of these

oysters sold in the market with other oysters, as had been done

formerly.”[180]

Kaempfer also noted that the Japanese obtained pearls from the yellow

snail shell and from the _taira gai_ (Placuna) in the Gulf of Arima, and

especially from the awabi or abalone (Haliotis). This mollusk was much

sought after for food, being taken in large quantities by the

fishermen’s wives, “they being the best divers of the country.”[181]

Of the several species of pearl-oysters which occur in the coastal

waters of Japan, the only one of importance at present is the

_Margaritifera martensi_. While this occurs in very many localities, it

is most numerous among the southern islands, where some fine pearls have

been secured. The fishery for this species was quite extensive thirty or

forty years ago, and the reefs were largely depleted. For nearly a score

of years it has been used in growing culture pearls, an account of which

is given on pages 292, 293.

A few pearls are obtained from several other bivalve mollusks in Japan.

Among the collections of the present writers are pearls from

_Margaritifera martensi_, collected at Bay Agu; from _M. panasisæ_,

about the Liu-kiu Islands; from _Pecten yezocusis_, in Sokhaido; from

_Mytilus crasitesta_, in the Inland Sea, and from North Japan, and from

a species of Dipsas found in Lake Biwa.

While the pearl fisheries of Japan are not of great importance in any

single locality, the distribution of the reefs is so extensive that the

aggregate yield is considerable.

The awabi or ear-shell (_Haliotis gigantea_), found on the coast of

Japan, Korea, etc., yields many pearly forms. This species is much

smaller than the California abalones. It has a fairly smooth, nacreous

surface, but its value is depreciated by the great size of the marginal

perforations, which render useless for commercial purposes all of the

shell external to the line of perforations. While its opalescent tints

make it desirable for manufacturing into certain styles of buttons and

buckles, its principal use is for inlaying work or marquetry, for which

it is especially adapted, owing to its fineness of texture and beauty of

coloring even when reduced to thin sheets.

[Illustration:

FISHING FOR THE AWABI (ABALONE) SHELLS AT WADA-NO-HARA, JAPAN

]

Probably the most interesting of the abalone fisheries is that on the

shores of Quelpaerd Island, about sixty miles south of the Korean coast,

which is prosecuted largely by the women. Dressed only in a scanty

garment, these women swim out to the fishing grounds, distant several

hundred yards in some cases, carrying with them a stout knife and a

small sack suspended from a gourd. On reaching the reefs, they dive to

the bottom—sometimes to a depth of six or eight fathoms—and by means of

the knife, remove the abalones from the bottom and place them in the

sack. They may remain out an hour, diving repeatedly until the sack is

filled, when they swim back to the shore. Pearls are found only rarely;

in one lot of one hundred shells, only five were found bearing pearls;

two with three pearls each, two with two pearls each, and one with a

single pearl. The flesh of this mollusk after it has been cleaned and

dried, is quite popular as an article of diet. Although white when

fresh, the color changes to a dark red. The pieces of dried flesh, in

the form of flat reddish disks four or five inches in diameter, are

fastened on slender sticks—about ten to each stick—and displayed in the

grocery shops in Seul and other cities.

In the Gulf of Siam on the Asiatic coast, pearls are obtained from a

small oyster with a thin shell, presumably a variety of the Lingah

oyster. The beds have not yet been thoroughly exploited, as the Siamese

do not especially value pearls, attributing some superstitious

sentiments of ill luck to them. However, from time to time Chinese

traders have bought them from the Malay divers and sold them at great

profit in the Singapore market. The known beds occur chiefly in the

northern part of the gulf, on the west coast, and extend in a narrow

belt for a distance of about one hundred miles. The fishing is

prosecuted by nude divers in shallow water. A recent letter from Dr. K.

Van Dort, a mining engineer of Bangkok, Siam, states that in 1906 in six

weeks, with the aid of half a dozen divers he was able to collect 720

grains’ weight of pearls, mostly small ones, but including one of 20

grains, one of 14 grains, two of 12 grains each, and seven over 9 grains

in weight. He reports that the total value of the large ones in Bangkok

was $1500, but the small ones could not be sold to any advantage, as

they are little prized by the Siamese. The shells are of no commercial

value, as they are too thin for industrial use other than for inlaid

work. Some fine old specimens of marquetry in which these shells were

used exist in the Buddhist temples at Bangkok. This art of inlaying is

almost lost among the Siamese, and there is said to be only one man in

the king’s palace who can lay any claims to proficiency in working

mother-of-pearl shell.

VII

PEARLS FROM THE AFRICAN COASTS

VII

EAST AFRICAN PEARL FISHERIES

The Islanders with fleecy curls,

Whose homes are compass’d by the Arabian waves;

By whom those shells which breed the orient pearls

Are dived and fish’d for in their green sea caves.

TASSO, _Jerusalem Delivered_.

The principal pearl fisheries of the coasts of Africa are those

prosecuted in the Red Sea, between this continent and Asia. These have

already been described in the preceding chapter, among the Asiatic

fisheries; for, although situated between the two continents, they are

prosecuted largely by Arabs rather than by natives of the western shores

of the sea.

