Part 9

Consideration of these homes of the pearl oyster shows it to be a tropical fish and that it attains greater dimensions in the Pacific Ocean and near the equator than elsewhere. Beyond 30 degrees north it is found only at two points, the western shore of America and on the Japanese coast. These shores are washed by equatorial currents. The small varieties of the Indian seas and Venezuela, mature rapidly in four to six years, and if not taken they die out after the seventh year. The meleagrina of the Pacific however, though it attains its full size in six to eight years, continues to lay on shell-nacre up to twelve and even twenty years. A shell which is of good size but comparatively thin is called by the dealers in mother-of-pearl a "young shell." The Australian pictured at page 129 is such an one. The Tuamotu at page 127 is not full grown but well along in years, probably fourteen to sixteen years old.

Of the sea mollusks yielding formations which, though not true pearls, are so called, (Strombus gigas), is a native of the West Indies. Another, a gasteropod, the ear-shell (Haliotis) known in the United States as the abalone, is found on the coasts of California, Japan, the English Channel Islands and elsewhere. The Californians are divided into three classes, the blue backs, about six inches long, and green and red-ears, which are half as large again. Pinnas yielding black seed-pearls are found south of the Island of Mafia on the east coast of Africa. On the banks and shoals between Mafia and Zanzibar is a red mussel from which white pearls are taken.

The fresh-water pearl-bearing mussel, the unio, unlike the sea oyster is most abundant north of 30 degrees N. In China and the Hawaiian Island Oahu it is found a little to the south of 30 degrees N., and it has been discovered lately in Southern Rhodesia a little north of 30 degrees S., but the countries and streams in which the unio is plentiful and where it yields the most pearls lie within latitudes 30 degrees N. and 60 degrees N. They have been taken from the streams of Great Britain since the times when the Romans had a colony here. They exist in Bohemia, Saxony, Bavaria, Lapland, Canada, Labrador and in great quantities in the United States.

PEARL FISHERIES

The pearl fisheries of the Red Sea are at Lohia. At the lower end of the Red Sea, at Massawa on the African side, and at Lohia on the Arabian side, are a number of small barren islands; the banks lie in shallow water between them. The industry is financed by merchants, principally natives of Bombay, India, who in partnership with the Bedouin boat-owners, control the fishing. The Bedouin captain takes with him a few Arabs to man the boat and a number of black slaves as divers. The shells have a market value for mother-of-pearl but the quality is inferior. They have a greenish-gray edge and are fairly heavy and formerly they were much in demand.

Of late years the fresh-water unio shells have replaced them to a certain extent for cheap material but the shells are yet about ninety per cent. of the value of the fishings. Returns show exports of pearls averaging one hundred thousand dollars per annum but as a large number go direct to Bombay and are not reported, this does not fairly represent the extent of the industry.

The beds vary in depth, thirty to forty feet being the maximum depth fished. Naked native diving is the rule, but the Italian government has lately farmed out concessions at Dahlak and Farsan where they are experimenting with helmets. The fishing season is from the beginning of March to the end of May.

The arm of the Arabian sea lying between Arabia and Persia known as the Persian Gulf, has always been rich in pearl oysters and is a prolific source of supply to-day. These banks are fished chiefly for the pearls. The shell, though larger than the Ceylon, is of the "Lingah" class as it is called, and is of little value for mother-of-pearl.

Though pearl oysters are found all along the coast of Arabia, the most productive shoals are between the Islands of Halool and Katar. These shoals commence at the Island of Bahrein immediately off the Arab coast near the centre of the gulf and continue east and south along the district of Katar for nearly two hundred miles after which the banks are lost in deep water. The chief centre of the pearl trade is Lingah, hence the name given to the shells of this district. Most of the pearls go to Bombay and are known as Bombay pearls, many of them having a distinctly yellow tint. The whitest and finest go to Bagdad and eventually the best go to Europe. India takes the irregular ones and China gets the seed-pearls.

The principal banks are at Bahrein. This island is the most important one of a group situated in an indentation of the Arabian coast and is about seventy miles long and twenty-five broad.

Small boats carrying from five to fifteen men fish the shallows near the coast, but larger boats, manned by from twenty to fifty men, put out for the banks further from shore into deep water. These remain out during the entire season coming into port once or twice only for supplies. The owners of the boats are generally poor. They depend upon the dealers for advances at the beginning of the season for supplies, and many of them are therefore practically in a state of bondage.

When the deep-water boats reach the fishing grounds, half the crew is selected for diving. The diver uses a small braided mat basket as a receptacle for the shells and has a long line attached to him by which he can signal to the man in the boat who manages it. There is a man to each diver's line. Except for the short intervals at the surface necessary for air and rest, the divers remain in the water for hours. The oyster-beds vary in depth from six to eighteen feet in the shallows, to forty feet at the banks.

