Chapter XI: Introduction (10)

The Queensland pearling fleet has its rendezvous at Port Kennedy, Thursday Island, which was originally maintained by the British, the Queensland, and the New South Wales governments as a harbor of refuge for mariners. Politically this port is important as the strategic key to the northeast of Australia, but its prosperity is almost wholly dependent on the pearl-oyster fishery. The population approximates 1600, consisting largely of Japanese, Malays, Cingalese, Pacific islanders, and Australian aborigines, with specimens from nearly every Asiatic and European nationality, and some from America and Africa. The Japanese predominate, their influx dating from 1891; and at present the industry is largely dependent on these Scotchmen of the Orient for its most skilful workmen. The heterogeneous nationalities, and the abundance of sand-flies, mosquitos, etc., make this island rather less desirable as a place of residence than it is interesting from a political and ethnological point of view.

The Queensland fishery in 1905 employed 348 vessels, and yielded 543 tons of shell, according to the government returns. In 1904, 353 vessels were engaged, and the catch was 798 tons of shell.

During the last fifteen years there has been a very steady decrease in the average catch of pearl-oysters per boat in the Australian fishery. The average catch in the Queensland fleet in 1890 approximated 7 tons per boat; from 1898 to 1903 it was about 3 tons annually; in 1904 it was only 2¼ tons, and in 1905 a trifle more than 1½ tons. The yearly increasing number of boats would naturally lower the average, but the decrease is generally ascribed to the denudation of the reefs, due to close working for thirty-five years without giving them a chance to recuperate.

The small yield in Queensland in 1904 and 1905 was due largely ta the extended rough weather and the accompanying thick or muddy water, which presented an obstacle to the prosecution of the work. Mr. Hugh Milman, the government resident at Thursday Island, states that each year the beds in the more sheltered spots have been extensively fished, rendering it necessary for the fleet to go farther afield in places where the depth of water is greater, and where the vessels are more exposed to the full force of the southeast winds which prevail for about seven months of the year, and which were unusually severe in 1905.[259] The general denudation of the beds is not the principal cause of the decreased take. An additional cause for the falling off in 1905 was the deflection of a large percentage of the fleet to new fields of operation, 110 vessels leaving for the Aru Islands in the Arafura Sea, when the season was about half finished.

For vessels using diving apparatus, the season continues throughout the year, but it is frequently interrupted by storms, which may cause the boats to lie in harbor for ten days, or even two weeks at a time. The nude divers suspend work from December to March, and also during the season of gales.

Each vessel is manned by a diver, his attendant, and a crew of four men, who in pairs take alternate shifts at the manual pump for supplying air to the diver. The entire force of men take part in managing the vessel and in caring for the catch. The vessel is provided with full equipment and supplies of food, water, etc., to last two or three weeks, depending on the distance of the fishing grounds from the shore station, or the frequency of trips made by a supply vessel.

Except a number of owners and their representatives, there are now very few white persons engaged in pearling in Australian waters. Even the persons in charge of the vessels are largely natives of the Pacific Islands. Owing to the hardships encountered and the small remuneration, it is difficult to secure white labor; and aliens from Japan, the Philippines, Java, Singapore, India and New Guinea, are employed.

The divers are of many nationalities, principally Japanese and Malays, and the former are said to be the most efficient. Previous to 1890, they were mostly whites, and were paid at the rate of £40 per ton of shells; but increased competition and the influx of cheaper labor caused a considerable decrease in the rate of compensation, driving most of the white men out of the employment. At present the Japanese almost monopolize the business. Of the 367 divers licensed at Thursday Island in 1905, 291 were Japanese, 32 were Filipinos, 21 were from Rotuma Island, 16 were Malays, and 7 were of other nationalities; this shows how completely the white man has been driven out of this skilled branch of labor.

The oysters are so scattered that considerable walking is necessary to find them. They usually lie with the shells partly open, and in grasping them the fisherman must be careful not to insert a finger within the open shell, or a very bad pinch will result. The progress of the vessel must be adapted to that of the diver, and when a good clump of oysters is found it may even be desirable to anchor. If the current and wind are just right, the vessel may repeatedly drift over a bed, the diver ascending and remaining on board while the vessel is retracing its course to the windward side of the reef. On new grounds, the nature of the bottom is determined by casting the lead properly tipped with soap or tallow, and the prospects for oysters thus determined without descending.