Other than those in the Red Sea, the only pearl resources in Africa

which have received attention are on the eastern coast, south of the

Gulf of Aden. Little information exists as to the origin of these

fisheries. In a paper published by the Lisbon Geographical Society,

January, 1903, Señor Ivens Ferranz states that, according to tradition,

in remote times the Ibo Archipelago, on the northeast coast of

Portuguese East Africa, was inhabited by a Semitic colony, which located

there to fish for pearls, and these were carried through the Red Sea to

King Solomon. He adds that there is little doubt that, after the great

emigration which started from the Persian Gulf in 982 and founded

Zanzibar, Kilwa, and Sofala on this coast, some Arabs engaged in fishing

for pearls about the islands near Sofala.

In 1609 Joao dos Santos wrote that on the sandy sea bottom about the

Bazaruto Islands, which are about 150 miles south of Sofala, there were

many large oysters which bore pearls, and the natives fished for them by

diving in practically the same manner as in the Persian Gulf.[182]

In a personal memorandum, Sir Robert Edgcumbe states that in the very

early times of Portuguese exploitation on the eastern coast of Africa,

pearl fishing was carried on in these waters. For a long period the

tenure of power exerted by the Portuguese was of a feeble character;

they practically occupied no position of importance on the mainland, but

seized upon stations on the islands which offered decent harbors. Thus

their chief settlements, such as Mozambique and Ibo, were on islands

lying off the coast, and until recent years they made no serious attempt

to occupy the mainland.

Arabs and Banyans carried on the commercial traffic of the country, as

they still do, and they were more truly the masters of this coast than

were the Portuguese, who were little more than nominal rulers. Trading

to and from India in their small dhows, the Arabs and Banyans had full

knowledge of the value of pearls, and undoubtedly secured all that were

obtainable. But they observed no restrictions, and without doubt—for a

time, at any rate—greatly impaired the productive power of the

fisheries.

The principal pearl reefs of East Africa, so far as known at present,

extend along the coast of the German East African territory from the

Province of Uzaramo to the Rovuma River, the southern limit of that

territory, and also into Portuguese East Africa as far south as Pemba

Bay, a total distance of about 300 miles. Along much of this coast,

there are islands lying from one to two miles off shore, and between

these islands are barriers of reefs, which create a series of lagoons.

In these lagoons, protected by the islands and the reefs from the

influence of the surf formed by the Indian monsoons, there are large

patches of coral rock and groups of living coral, which form excellent

attachments for the pearl-oysters.

It is only recently that serious attention has been paid to these pearl

resources, although year by year a considerable number of pearls have

been collected by the natives and sold to Arabs and Banyans, who have

sent them chiefly to India by way of Zanzibar. The natives of these

parts are not very expert in diving, and they collect the oysters

principally by wading out as far as they can at low tide. They do not

wait for the mollusks to attain a proper age, and as a result they find

few pearls of large size. Many parcels of pearls fished in this very

elementary way pass through the custom-house, where they are subject to

a small duty for export, and others are smuggled out of the country.

Quantities of seed-pearls are sent to India, where they are used

principally as a medicine and in cosmetics; and occasionally there are

rumors that some choice pearls have been discovered.

In the German territory a concession of the fisheries was granted a few

years ago to Dr. Aurel Schulz; and, although we are not in position to

say what success he has met with, it is reported that he has secured a

considerable number of pearls under four grains in weight, of fair shape

and quality and of good marketable value.

A concession of the pearl fishery on the Portuguese coast north of Ibo

has been granted to the East African Pearl Company. For this company an

examination of the resources is now being made by Mr. James J. Simpson,

acting under direction of Prof. W. A. Herdman, of the Liverpool

University, the technical advisor of the Ceylon Company of Pearl

Fishers.

At least four species of pearl-bearing mollusks exist here; these are

_Margaritifera vulgaris_, _M. margaritifera_, _Pinna nobilis_, and a

species of Perna, named in the order of their importance. A preliminary

report of Mr. Simpson (supplied through the courtesy of Sir Robert

Edgcumbe), states that among the Ibo Islands about one half of the

bottom is sandy and the other half is covered with detached pieces of

coral rock, groups of living corals, masses of nullipore, and expanses

of fixed seaweed. On all of these in the shoal waters, there is such an

abundance of pearl-oysters (_M. vulgaris_) that a single diver, by

simply descending and bringing up a few in his hands each time, can

secure about 200 in fifteen minutes. Oysters also occur singly on the

sandy bottom, but not so abundantly. Within the three-year-old oysters

there are many seed-pearls. It is evident that there has been an

extensive removal of large oysters in recent years and that large pearls

were then found; but the depredations of the natives now prevent the

mollusks from attaining an age and size which render them useful as

pearl-bearers.

Said Mr. Simpson in his report: “The women here play great havoc on the

reefs by going out daily and collecting the pearl-oysters at low tide.

All along the coast from Muliga Point to Arimba the shores are covered

with shells. At one place we came across a heap of freshly-opened

oysters which consisted of thirty or forty thousand at the lowest

estimate; while an older heap contained between forty to sixty millions.

Four women who were fishing on the reefs while we were there had over

two thousand oysters in their baskets. Thus it is evident that immense

quantities are annually destroyed. And the worst feature is that out of

those destroyed, not one per cent. were over two years old.”