The duration of the fishing season depends on the temperature of the water. It lasts usually through July, August, and September, though some of the larger boats remain out from the end of June until the beginning of October.

The pearls are sold by weight, sales being made sometimes while at sea and a duty equalling about twenty per cent. is levied on the spot. A large number of Hindu traders come during the season to buy, returning to India at the close as they have done for centuries.

No exact statistics of the output of these fisheries are to be had but the yield is said to average well; some authorities placing the value of the fisheries of the entire district in the sixties at nearly two millions of dollars per annum, and the number of boats engaged at 4,000 to 5,000.

As ancient as those of the Arabian sea and even more important are the pearl fisheries of India. These are also fished for the pearls, the shells of these waters being smaller than those of the Persian Gulf and valueless for mother-of-pearl. The pearls however average whiter than those of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Although equally fine pearls are found in other waters the Ceylon, or Madras pearls as they are called, have long been esteemed the best because of their good average color and quality. These banks are situated in the Gulf of Manaar between the southern point of India and the island of Ceylon.

On the Madras (India) side the banks are off Tinnevalli and Madura at Tuticorin. The Indian revenue realized a profit of £13,000 from a fishing here in 1822, and £10,000 from another in 1830. Examinations showed that there were not sufficient oysters for profitable fishing after that until 1860, when the government netted £20,000, and a fishing the following year, 1861, was equally successful. The banks failed in 1862 and there was no fishery until 1874. Pollution of the water from the Indian shores has been detrimental to these banks and they are now of little importance.

On the Ceylon side, the banks lie six to eight miles off the west shore and a little south of the island of Manaar. Fishing has been an industry from early times before history began. There are records of these fisheries under the kings of Kandy and later by the Portuguese after they took possession of Ceylon about 1505, to 1655 when the island passed into the hands of the Dutch. In old times they were called the fisheries of Aripo after a fort on the coast. Not until the English gained control were the fisheries so managed that definite knowledge of the results could be obtained.

After the Dutch gave way to the English, until 1903, these fisheries had yielded a net income to the government of over £1,000,000. This covered a period of over one hundred years, as the British occupied Ceylon in 1796. In the early years of this period and prior to that, the fishings, or rights to fish, were sold to the highest bidders, usually Hindu merchants. In 1796 the fishing brought £60,000. The year after the British took possession, 1797, it realized £110,000 that amount having been paid by Candappa Chetty, a native of Jaffna for the fishery right, and for that of 1798, the same renter paid £140,000.

These fishings, which were prolonged, so exhausted the banks that the fishery of 1799 yielded but £30,000. From 1799 to 1802 the yearly product ranged from £12,000 to £55,000. In 1804 they were leased for £120,000 but from that time on declined so that in 1828 they brought only £30,612. There were no fishings from 1820 to 1827, nor in 1834 and after 1837, until 1855. The supply failed in 1864 and for several succeeding years, and again for a decade, after five successful fishings from 1887 to 1891. The average yearly profit up to 1891 was about £34,000.

The Ceylon and Madras fisheries are now in charge of a government officer, who spends a part of each year inspecting the various banks so as to be informed as to the whereabouts of mature oysters, and the location and progress of the young and immature. They keep a record of their condition at different periods, and regulate the fisheries by permitting fishing only when they consider the banks to be ripe for it.

The oysters mature in from four to six years so that ordinarily a bank may be fished once in that period, but it sometimes happens that the young oysters are swept away by violent storms or crowded out by natural enemies. In 1901 the Ceylon banks were found to be in a bad way, there were plenty of young oysters but none full-grown. The government officers could not account for the condition, and in response to a report of the facts the government sent Prof. W. A. Herdman to Ceylon in 1902. He examined the whole of the bottom of the Gulf of Manaar and discovered banks on which were full-grown oysters, so that a fishing was fixed for the 23rd of February 1903. Weather prevented commencement until the second of March, when fishing began and lasted forty-two working days until April the fourteenth. The fishings take place in March and April because the sea is usually calm at that period.

The banks lie in five to ten fathoms over a shallow area nearly fifty miles long by twenty miles broad, opposite Aripo. A steep declivity on the western edge gives the sea a depth of one hundred fathoms in a few miles. In the centre of the southern part of the Gulf of Manaar, west of the Chilaw pearl-banks, the sea is one to two thousand fathoms deep.