During good weather and in eight or ten fathoms of water, a diver can work almost continually, and need not return to the surface for two hours or more; but as the depth increases, the length of time he may remain at the bottom in safety decreases almost in geometric ratio, and he comes to the surface frequently for a “blow” with helmet removed. Evidence secured by a departmental commission of the Queensland government in 1897, showed that in good weather at a depth of eight or ten fathoms, a diver works from sunrise to sunset, coming to the surface only a few times. In a depth of over fifteen fathoms the attendant usually has instructions not to let him remain longer than fifteen minutes at a time; yet a diver’s eagerness in working where good shell is plentiful sometimes impels him to order the attendant to disregard this rule. The very great pressure of the water—amounting to thirty-nine pounds or more to the square inch—is liable to cause paralysis, and death occasionally results. In working at a depth of twenty to twenty-five fathoms, a diver is rarely under water longer than half an hour altogether during the day. The greatest depth from which shell is brought appears from the same evidence to be “30 fathoms and a little over”; but at that depth—where the pressure is seventy-eight pounds to the square inch—the fisherman remains down only a few minutes at a stretch, and should be exceedingly careful. The work is injurious, and even under the best conditions the diver not infrequently becomes semi-paralyzed and disqualified in a few years. Notwithstanding that the work is performed by men in vigorous health, nearly every year there are from ten to twenty-five deaths in the Queensland fleet alone;[260] three fourths of these are due to paralysis, and most of the remaining result from suffocation, owing largely to inexperience in use of gear. From five to ten years is the usual length of a man’s diving career, although in the fleet may be found men who have been diving for twenty-five years or more.

On the vessels manned by Japanese, commonly several members of the crew are competent divers and take a turn at the work, although only one license is secured. Such a vessel carries only one head-piece, but two otherwise complete suits, the helmet fitting either, so that as soon as one exhausted diver comes up to rest, a successor is ready to have the helmet screwed to his body-dress and descend without delay, thus saving about half an hour in the changing.

The nude divers in the Australian pearl fisheries are mostly Malays and Australian aborigines. They work from dinghys operated from a vessel, each dinghy carrying six or eight divers, usually with a white man as overseer. The man in charge sculls against the tide to keep the boat stationary over the ground, and all the fishermen of a particular dinghy descend together for greater safety from sharks, and to cover the ground systematically. On rising, each diver swims to the boat, throws his catch over the gunwale, and climbs in to rest for a few minutes. Sometimes two or possibly even three oysters may be brought up at a single descent, but a diver is doing well if he brings up one oyster in ten descents. The average daily catch of each man is probably two or three oysters, but a fisherman has been known to bring up fifty in one day. On some vessels, those who fall behind in the catch are punished by extra duty aboard ship.

The pearling industry has had a marked effect on the industrial and social condition of the natives of the Australian coast and the adjacent islands. Many of these natives now have boats of their own, and others seek employment on other vessels. Law and order and decent respect for property have arisen, with schools and churches. The result is all the more remarkable when it is considered that scarcely more than a generation has passed since labor among the men was unknown, the women doing all the work necessary to meet their scanty requirements.

As now carried on in Australia, pearling is a hard life, the men working for two thirds of the season in a dead calm and oppressive heat, while in the remaining months they are rolling day and night. The members of the crew are not allowed ashore without a written permission from the captain of the boat, and men and luggage are searched on leaving the vessel. In addition to these objections, life on board is not unusually made intensely disagreeable by the myriads of inch-long cockroaches, which are attracted by and multiply rapidly on the shreds of muscle left on the pearl shell stored in the hold. Storms are frequent on the coast. In February, 1899, three schooners and eighty smaller vessels were wrecked, and eleven white and four hundred colored men were drowned.