It is the intention of the East African Pearl Company, as soon as the

investigation of the resources is completed, to police the fishing

grounds so as to put an end to the removal of immature oysters, which

yield only seed-pearls, and to permit them to attain maturity. In

addition to this, it is their purpose to utilize the extensive beds of

oysters lying in comparatively deep water, which are now inaccessible to

the natives owing to their lack of diving skill.

Sir Robert Edgcumbe writes that it is impossible to say more at present

than that these fisheries at one time bore a high repute, and that the

oysters have continued to exist in multitudes though fished by the

natives in the immature state; and there is every indication that if

properly policed and worked in a scientific way these fisheries should

once again become of much importance. The fact that the pearl-bearing

oysters are found there in large quantities, notwithstanding that they

have been poached without restriction by the natives, indicates that

only proper management and policing are necessary to make them valuable

and productive.

On the lower coast of Portuguese East Africa, pearl fishing has been of

some local importance. The reefs are most extensive about the Bazaruto

Islands, previously referred to as about 150 miles south of Sofala. In

1888, when famine prevailed on this coast, the inhabitants of this

archipelago, of both sexes and of all ages, fished for the large

pearl-oysters (known locally as _mapalo_), selling their catch at

Chiloane to Asiatic traders, who gave them a handful of rice for a large

basket of the mollusks. It was estimated that during two months of that

year, pearls to the value of eighty _contos_ ($83,500) were taken.[183]

In 1889 three British subjects attempted to renew the fishery by using

dredges, but without success, owing, it is said, to the great weight of

the implements.

The Kafirs of Bazaruto continue to fish irregularly, but their catch is

not of importance. These pearls are carried by traders to Zanzibar,

Muscat, and Bombay. The American consul writes that some years ago the

Portuguese government granted a concession to a company of American

fishermen to exploit the Bazaruto reefs, but the attempt to work the

concession failed through “bad management, lack of funds, heavy

expenses, and political difficulties,” a combination apparently

sufficient to wreck a similar attempt in the most favorable locality.

The American consul at Tamatave states that in 1907 the government of

Madagascar awarded two grants for pearl fisheries, covering the entire

western coast, a distance of one thousand miles, excepting two hundred

miles, for which two grants were given in 1906. Apparently no effort was

made to develop the earlier grants; the later ones may be operated,

perhaps jointly. These concessions are personal, and may not be sold or

transferred without the governor-general’s consent. The use of divers,

machinery, dredges, and other apparatus, and the building of necessary

stations are allowed, if there be no interference with navigation,

fishing, or coast travel. An annual tax is to be paid, with a stated

increase each year, and revised according to the success of the

enterprise. A report must be sent yearly to the governor-general. The

grants may be revoked if work is not begun within a stated period; if

the work is needlessly abandoned during one year, or if the tax is not

paid. Whenever the interests of the colony or of the public service

require it, the privilege may be withdrawn without indemnity.

VIII

EUROPEAN PEARL FISHERIES

THE BRITISH ISLES, THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE

VIII

PEARL FISHERIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES

And Britain’s ancient shores great pearls produce.

MARBODUS (_circa_ 1070).

The occurrence of pearls in the British Isles was known two thousand

years ago, and frequent references to them were made in Roman writings

of the first and second centuries of the Christian era.

In his “Lives of the Cæsars,” the biographer Suetonius, after speaking

of the admiration which Julius Cæsar had for pearls, states that their

occurrence in Britain was an important factor in inducing the first

Roman invasion of that country in 55 B.C.[184] If this be true, the

English-speaking people owe a vast debt of gratitude to these pearls in

bringing their Briton ancestors in contact with Roman civilization; and

the influence which they have thus exercised on the world’s history has

been greater than that of the pearls from all other regions or, we might

add, than all other jewels.

The naturalist Pliny (23–79) stated: “In Brittaine it is certain that

some do grow; but they bee small, dim of colour, and nothing orient. For

Julius Cæsar (late Emperor of famous memorie) doth not dissimble, that

the cuirace or breastplate which he dedicated to Venus mother within her

temple was made of English pearles.”[185]

This decoration of pearls was a very proper offering to the goddess who

arose from the sea.

The historian Tacitus noted in “Vita Agricolæ” that the pearls from

Britain were dusky or brownish (_subfusca ac liventia_).[186] In his

commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen (185–253), one of the

Greek fathers of the church, described the British pearls as next in

value to the Indian. Their surface, he stated, was of a golden color,

but they were cloudy and less transparent than those from India.

We have no certain information whether the pearls secured by the Romans

were from the edible mussel (_Mytilus edulis_) of the sea-coast or from

the Unios of the fresh-water streams. Tacitus’s statement that they were

collected “as the sea throws them up,” seems to locate them on the

sea-coast; but conditions in modern times make it appear more probable

that they were from the fresh waters.

