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The Dravidians of Southern India were active traders and colo- nists in Ceylon, in opposition to the native Sinhalese, with whom they were in frequent conflict, and in spite of whom they had extended their power effectually over the northwestern coast of Ceylon, the region of the pearl-fisheries.
59. Pearl-fisheries. — These were, as at present, in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Manar. (See under §§ 35, 36, and 56.)
Pliny (IX, 54-8) says that pearls came into general use in Rome after the surrender of Alexandria; but that they first began to be used about the time of Sylla.
“The first rank, and the very highest position among all valu- ables belongs to the pearl. . . . The most productive of pearls is the island of Taprobane.
‘ ‘The origin and production of the shell-fish is not very different from that of the shell of the oyster. When the genial season of the year exercises its influence on the animal, it is said that, yawning, as it were, it opens its shell, and so receives a kind of dew, by means of which it becomes impregnated; and that at length it gives birth, after many struggles, to the burden of its shell, in the shape of pearls, which vary according to the quality of the dew. If this has been in a perfectly pure state when it flowed into the shell, then the pearl pro- duced is white and brilliant, but if it was turbid, then the pearl is of a clouded color also; if the sky should happen to have been lowering when it was generated, the pearl will be of a pallid color; from all which it is quite evident that the quality of the pearl depends much more upon a calm state of the heavens than of the sea, and hence it is that it contracts a cloudy hue, or a limpid appearance, according to the degree of serenity of the sky in the morning. ... It is wonder- ful that they should be influenced thus pleasurably by the state of the heavens, seeing that by the action of the sun the pearls are turned of a red color, and lose all their whiteness, just like the human body. Hence it is that those which keep their whiteness best are the deep- sea pearls, which lie at too great a depth to be reached Ly the sun's rays. I have seen pearls still adhering to the shell; for which reason the shells were used as boxes for ointments.
“The fish, as soon as it even perceives the hand, shuts its shell and covers up its treasures, being well aware that it is for them that it is sought; and if it happens to catch the hand it cuts it off with the sharp edge of the shell. . . . The greater part of these pearls are only to be found among rocks and crags, while, on the other hand, those that lie out in the deep sea are generally accompanied by sea-