At the end of each day’s fishing, the oysters are cleaned of submarine growths. Sometimes this is by no means an easy task, as many of the shells are so covered with weeds, coral, and sponge as to bear little resemblance to oysters. After they have been scrubbed and the edges have been chipped, they are washed and stored on deck. Early the following morning they are opened and examined for pearls. This opening is done carefully to avoid injury to any pearl that may be within. The hinge of the shell is placed on the deck and a broad knife forced down so as to sever the adductor muscle, causing the shells to spring open and permitting the removal of the soft parts. The flesh is carefully examined, both by sight and by feeling, to locate all pearls, which are picked out by hand and placed in a suitable receptacle. Within the adductor muscle are found seed-pearls and small baroques; the large pearls are found embedded in the mantle, where their presence may be detected as soon as the shell is opened, the pearly gleam contrasting with the light blue of the mantle. Sometimes, though rarely, large pearls are found loose within the shell, whence they roll out when the shell is opened. Valuable pearls are occasionally removed from blisters on the surface of the shell, or from within the body of the nacre itself. Even when empty, these blisters are valuable, and are especially adapted for brooches and other ornaments requiring a broad and relatively flat surface.

After the flesh has been carefully examined throughout, it is discarded, as it is not considered suitable for food, and the shell is dried for half a day or so to make the hinge brittle in order that it may be broken without injury to the mother-of-pearl. After the shell has been roughly cleaned, it is placed in the hold, if the vessel is operating from a shore station, as is commonly the case in Torres Straits. Since long exposure to the sun affects the quality of the mother-of-pearl, it is important that it be kept under cover. On returning to the station, it is thoroughly cleaned, assorted, dried, the dark edges clipped off, and the cleaned shell is packed in shipping cases, each containing from 250 to 325 pounds. On the west coast, where the vessels at times operate 200 or 300 miles from port, the shell is cleaned, assorted and crated on the vessels; whence it may be delivered direct to the steamers. The Northwest shell is somewhat smaller than the mature shell of Torres Straits, averaging about 1100 to the ton, whereas that of Thursday Island runs about 725 to the ton.

It is very difficult to prevent the theft of pearls by the fishermen as they are liable to treat them as perquisites if not carefully watched. Indeed, on the Torres Straits vessels it has come about that pearls do not constitute a recognized source of income to the proprietors. There the fishery is now conducted almost exclusively for the shells, as the wage-earners secrete probably as many valuable pearls as they turn over to the rightful owners. The hot sun causes many of the oysters to open, and deft fingers quickly pick out such pearls as may be visible. An oyster may be induced to open its shell by being held near the galley fire on the lugger, and the insertion of a piece of cork holds it open while a pearl is shaken out or hooked out by means of a piece of wire. Then the cork is removed and the oyster closes again with no evidence of robbery. The proprietors of boats who themselves open the oysters almost invariably secure larger yields of fine pearls than those who depend on paid employees, who rarely have the luck to find choice pearls, judging from what they turn in. The government of Queensland has endeavored to put a stop to pearl stealing, and by enactment[261] of 1891, it restricted all selling or buying of pearls within the fishing region except through regularly licensed dealers, whose transactions are open to examination.

But the fishermen seem to have little difficulty in evading the laws, and throughout the fleet the men have become so adept that they regard the pearls as their contraband perquisites. And the ease with which these may be secreted is surpassed only by the facility with which they may be sold, notwithstanding legislation to the contrary. Indeed, some employers make no claim to the pearls found, thus enabling them to secure fishermen at lower rates of wages.

As previously noted, the pearls constitute only an incidental catch in the fisheries on the Australian coast, but in the aggregate the yield is very large. The yield in the northwest Australian fishery in 1906 is estimated at £50,000, local valuation; in the Queensland fishery £33,000; in that of South Australia £5000, a total of £88,000 or $440,000.[262] Relatively few seed-pearls are obtained, and some of the pearls are of great size. Some beautiful specimens have been found, but usually they have less luster and are more irregular in form than the Persian or the Indian output.

Among the remedies suggested for improving the condition of the Australian pearl reefs may be mentioned the establishment of six inches as the minimum size of the shell that may be taken (five inches is now permitted in Queensland, and there is no restriction in Western Australia), the closure of certain areas for stated periods from time to time, and a limit on the number of vessels employed. The government resident at Thursday Island, Mr. Hugh Milman, who has had long acquaintance with the industry, strongly recommends the adoption of a system of artificial culture; and in the meantime, to foster the industry, “licenses should be granted to a reduced number of boats and certain sheltered areas should be closed altogether for a few years to give the beds time to recover. This latter procedure, however, the pearlers themselves are not in favor of, as they are of the opinion that the weather conditions against which they have to contend are sufficient protection to prevent the denudation of the principal grounds.”