Some of the very early coins of the country indicate that pearls were

used to ornament the imperial diadem of the sovereigns of ancient

Britain. In “Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,” the celebrated

English monk, Bede (673–735) surnamed “The Venerable,” enumerated among

other things for which Britain was famous in his day, “many sorts of

shell-fish, among which are mussels, in which are often found excellent

pearls of all colours; red, purple, violet and green, but mostly

white.”[187] And Marbodus, Bishop of Rennes, in his lapidarium, written

about 1070, refers to the British pearls as equaling those of Persia and

India. About 1094 a present of an Irish pearl was made to Anselm,

Archbishop of Canterbury, by Gilbert, Bishop of Limerick.[188]

In the twelfth century there was a market for Scotch pearls in Europe,

but they were less valued than those from the Orient.[189] An ordinance

of John II, King of France, in August, 1355, which confirmed the old

statutes and privileges of goldsmiths and jewelers, expressly forbade

mounting Scotch and oriental pearls together in the same article, except

in ecclesiastical jewelry (Orfèvre ne peut mettre en œuvre d’or ne

argent parles d’Ecosse avec parles d’orient se ce n’est en grands

joyaulx d’église).[190]

Writing in the sixteenth century, the historian William Camden

(1551–1623) stated in his “Britannia”:

[Illustration:

OLD PRINT SHOWING FOUR METHODS OF CATCHING PEARL-BEARING MOLLUSKS

Reproduced from “Margaritologia, sive Dissertatio de Margaritis,” by

Malachias Geiger, Monachii, 1637

]

The British and Irish Pearls are found in a large black Muscle....

They are peculiar to rapid and stony rivers; and are common in

Wales, and in the North of England, and in Scotland, and some parts

of Ireland. In this country they are called by the vulgar _Kregin

Diliw_, i.e. Deluge shells; as if Nature had not intended the shells

for the rivers; but being brought thither by the Universal Deluge,

they had continued there, and so propagated their kind ever since.

Those who fish here for Pearls, know partly by the outside of these

Muscles, whether they contain any; for generally such as have them

are a little contracted or distorted from their usual shape. A

curious and accomplished Gentleman, lately of these parts, showed me

a valuable Collection of the Pearls of the Conway River in Wales;

amongst which I noted a stool-pearl [button-pearl], weighing

seventeen grains, and distinguished on the convex side with a fair

round spot of a Cornelian colour, exactly in the center.[191]

In 1560 “large handsome pearls” were sent from Scotland to Antwerp.[192]

In 1620 a great pearl was found in the Kellie Burn, in Aberdeenshire.

This was carried to King James by the provost, who was rewarded with

“twelve to fourdeen chalder of victuals about Dunfermline, and the

Customs of Merchants’ goods in Aberdeen during his life.” No record

appears of the reward paid to the finder; possibly it was not worth

recording.

In 1621 the Privy Council of Scotland issued a proclamation that pearls

found within the realm belonged to the Crown; and conservators of the

pearl fisheries were appointed in several of the counties, including

Aberdeen, Ross, and Sutherland. It was the duty of the conservators,

among other things, to nominate experts to fish for pearls during July

and August, “when they are at chief perfection.” The conservators and

fishermen were compensated by selling those pearls of ordinary quality,

but “the best for bignesse and colour” were to be remitted to the king.

It was reported to the Privy Council that the conservator in

Aberdeenshire did very well in the first year. “He hath not only taken

divers pearls of good value, but hath found some in waters where none

were expected.” The first parliament of Charles I abolished these

privileges.

Robert Sibbald, physician to Charles II, wrote that he had seen a

necklace of Scotch pearls which was valued at two thousand crowns; they

were “larger than peas, perfectly round, and of a brilliant

whiteness.”[193]

It is said that Sir Richard Wynne of Gwydir presented to Catherine of

Braganza, queen of Charles II of England, a pearl from the Conway in

Wales, which is said to be even yet retained in the royal crown. In his

“Faerie Queene” (1590), Spenser speaks of the

Conway, which out of his streame doth send

Plenty of pearles to deck his dames withal.

The White Cart River in Scotland, on which the city of Paisley is

situated, was distinguished, according to Camden, “for the largeness and

the fineness of the Pearls that are frequently found hereabouts and

three miles above.”[194] And the pearls from Irton in Cumberland,

England, were so noted at that time that “fair as Irton pearls” became a

byword in the north country. In their history of Westmoreland and

Cumberland,[195] Nicolson and Burn state that “Mr. Thomas Patrickson,

late of How of this county (Cumberland), having employed divers poor

inhabitants to gather these pearls, obtained such a quantity as he sold

to the jewellers in London for above £800.” But in 1794 Hutchinson[196]

stated that none had been seen for many years past.

Pearl fishing in Ireland was of some consequence in the seventeenth

century. Speaking of the Slaney River, Solomon Richards, in a

description of Wexford about the year 1656, said: “It ought to precede

all the rivers in Ireland for its pearle fishing, which though not

abundant are yet excellent, for muscles are daily taken out of it about

fowre, five and six inches long, in which are often found pearles, for

lustre, magnitude and rotundity not inferior to oriental or any other in

the world.”[197] In 1693 Sir Robert Redding wrote that there were four

rivers in the county of Tyrone in northern Ireland which abounded in

pearl-mussels, all four emptying into Lough Foyle and thence into the

sea. They were also to be found in several rivers in the adjacent

Donegal County. Redding gave an interesting description of the fishery:

In the warm months before harvest is ripe, whilst the rivers are low

and clear, the poor people go into the water and take them up, some

with their toes, some with wooden tongs, and some by putting a

sharpened stick into the opening of the shell; and although by

common estimate not above one shell in a hundred may have a pearl,

and of these pearls not above one in a hundred be tolerably clear,

yet a vast number of fair merchantable pearls, and too good for the

apothecary, are offered to sale by those people every summer assize.