Of all the paars, or oyster-beds (paar means rock or hard bottom) the Periya paar is the largest. It is about eleven nautical miles long and from one to two miles broad. Situated in about five to ten fathoms close to the top of the western slope of the shallows, and running north and south about twenty miles from land, it is exposed to the southwest monsoon which runs up toward the Bay of Bengal for about six months of the year. The natives call this the mother-paar, believing that the young oysters are carried from it to the other paars, which are thus stocked at its expense.

Between 1880 and 1902 twenty-one examinations showed that the Periya paar had been naturally stocked eleven times with enormous quantities of young oysters, which as regularly disappeared before they were old enough to yield a fishing. The most reliable paars are in the Cheval district and it is probable that the government, acting on the suggestion of Prof. Herdman, will hereafter dredge the breeding Periya paar of its young oysters and plant them where they will be able to mature. It is estimated that many millions of millions of oysters have been lost from this paar during the last twenty-five years.

A fishing is not only a matter of commercial importance, but of wide-spread interest among the natives of Ceylon and India. The romance of the situation, the hope of gain, the great gathering of people from many and far-off countries, the opportunities for barter, the possibilities of securing priceless gems for little, and for making money quickly, all appeal to the oriental mind.

For this they will endure the discomforts of long and painful journeys and the dangers of crowded camp life with a recklessness that contrasts curiously with the wild panics into which they are sometimes thrown, as for instance in 1889, when the Ceylon fishing collapsed on account of cholera. In a few hours a fleet of 200 boats disappeared, the camp was burned, and the multitude gone.

Great precautions are taken by the government officials in every direction. When they have decided that there are banks in condition to be fished, notice of a fishing is advertised. The following notification of the fishery for 1904 is an illustration.

"Government Notification.

Pearl fishery of 1904.

Notice is hereby given that a pearl fishery will take place at Marichchikaddi, in the Island of Ceylon, on or about March 14, 1904.

1. The bank to be fished is the southwest Cheval Paar which is estimated to contain 13,000,000 oysters.

2. It is notified that the first day's fishing will take place on the first favorable day after March 13.

3. Marichchikaddi is on the main land, eight miles by sea south of Sillavaturai and supplies of good water and provisions can be obtained there.

4. The fishery will be conducted on account of the Government, and the oysters put up for sale in such lots as may be deemed expedient.

5. The arrangements of the fishery will be the same as have been usual on similar occasions. Persons attending the fishery camp from India will be permitted to travel to Ceylon by either of the following routes: (1) Tuticorin to Colombo or (2) Paumben to Marichchikaddi and by no other. Arrangements will be made as at the last fishery, for travellers to proceed from Paumben direct to the camp. The only restriction imposed on travellers by the Paumben route will be inspection by the medical officers at Paumben.

6. All payments to be made in ready money in Ceylon currency.

7. Drafts on the banks in Colombo or bills on the agents of this Government in India, at ten days sight, will be taken on letters of credit produced to warrant the drawing of such drafts or bills.

8. For the convenience of purchasers, the treasurer at Colombo and the different Government agents of provinces will be authorized to receive cash deposits from parties intending to become purchasers, and receipts of these officers will be taken in payment of any sums due on account of the fishery.

9. No deposit will be received for a less sum than Rs. 250.

By His Excellency's command.

Everard Im Thurm, Colonial Secretary. Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo, Feb. 27, 1904."

The sanitary precautions are of the utmost importance, for a plague stricken Hindu, if he were dying, would still endeavor to go where he might "get rich quickly."

As the time draws near, thousands of speculators and sightseers from farther and nearer India arrive. Berbers, Arabs, Persians, and Burmese, mingle with the Singhalese and Tamil divers. A town of huts to accommodate perhaps 50,000 springs into existence. Steamer service to Colombo is started, post and telegraph service is established and sanitary measures put in force. Conjurors employed by the divers go through incantations to preserve them from the sharks which abound in these waters.

This shark-charming power is believed to be hereditary and not dependent on the religion of the conjuror and he can, if ill or absent, convey the power to a substitute so that it will be respected by the sharks. To make matters doubly sure the divers arm themselves with a short, pointed piece of ironwood. This however is not their main reliance for a "wise woman" was able to avert a panic which was well under way, after one of the divers was bitten at the Tuticorin fishing of 1890. Excepting the loss of a limb occasionally not much damage is done by the sharks, a fact which sustains the implicit faith of the natives in their shark-charmers.