A few years ago certain areas in Torres Straits were proclaimed closed for a period against the removal of pearl shell; but, owing to the want of effective patrol, the shell was poached to a very large extent, and consequently the good that should have resulted from the experiment was not apparent. Owing to the impracticability of continuous patrol, and the want of proper legislation to bring die offenders to book, it was decided to remove the restrictions.

The Sharks Bay fishery, to which we have previously referred,[263] is prosecuted by means of small sail-boats using light dredges, except in the case of the very shallow or “pick-up banks,” where the oysters are commonly removed by hand. Some years ago this fishery was of much local importance; but the developing scarcity of the oysters, and the present low value of this grade of shell in Europe, due to the competition with Mississippi shell, have resulted in a great reduction. In 1905, the industry gave employment to 17 small boats and 42 men, of whom 18 were Europeans, 13 Asiatics, and 11 aboriginal natives. The yield of pearls, according to official report of the government of Western Australia, approximated £2000 in value, and of pearl shell there was 88 tons, with a declared value of £607. In 1896 the government of Western Australia surveyed the Sharks Bay reefs, and opened them to preëmption in small areas for cultivating this species of pearl-oyster. At present they are mostly held under exclusive licenses for a period of fourteen years. The business is under an elaborate system of regulations; but as appears from the above figures the results have not been important.

Pearls are more numerous in this pearl-oyster than in the two other Australian species. In removing them from the flesh, a modification of the Ceylon process is adopted. The mollusks are opened by means of a knife, and the contents of the shells are placed in vats or tubs—known locally as “poogie tubs”; and, exposed to the hot sun, are allowed to putrefy. Sea water is added, and the putrid mass stirred; after several days the water and the thoroughly disintegrated flesh tissues are decanted, leaving the pearls at the bottom. The odor from a number of these “poogie tubs” is said to almost rival that of the “washing toddies” at Marichchikadde.

The Sharks Bay pearls are commonly yellowish or straw-colored, and sometimes have a beautiful golden tinge. Although obtained from small shells, they are sometimes of considerable size—twenty grains or more in weight, and fine specimens sell for several hundred dollars each. China and India furnish better markets for them than Europe or America.

PEARL FISHERIES OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

My thoughts arise and fade in solitude;
The verse that would invest them melts away
Like moonlight in the heaven of spreading day.
How beautiful they were, how firm they stood,
Flecking the starry sky like woven pearl.

SHELLEY, _My Thoughts_.

Opening pearl-oysters and searching for pearls, off the coast of
Australia
]

Grading, weighing, and packing mother-of-pearl, off the coast of
Australia
]

For nearly four hundred years, pearls and pearl shells have been the most beautiful objects which have reached the outside world from the many islands of the Malay Archipelago. On his visit to this part of the world in 1520, Pigopitta, a companion of Magalhães, reported pearls among the prized possessions of the natives. The fisheries have never been of great importance, although the reefs are widely scattered throughout the archipelago, and the possibilities seem favorable for very great development. Thomas de Comyn stated a century ago, that pearl fisheries had been undertaken “from time to time about Mindanao, Zebu, and some of the smaller islands, but with little success and less regularity, not because of a scarcity of fine pearls, but on account of a lack of skill of the divers and their well-established dread of sharks.”[264]

Giacinto Gemmi,[265] writing of Philippine pearls, repeats a strange tale from the “Storia de Mindanao” by the Jesuit father, Combes, to the effect that in a certain spot, under many fathoms of water, there was a pearl of inestimable value, as large as an egg; but, although the king’s ministers had made every effort to have it secured, they had always been unsuccessful.

During the last thirty years, pearls and pearl shells have been secured from most of the inshore waters of Malaysia, but the output has not been so regular or so extensive as the conditions seem to warrant. Our observation leads to the conviction that this is not due so much to lack of skill on the part of the divers, or to their dread of sharks, mentioned by Comyn; but to the fact that foreign capital, attracted to this part of the world, has found more security and profit in developing plantations, and the natives have not had sufficient enterprise to systematize and develop the fishery resources.

Throughout Malaysia, including the Philippine Islands, the pearl is known as _mutya_, _mootara_, or a similar name, closely resembling the Sanskrit _mukta_ or the Cingalese _mootoo_, indicating the source of the influence originating the fishery and trade.