Some gentlemen of the country make good advantage thereof, and I

myself, whilst there, saw a pearl bought for £2, 10s. that weighed

36 carats, and was valued at £40, and had it been as clear as some

others produced therewith it would certainly have been very

valuable. Everybody abounds with stories of the good pennyworths of

the country, but I will add but one more. A miller took a pearl,

which he sold for £4, 10s. to a man that sold it for £10 to another,

who sold it to the late Lady Glenanly for £30, with whom I saw it in

a necklace; she refused £80 for it from the late Duchess of Ormond.

The young muscles never have any pearl in them. The shells that have

the best pearls are wrinkled, twisted, or bunched, and not smooth

and equal, as those that have none. And the crafty fellows will

guess so well by the shell, that though you watch them never so

carefully, they will open such shells under the water, and put the

pearls in their mouths, or otherwise conceal them. Yet sometimes

when they have been taking up shells, and believing by such signs as

I have mentioned, that they were sure of good purchase, and refused

good sums for their shares, they found no pearl at all in them. Upon

discourse with an old man that had been long at this trade, he

advised me to seek not only when the waters were low, but on a

dusky, gloomy day also, lest, said he, the fish see you, for then he

will shed his pearl in the sand; of which I believe no more than

that some muscles have voided their pearls, and such are often found

in the sands.[198]

[Illustration]

MADAME NORISCHKINE DUCHESSE ELIZABETH DAUGHTER OF GENERAL SOBELIEFF

NÉE STRAUDMAN (CONSTANTIN) FIRST COUNTESS BEAUHARNAIS

For several years following 1760, the Scotch pearl fisheries were of

considerable local value. The zoölogist, Thomas Pennant, wrote of them

several times in his “Tour of Scotland.” Referring to the Tay and Isla

rivers, then as now the center of the Scotch pearling, he states: “There

has been in these parts a very great fishery of pearl, got out of the

fresh-water muscles. From the year 1761 to 1764, £10,000 worth were sent

to London, and sold from 10s. to £1 6s. per ounce. I was told that a

pearl had been taken there that weighed 33 grains. But this fishery is

at present exhausted, from the avarice of the undertakers. It once

extended as far as Loch Tay.”[199] And he adds later that, some years

preceding, a pearl fishery was prosecuted in Loch Dochart with great

success and the pearls were esteemed the fairest and largest of any.

From 1770 to 1860 the pearl resources of Scotland remained almost

dormant, and Scotch pearls were rarely met with in the markets. In 1861

a German merchant, who was acquainted with the beauty of these gems,

traveled through the districts of Tay, Doon and Don, obtaining a great

number which the poor people kept for their own pleasure, not esteeming

them of any market value, and interested the fishermen in searching for

the mussels. The seemingly high prices which he paid and the abundance

of the pearls sent hundreds of persons to the rivers and small brooks.

Those who were otherwise employed during the day devoted hours of the

long summer nights to diligent search after the coveted shells; while

boys and old persons, who were without regular avocations, waded day

after day where there was a probability of reward. In the course of a

short time pearls, good, bad and indifferent, reached the originator of

the movement at Edinburgh, from Ayrshire, from Perthshire, and from the

Highland regions far beyond the Grampians. He was soon the possessor of

a collection which, for richness and variety, had seldom been surpassed.

A trade in these gems was developed, the patronage of royalty was

obtained, and once more Scotch pearls became fashionable, and their

vogue was enhanced by the fondness which Queen Victoria entertained for

them.

In addition to the rivers named, pearls were found in the Forth, the

Teith, the Ythan, and the Spey in eastern Scotland. The summer of 1862

was most favorable for pearling, owing to the dryness of the season and

the low water, and unusually large quantities of pearls were found, the

prices ranging ordinarily from 10s. to £2 6s. Queen Victoria is said to

have purchased one for forty guineas; others were bought by Empress

Eugénie and by the Duchess of Hamilton. A necklace of them was sold for

£350 in 1863.[200] The value of the entire catch in Scotland in 1864 was

estimated at £12,000 to the fishermen, the yield being unusually large

in that season owing to the unprecedented drought which permitted access

to the deep beds of the rivers. In some of the streams the resources

were quickly depleted, but in others the fisheries yielded profitable

returns for many years. While most of the pearls were small, some of

them were choice and of considerable individual value, ranging from £5

to £150, and £500 is said to have been paid for one fine specimen.

The pearl-mussel of the British Isles (_Unio margaritifera_) has a

thick, coarse and unsightly shell, from 3 to 7 inches in width and 1½ to

2½ inches in length from the umbo to the lip. The rough exterior is dark

brown, and it is sometimes twisted, distorted and barnacled.

It generally lies scattered and detached over the pebbly bottoms, but it

also exists in reefs or beds which are sometimes of considerable extent.

