Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/469

PEARL 447 banks lying from 6 to 8 miles off the western shore, a little to the south of the isle of Manaar. The Tinnevelly fishery is on the Madras side of the strait, near Tuticorin. These Indian fishing -grounds are under the control of Govern ment inspectors, who regulate the fisheries, and permit fishing only when they consider the banks to be in a satis factory condition. The oysters yield the best pearls at about four years of age. Fishing, when permitted, gener ally commences in the second week in March, and lasts for from four to six weeks, according to the season. The boats are grouped in fleets of from sixty to seventy, and start usually at midnight so as to reach the oyster-banks at sunrise. Each boat generally carries ten divers. On reaching the bank a signal-gun is fired, and diving com mences. To facilitate the descent of the diver, a stone of granite weighing about 40 Bb is attached to the cord by which he is let down. The divers work in pairs, one man diving while the other watches the signal -cord, drawing up the sink-stone first, then hauling up the baskets of oysters, and finally raising the diver himself. On an average the divers remain under water from fifty to eighty seconds, though some can endure a much longer submergence, and exceptional instances are cited of men remaining below for as long as six minutes. After resting for a minute or two at the surface, the diver descends again ; and so on, until exhausted, when he comes on board and watches the rope, while his comrade relieves him as diver. Using neither diving dress nor bell, the native descends naked, carrying only a girdle for the sup port .of the basket in which he places the pearl-oysters. In his submarine work the diver makes skilful use of his toes for prehensile purposes. To arm himself against the attacks of the sharks and other fishes which infest the Indian waters, he carries spikes of iron wood ; and the genuine Indian diver never descends without the incanta tions of shark -charmers, one of whom accompanies the boat while others remain on shore. Not only is the diver exposed to the danger of attack by sharks, but his exciting calling, in a tropical climate, is necessarily ex hausting, and as a rule he is a short-lived man. The diving continues from sunrise to about noon, when a gun is fired, and the work stopped. On the arrival of the fleet at shore, the divers carry their oysters to a shed, where they are made up into four heaps, one of which is taken by the diver as his remuneration. The oysters are then sold by auction in lots of 1000 each. The pearls, after removal from the dead oysters, are " classed " by passing through a number of small brass cullenders, known as " baskets," the holes in the successive vessels being smaller and smaller. Having been sized in this way, they are sorted as to colour, weighed, and valued. (For the history and production of the Ceylon fishery, see CEYLON, vol. v. p. 364.) Since the days of the Macedonians pearl -fishing has been carried on in the Persian Gulf. It is said that the oyster-beds extend along the entire Arabian coast of the gulf, but the most important are on sandbanks off the islands of Bahrein. According to Colonel Felly s report in 1863, there were 1500 boats belonging to Bahrein alone, and the annual profit from the pearl-fishery was about 400,000. The chief centre of the trade is the port of Lingah. Most of the products of this fishery are known as " Bombay pearls," from the fact that many of the best are sold there. The shells usually present a dark colour about the edges, like that of " smoked pearl." The yellow- tinted pearls are sent chiefly to Bombay, while the whitest go to Baghdad. Very small pearls, much below a pea in size, are generally known as " seed-pearls," and these are valued in India and China as constituents of certain electu aries, while occasionally they are calcined for chunam, or lime, used with betel as a masticatory. There is a small pearl-fishery near Kurrachee on the coast of Bombay. From the time of the Ptolemies pearl-fishing has been prosecuted along the coast of the Red Sea, especially in the neighbourhood of Jiddah and Koseir. This fishery is now insignificant, but the Arabs still obtain from this district a quantity of mother-of-pearl shells, which are shipped from Alexandria, and come into the market as "Egyptians." Very fine pearls are obtained from the Sulu Archipelago, on the north-east of Borneo. The mother-of-pearl shells from the Sulu seas are characterized by a yellow colour on the border and back, which unfits them for many orna mental purposes. Pearl-oysters are also abundant in the seas around the Aru Islands to the south-west of New Guinea. From Labuan a good many pearl-shells are occasionally sent to Singapore. They are also obtained from the neighbourhood of Timor, and from New Caledonia. The pearl-oyster occurs throughout the Pacific, mostly in the clear water of the lagoons within the atolls, though fine shells are also found in deep water outside the coral reefs. The Polynesian divers do not employ sink-stones, and the Avomen are said to be more skilful than the men. They anoint their bodies with oil before diving. Fine pearl-shells are obtained from Navigators Islands, the Society Islands, the Low Archipelago or Paumota Isles, and the Gambier Islands. Many of the Gambier pearls present a bronzy tint. Pearl-fishing is actively prosecuted along the western coast of Central America, especially in the Gulf of California, and to a less extent around the Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama. These pearls are obtained from the Meleagrina californica, Cpr., and the mother-of-pearl shell is known in commerce as " Panama " or " bullock " shell. The fishing-grounds are in water about 40 feet deep, and, the season lasts for four months. An ordinary fishing-party expects to obtain about three tons of shells per day, and it is estimated that one shell in a thousand contains a pearl. The pearls are shipped in barrels from San Francisco and Panama. Some pearls of rare beauty have been obtained from the Bay of Mulege, near Los Coyetes, in the Gulf of California; and in 1882 a pearl of 75 carats, the largest on record from this district, was found near La Paz in California. The coast of Guayaquil also yields pearls. Columbus found that pearl-fishing was carried on in his time in the Gulf of Mexico, and pearls are still obtained from the Caribbean Sea. These are produced chiefly by Melea<jrina squamulosa, Lam. ; and the mother-of-pearl shells are known as " blue-edged " or " black-lipped," these being less valuable than the " silver -lipped" shells of India. In the West Indies the best pearls are obtained from St Thomas and from the island of Margarita, off the coast of Venezuela. From Margarita Philip II. of Spain is said to have obtained in 1579 a famous pearl of 250 carats. Of late years pearl -fishing has been started with con siderable success in the Australian seas. Good pearls are found in Shark s Bay, on the coast of West Australia, especially in an inlet termed Useless Harbour. Mother- of-pearl shells are also fished at many other points along the western coast, between the 15th and 25th parallels of south latitude. An important pearl-fishery is also estab lished in Torres Strait and on the coast of Queensland. The shells occur in water from four to six fathoms deep, and the divers are generally Malays and Papuans, though sometimes native Australians. On the western coast of Australia the pearl-shells are obtained by dredging rather than by diving. Quite recently (1884) pearl-shells have been found at Port Darwin. Pearls have also been found in Oakley Creek, New Zealand. JRii cr-pcarls are produced by the fresh-water mussels inhabiting