When the day set by the Government officials arrives, the fleet puts to sea after numerous ceremonies. The boats, which range from ten to fifteen tons, are grouped in fleets of sixty to seventy. Beside the divers they are manned by ten or more sailors, a steersman, and if possible by a shark-charmer (pillal karras). The boats leave at midnight in order to be ready on the banks at sunrise. At the firing of a signal gun diving commences. A stone of granite, shaped like a pyramid and weighing about thirty to forty pounds, is attached through a hole at the smaller end to the cord by which the diver is lowered. Some divers prefer a half-moon stone fastened to the waist. Above the stone when attached to the line is a loop for the diver's foot. The divers work in pairs, one going down and the other remaining in the boat to attend to the line, and in some cases exchanging positions as the diver becomes exhausted. Naked divers stay below fifty to eighty seconds on an average, though some can remain under water longer. Each man makes forty to fifty descents a day and brings up fifteen to thirty oysters each time. As a rule the maximum depth in these waters is about forty-two feet though fishing at twelve and thirteen fathoms is reported. The divers work from sunrise to noon, which allowing for shifts gives each man four hours diving for a day's work. A gun is fired as a signal for the day's fishing to cease and the fleet starts at once for shore. Upon arriving there the oysters are immediately landed by coolies who carry them in baskets, on their backs, to the "Kottu," or government stockade. There they are counted and each boat-load is divided into three equal parts; Two of these are chosen by officials for the government and the remaining heap is the boats' share. Formerly the catch was divided into four parts of which the government took three. Of the boats' share the divers get in some cases two thirds. As soon as the division is made, those belonging to the boat are quickly traded or sold to the numerous small speculators which abound in the camp. Six evenings in the week the government auctions off the catch in lots of one thousand.

While each day's catch is being counted the average run is carefully watched by experts who judge by the size, weight and general appearance of the oysters as to the probable yield of pearls. Opinions so formed are usually quite correct and bidding at the auctions are based on them to a great extent. The principal buyers are from Madras, Bombay, and other cities on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts of India, though local speculators buy many. The catch runs about one million per day. In 1903 forty-four million oysters were taken, but they realized much less than the catch of 1904, when the number was not quite twenty-six and three-quarter millions, though it netted the government $350,000; 1905, however, will be the record year as it is claimed the profits will reach the large sum of $830,000. These figures represent the government's share only.

The price realized at these sales varies not only with the season but from day-to-day. Ten to fourteen dollars per thousand is a fair average, though there are days when as much as twenty-four dollars is realized. Prices have ranged from $7.50 to $40.00 per thousand in one season. The net proceeds go to the revenue of Ceylon.

This has been the system under which the Ceylon fisheries were managed until lately. For some reason unknown to the public, the government, after a season of unequalled profit in 1905, leased the fisheries to a company, the Pearl Fishers of Ceylon (Limited), for a period of twenty years from January 1, 1906. The company is to pay the government $103,333 per annum and is to expend annually upon the improvement of the fishery not less than $16,666, or more than $50,000, at the discretion of the government. The expenses of supervision and protection by the government must also be borne by the company.

As a result of the first fishery (1906), the company after setting aside $49,628 for depreciations and reserve and carrying forward $77,382, show a profit of $256,960 which affords dividends of 36 cents on ordinary shares and 18 cents on deferred shares, a remarkably good beginning. The government revenue from the fishery of 1905 was $801,882 after the expenses, $73,510 were deducted; over $111,000 more than the profit of 1904 which was the most successful up to that time.

The inspector of pearl-banks anticipated a good fishery in 1906 but was of the opinion that after a small fishery in 1907 and probably 1908 the banks would fail for some years as they have done in the past.

After the pearls are taken from the dead oysters they are first sorted for size. This is done by passing them through a series of ten small brass sieves known as baskets, containing from twenty to one thousand holes. The sieves have twenty, thirty, fifty, eighty, one hundred, two hundred, four hundred, six hundred, eight hundred and one thousand holes respectively. The pearls are then sorted for color and quality, weighed and valued. As with all things, really fine pieces are rare, the great mass being ordinary or poor. Herein lies the attraction and excitement of the business for some will find great gems. One may imagine the keen interest of the swarthy buyer who has parted with his hoards, hoping to find a "pearl of great price" when he washes the lustrous spheres from the putrid mass of decaying fish: the eager search; the joy when his eye lights upon a big, white, shining sphere rising up among the heap of little ones; the growing exultation as he picks it out and with feverish interest rolls it about between his fingers to find it without flaw or blemish, or the keen disappointment should his inspection show, as it most frequently does, that it is full of imperfections.

Hovering about are the buyers for the great Hindu merchants, agents of far-off princes and Europeans, all watching sharply for great finds and ready to enter into the combat of wits which marks an oriental trading.

If one remembers that there are probably twenty-five thousand traders congregated on the hot sands of this far-off shore, the fair dame, whose neck is clasped by a string of these precious globules, may conjure from their lustrous skins, scenes as wild and weird as any fairy tale that set her youth to dreaming.