These occur usually where a stretch of water is still and deep, and

oftentimes where the depth places the mussels beyond the reach of the

fishermen. Apart from the pearls it contains, the mussel is of no

economic value except that in some localities the mollusk is used for

bait in cod-fishing.

In recent years the pearl-mussel has been numerous in several of the

rivers of Scotland, such as the Tay, Earn, and Teith in Perthshire; the

Dee, the Don, and the Ythan in Aberdeenshire; the Spey and Findhorn in

Inverness-shire, and also the classic Doon of Burns, the Nith, the Annan

and others in southern Scotland; however, it is rare in the Clyde and

the Tweed.

The Teith has long been famed for pearl-bearing, though like other

rivers it has become nearly fished out. The Tay produces many pearls,

yet as a rule they are not of the best class. Some of its tributaries,

as the Tummel and the Isla, also bear pearls; those in the Isla are

usually fine and rank higher than those from the Tay. The Earn is also

famous for the fine quality of its pearls, but the whole river was

robbed of its wealth some years ago by a body of professional fishermen,

and it has not yet recovered from the raid; few pearls now exist there

save in the deeper pools, where doubtless may still be hid “full many a

gem of purest ray serene.”

In Ireland pearls have been found principally in the rivers of counties

Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone, Antrum, etc. In an article in “The Field,”

December 10, 1864, Mr. F. T. Buckland stated that they abound near

Oughterard, and that a man called “Jemmy the Pearl-catcher,” who lived

there, told him that he knew when a mussel had a pearl in it even

without opening the shell, because “she [the mussel] sits upright with

her mouth in the mud, and her back is crooked,” that is, corrugated like

a ram’s horn. Pearls are yet found in several localities in the Emerald

Isle, notably in the river Bann in the northeastern part and in the

beautiful Connemara district in western Ireland. In 1892 the Bann

yielded one of the choicest pearls that ever came from Ireland. Within

the last twelve months Lady Dudley, wife of the Viceroy of Ireland,

presented to Queen Alexandra a number of pearls from the Connemara.

These were mounted in a green enameled brooch, and excited so much

admiration that an active demand for similar gems quickly developed in

County Galway.

Mr. D. MacGregor, a well-known jeweler of Perth, to whom we are indebted

for much information relative to pearls in Scotland, states that no

attention whatever is given to conserving the mussel; on the contrary,

the waters are unscrupulously despoiled by the greedy pearl fisherman

who destroys all that he finds, since, by chance, they may yield the

coveted gem. Immense numbers are thus wantonly destroyed, which if

allowed to grow and propagate would be more likely to contribute to the

pearl yield, as it is well known that it is the aged mussels in which a

pearl is most likely to be found. There is no close time, and so

extensive have been the raids upon the mussels in recent years that they

have been rapidly exterminated in places accessible to the fishermen;

and should the spoliation continue and extend to the deep waters, the

pearl-mussel may soon become extinct.

Pearl fishing is not prosecuted throughout the year, as it can be

carried on only in the dry season when the waters are low. There are a

number of professional fishermen who search in their favorite streams,

and sometimes very profitably, as much as £200 having been gained in a

single season by one fisherman. One of the most noted of these was

“Pearl Johnnie,” who a few years ago hailed from Compar-Angus, in

Perthshire, and who styled himself “Pearl Fisher to the Prince of

Wales,” by reason of some dealings he once had with his Royal Highness.

He was very successful in his experience of more than thirty years.

There is little mystery in the search; skill does not always avail, and

men, women and children are rewarded or disappointed indiscriminately.

The bed of the stream is searched until the patches of mussels are

discovered, and this is usually the most tedious part of the work. These

may be in very shoal water, where a small boy has only to wade with

water above his knees and pick up the mussels by stooping; but more

frequently the water covers a man’s hips, and at times he is immersed

almost to the shoulders.

The equipment of a pearl fisherman is simple. If he wades, he commonly

wears long boots with tops reaching to his breast. Provided with a pole

five or six feet long having a cleft at the lower end, and with a tube

several inches in diameter with the lower end closed by a glass, he

invades the home of the pearl-mussel. Thrusting the tube or water glass

beneath the surface, he scans the bed of the stream, and when a mussel

is sighted, the cleft pole is brought into use and it is picked up by

means of these primitive tongs. Owing to the close resemblance which the

pearl-mussel bears to the stones in the riverbed, good eyesight is

required to avoid overlooking it. A bag by the fisher’s side receives

the catch; and when this is well filled, he goes to the bank of the

stream and opens his lottery, in the great majority of cases to find

that he has drawn a blank.

A boat is seldom used, simply because it is not available, but in the

tidal waters it is indispensable. The “box” is a risky device for

fishing in the deeper waters. It is a small contrivance, somewhat like

the ancient British coracle, in which the fisherman sits or lies over on

his chest; venturing out in the deeper parts which can not be waded, he

carefully peers through the tube and draws up his find with the long

cleft stick. This is a tiresome method, but some places can not be

readily fished in any other manner.

In Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, etc., there are a few men who regularly

spend the season “at the pearls.” The knowing ones dispose of their best

finds to wealthy residents or to strangers and tourists who frequent the

vicinity. In addition to these experienced fishermen, many of the idlers

and unemployed about the riverside towns, and also the farm servants in

the country, search the waters in their neighborhood in the hope of

picking up some gems. But very often it is severe and disappointing

labor, for the pearl-seeker may travel far and endure privation and

hardships for days, and yet, after destroying hundreds and even

thousands of mussels, he may be rewarded with only a little almost

worthless dross; but again and again he returns to the elusive game,

inspired by the “hope which springs eternal in the human breast.”

[Illustration:

The Valley of the Tay

]

[Illustration:

The River Earn

Photographs by The Raeburn Portrait Studio, Perth, Scotland

SCOTCH PEARL RIVERS

]

The British pearls are in great variety of colors, but most of them are

practically valueless on account of the absence of orient or luster; for

one possessing the white pearly luster, fifty may be found of a dull

color and devoid of value. Many of these opaque pearls are dark,

lusterless brown, and handfuls of them sell for only a few shillings. A

large percentage are of a grayish or milky color, or of a bluish white

tinge; these seldom attain much value unless aided by excellence of

shape and purity of skin. A few are of a dark, fiery tint and of great

luster. Sometimes the pearl is of a beautiful pink tint, sometimes of a

light violet, or other exquisite shade. The fine pink ones are very rare

and are highly prized. The best are those having the sweet, pure white

light which constitutes the inimitable loveliness of a pearl; but few of

them are found even in the most favorable seasons, and usually these are

from the streams in the northeastern counties and some of the streams in

the southwest. Very few combine the qualities of perfection in shape and

luster; and the product of many seasons might be examined in vain to

furnish enough pearls to make a well-matched necklace of gems weighing

from five to ten grains each. But occasionally beautiful specimens are

discovered, weighing fifteen or twenty grains or more. One found in

Aberdeenshire a few years ago, perfect in shape and luster, weighed

twenty-five grains, and sold at first hand for £50. Another one, found

at the confluence of the Almond and the Tay in 1865, weighed thirty

grains.

While most of these pearls are sold to jewelers in Edinburgh, Aberdeen,

Inverness, Perth, and other towns, many of the finest specimens have

gone into the possession of prominent Scotch and English families, who

have a fancy for collecting them. Queen Victoria possessed a fine

collection of Scotch pearls, choice specimens of many years’ search,

obtained almost exclusively from the Aberdeenshire waters which murmur

round her beautiful Highland home. In 1907, a Scotch pearl was sold in

Perth for the sum of £80; this was of a good luster with a bluish tint,

it was spherical, measured seven sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and

weighed twenty-one grains.

The falling off in the yield of pearls in some streams is credited to a

certain extent to the building of bridges and the consequent abandonment

of fords. This is based on the theory that injury to the mollusk has

something to do with the production of pearls, and that they are to be

found more plentiful about fords and places where cattle drink. The

theory is beautifully stated by the lamented Hugh Miller: “I found

occasion to conclude that the Unio of our river-fords secretes pearls so

much more frequently than the Unionidae and Anadonta of our still pools

and lakes, not from any specific peculiarity in the constitution of the

creature, but from the effects of the habitat which it chooses. It

receives in the fords and shallows of a rapid river many a rough blow

from the sticks and pebbles carried down in time of flood, and

occasionally from the feet of men and animals that cross the stream

during droughts, and the blows induce the morbid secretions, of which

pearls are the result. There seems to exist no inherent cause why

_Anadon cygnea_, with its beautiful silvery nacre—as bright often, and

always more delicate, than that of _Unio margaritiferus_—should not be

equally productive of pearls; but secure from violence in its still

pools and lakes, and unexposed to the circumstances that provoke

abnormal secretions, it does not produce a single pearl for every

hundred that are ripened into value and beauty by the exposed,

current-tossed Unionidae of our rapid mountain rivers. Would that

hardship and suffering bore always in a creature of a greatly higher

family similar results, and that the hard buffets dealt him by fortune

in the rough stream of life could be transmitted, by some blessed

internal pre-disposition of his nature, into pearls of great

price.”[201]

The small blue mussel (_Mytilus edulis_) of the British seas yields

opaque pearls of a deep blue color, but most of them are more or less

white in some part. Sometimes a shell is found in which a blue pearl

will be adhering to the blue lip of the shell while a dull white one

adheres to the white portion of the shell. These pearls are commonly

flattened on one side, doubtless where they have been adjacent to the

shell. None of them is of more than very slight value.

Probably the principal fishery for the salt-water mussel pearls is that

in the estuary of the Conway in Wales. These are mostly quite small and

well answer the designation of seed-pearls, although a few are of fair

size. In color most of them range from dirty white to the dusky or

brownish tint noted by Tacitus eighteen centuries ago, but a few are of

a pure silvery tint. In some seasons London dealers have agents at

Conway for purchasing these pearls. The price is usually from eight to

thirty shillings per ounce.

THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE

Après l’esprit de discernement, ce qu’il y a au monde de plus rare,

ce sont les diamants et les perles.

LA BRUYÈRE, _Les caractères_.