The most widely-known pearl fisheries of Malaysia are in the Sulu Archipelago, a group of islands comprising about 1000 square miles in area, and containing a population of 100,000. The beautiful yellow pearls shared with the many acts of piracy in attracting attention to this group previous to 1878, when the islands were brought under the influence of Spanish rule; and since the Spanish-American War, pearl fishing has been the leading industry, though it has received less attention from outside sources, perhaps, than has the existence of slavery and harems as part of the social system.

Writing in 1820, John Crawfurd stated that the annual export of pearls from Sulu Islands to China approximated 25,000 Spanish dollars in value, and the mother-of-pearl similarly exported was worth 70,000 dollars. “Considering the turbulent and piratical habits of the natives of the Sulu group, it is certain that a greater share of skill and industry than can at present be applied to the fisheries, would greatly enhance the value and amount of their produce.”[266]

In the Sulu Archipelago, the pearl-oyster reefs exist from Sibǔtu Pass to Basilan Strait, and roughly cover an estimated area of 15,000 square miles; that is, in the most favorable localities throughout this area, pearl-oysters occur to a greater or less extent. The fisheries are prosecuted by Malays and Chinese, and are largely centered at Sulu.

Pearl-oysters occur about many other islands. They exist at Maimbun and Parong; and also off the island of Tapul and its neighbor Lagos, both southwest of Maimbun. In the channels among these islands, on the rocky gravelly bottom where there is a good current, oysters are commonly found. They also occur off Laminusa, northeast of Tawi-Tawi, at Cuyo Island, and in the waters about Malampaya and Bacuit.

The large mother-of-pearl oyster (_Margaritifera maxima_) known locally as _concha de nacr_, is by far the most abundant. When full-grown in this region it is ordinarily between ten and thirteen inches in diameter. The young oyster attaches itself to the bottom by means of the green byssus; but after attaining a weight of one pound, it is too heavy to be easily moved by the tide, and the ligature gradually disappears. The Australian “black lip” (_Margaritifera margaritifera_), known here as _concha de nagra_, is also found. In these waters it attains a diameter of about eight inches, but most specimens are considerably smaller.

There is another pearly shell in the Philippines, a spiral gasteropod known locally as _caracoles_, which is ordinarily five or six inches in diameter, and has a beautiful pearly surface. This yields very few pearls; it is sought for pearl-button manufacture, selling for about the same as the _concha de nagra_.

Streeter states that it is declared by the natives of the Sulu Archipelago that pearls of a yellowish hue have been found in the pearly nautilus (_Nautilus pompilius_), one of the group of cephalopodous mollusks. As, however, there is a superstition that they bring ill luck, the natives say that they throw them away, believing that any one who should fight while wearing one of these pearls in a ring, would certainly be killed. If we consider the habits and organism of this remarkable animal, and the splendid nacreous coating of its shell, the assertion that pearls are found in it seems quite natural. Indeed, the occurrence of pearls in the pearly nautilus is generally recognized.

For many years the successive sultans of Sulu exercised authority over the fisheries and—in addition to exacting certain percentages and presents from the fishermen—claimed as their perquisites all pearls exceeding a designated weight. The fisheries were prosecuted by nude divers, of whom there were a large number. A Chinese company had been particularly fortunate in its relations with the Sulus, and had an extensive equipment in the fishery, consisting of a number of small vessels, each carrying a crew of seven men, who used diving-suits. In addition to these, some of the native Moros owned boats from which diving-suits were employed.

Following the Spanish-American War and the transfer of the Philippine Islands to America, several vessels proceeded to engage in the fisheries without previously consulting the representatives of the Sultan of Sulu. This called forth from that official an appeal to the American authorities for protection in his claims. He gave an account of the pearl fishery in this interesting document, which we quote at length—through the courtesy of the American Bureau of Insular Affairs—because of the light it throws, not only on the industry, but also on the characteristics of these people with whom the American government is now dealing.

STATEMENT MADE BY THE SULTAN OF SULU RELATIVE TO THE PEARL FISHERIES

(Forwarded by the Governor of Moro Province.)

[Translation.]

(SEAL of the SULTAN.)
No date.