Pearls occur in species of mussels found in the streams and lakes of

Europe, in some of which the fisheries have been of considerable local

interest. It appears that these resources were exploited by the Romans,

then by the Goths and the Lombards, and later the natives continued to

draw forth the treasures which lay hidden about their homes. These

pearls have attracted attention up to the present time; and while they

do not compare with those of the seas, either in quality or in aggregate

value, yet they are prized on account of their intrinsic worth as well

as because they are a product of the fatherland. In the densely

populated valleys, the rivers are so polluted by refuse and sewage that

the mollusks have been greatly depleted; but in the streams of clear,

cool water, draining the mountain regions of France, Germany, Austria,

and also in the rivers of Norway, Sweden, Russia, etc., the fisheries

are not unimportant.

The most celebrated of the pearl fisheries in France are those of the

Vologne, a small river in the extreme eastern part of the country, in

the department of Vosges. Its sources are in Lake Longmere in the Vosges

mountains on the Alsace frontier, and it flows into the Moselle at

Jarmenil, between Remiremont and Épinal. While the pearl-mussel occurs

to some extent in nearly the whole length of this river, and, indeed, is

to be met with in the wild brooks and forest streams of nearly all the

mountainous parts of France, it is most abundant in the vicinity of

Bruyères, where the Vologne receives the waters of the Neuré. These

resources were described in 1845 by Ernest Puton,[202] and in 1869 by D.

A. Godron;[203] to whom—and especially to Godron—we are indebted for

much of our information.

The fisheries of the Vologne have been celebrated for nearly four

centuries. Writing in 1530, Volcyr stated: “In the river Vologne between

Arche and Bruyères, near the ancient castle of Perle, beautiful pearls

are found. In the opinion of jewelers and artists they closely resemble

the oriental.”[204] A few years later Francis Reues wrote: “There is

near the Vosges mountains in Lorraine a river fertile in pearls, yet

they are not very brilliant. The strange thing is that the quality which

they lack by nature is supplied by the aid of pigeons, which swallow

them and restore them purer than before.”[205] In a publication of 1609,

this little river is represented in the frontispiece by the figure of a

nymph bearing many pearls, while beneath is the emblem: _Vologna

margaritifera suas margaritas ostentat_.[206]

In his paper above noted, Godron recites several orders issued from 1616

to 1619 by the Duke of Lorraine, who then had jurisdiction over the

present department of Vosges, showing that a high value was attached to

these pearls and that the resources were well looked after. Writing in

1699, Dr. Martin Lister alluded to the many pearls taken from the rivers

about Lorraine and Sedan. A Paris merchant showed him a fresh-water

pearl of 23 grains, valued at £400, and assured him that he had seen

some weighing 60 grains each.[207]

In 1779 Durival gave an extensive account[208] of the Vologne fishery.

He records that for sixty years pearls had been abundant, but at the

time he wrote they were very scarce.

Puton states that, in 1806, when taking the baths at Plombières in the

Vosges, Empress Josephine formed a great liking for the Vologne pearls,

and at her request some of the mussels were sent to stock the ponds at

Malmaison. It does not appear that any favorable result followed this

transplanting.

Owing to the extensive fisheries, the mussels became so scarce that in

1826, when the Duchesse d’Angoulême was visiting in the Vosges, it was

impossible to secure enough pearls to form a bracelet for her. This

scarcity has continued up to the present time; and yet in the aggregate

many pearls have been secured, so that there are few prominent families

in the neighborhood who do not possess some of them. They are especially

prized as bridal presents to Vosges maidens.

While the Vologne pearls are of good form and of much beauty, they do

not equal oriental pearls in luster. The color is commonly milky white,

but some of them have a pink, yellow, red, or greenish tint. In size

they rarely exceed 4 grains. The Nancy museum of natural history

possesses one which weighs 5¼ grains and measures 6½ mm. in diameter.

In western France, according to Bonnemere,[209] the pearl-mussel is

widely diffused, and in the aggregate many pearls are secured therefrom.

They are somewhat numerous in the river Ille near its union with the

Vilaine at Rennes; though small, these are commonly of good color and

luster. In the department of Morbihan and that of Finistère, many pearls

have been secured, especially in the Steir, the Odet, and in the

Stang-Alla near Quimper. Small pearls, frequently of some value, are

found in the Menech near the town of Lesneven, a few miles northeast of

Brest, the great naval port of France.

[Illustration:

GREAT CAMEO PEARL, ACTUAL SIZE 22 INCHES

Sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1776 for 180,000 florins. Note great

baroque pearl forming body of the swan at the base, diameter 1.37

inches

]

The _Unio sinuatus_ (_pictorum_), the _mulette_ of the artists, which

has a shorter and smaller shell than the pearl-mussel, has also yielded

many small pearls of good quality, as well as shells for manufacturing

purposes. This species has been regularly exploited in the Adour, in the

Charente, in the Gironde and its tributaries—the Garonne and the

Dordogne and their affluents, and in some other streams in western

France.

There is a pearl fishery in the Charente River near the western coast of

France, and likewise in the Seugne, a small tributary entering it from

the south. The mussel is known locally under the name of _palourde_. In

an account of this fishery,[210] Daniel Bellet states that in the

Seugne, where the water is shallow and clear, the mussel is secured by

entering the pointed end of a wooden staff or stick between the valves

of the open shell as the mollusk lies feeding on the bottom; as the

shell is immediately closed tightly upon the intruding stick, it is

easily removed from the water.