I beg to inform my father, the civil governor, Major Scott, as you
want to know about the mother-of-pearl shell, why it is the right of
all Sulu people, above all my own right, this is the reason:

The forefathers of the Sulu people used to take the mother-of-pearl
shell from the downs because the mother-of-pearl shell belonged to
the downs, and they took them to eat the oyster with other food; of
the shell they made plates and saucers to put the food on, and the
pearls they used to make a hole through and put them on a string as
necklaces for their children. This was at a time when no other
nation had come to Sulu to buy the mother-of-pearl shell.

Later, a big boat, called the _Sampang_, wandered from China to
Sulu; there were on board many people, all Chinese; it was loaded
with merchandise. The people came ashore and saw the mother-of-pearl
shell which the Sulu people were carrying. The captain of the boat
said: “Have you many more of these things?” and the people answered,
“Plenty; this is what we take from the downs to eat with other
food.” The Captain said. “Gather me plenty. I will buy them from
you.” The people went and gathered them and bartered them for plates
and saucers. When all the shells from the downs were finished they
looked into the deep, and that is how they found the pearling
grounds, and the people noted them, and remembered them. This is
what they agreed upon; whoever finds pearling grounds they belong to
him from generation to generation. That is what they agreed upon.
That is the reason why the Sulu people have the right, and that they
came to make the dredge (_badja_) to get the mother-of-pearl shell
from the deep, because they can not see them.

Later Salips came from Mecca of the Arab nation; they came to Sulu
to convert the people into Mohammedans, as they had no religion. And
when the Sulu people, including the islanders, adopted the faith,
then they agreed to have a sultan and they elected Saripul Hassim to
be sultan. Saripul Hassim said: “I don’t want you to make me your
sultan if I do not know what the rights of the sultan are, and who I
have to govern over, because this is not my country, this is your
country.”

And this is how everybody agreed to accept him as sultan over Sulu
and all the islands; this is how he became Sultan and governed over
all, and this is how Saripul Hassim accepted to be the sultan of
Sulu, to have full power over land and sea, and the people’s rights,
where they got their living from on land and sea, were left to them,
because they were the means of their getting their livelihood.

But a law was made, if they found valuables in the sea, such as
pearls, tortoise shell, ambal or anything extraordinary, they have
to show it to the sultan, and if the pearls weigh six chuchuk or
over they become the share of the sultan; if they do not have that
weight, the people can do with them as they please and sell them. If
the sultan wants them, he will buy them according to custom. As to
tortoise shell, if they weigh two ketties, they go to the sultan,
and as to the ambal, whether it is much or little, it falls to the
sultan. Whoever finds it must take it to the sultan. Whoever of his
subjects violates this law as agreed upon, the sultan can punish him
as he pleases.

They accepted this law as agreed upon, to be carried out by them
(sultan and people), and their descendants, and not to be changed;
but they asked of the sultan not to let any other nation take a
share in this industry; it is enough for them; and the sultan agreed
to this because they did not know how to earn their living
otherwise. This is what the sultan and his subjects agreed to
because the Sulu had no other treasures on land beyond the
cultivation; the treasures came from the sea only, therefore other
people are forbidden because this is the property of all my
subjects, and especially my own.

Recently, in my time and in the Spanish time, there came to me
Captain Tiana; he wanted to dive for pearl shells. I said “I cannot
give you my consent at once because since our forefathers (sultan
and people) we have an agreement, I will confer with my people.” I
sent for the chiefs and the dattos and I told them about it, that
Captain Tiana came to me and asked to dive for pearl shells. They
said it cannot be done, because there is an agreement between our
forefathers that other nations cannot join in this industry of the
Sulu seas, because there is no other means of earning a living for
your subjects.

Moro boats, used among the pearl islands of the Malay Archipelago
]

Raft used for pearl fishing in the Malay Archipelago
]

I informed Captain Tiana of it. He said: “Allow me to dive for pearl
shells, I will give toll to you as sultan and I will also give toll
to the owners of the pearl grounds according to what we agree upon.”

So I informed all the owners of the pearling ground, and they said,
“If he is really in earnest to give toll to us owners of the ground
according to what we agree upon, if we don’t agree, we will not
allow him to fish.” Thereupon Captain Tiana and I went to the
Spanish governor to bear witness. The governor said: “All right;
anything you agree upon; I cannot change the law of the Moro people,
and I will not interfere.”

That is how I allowed Captain Tiana to fish, and I gave him a letter
of the truth according to agreement. Therefore if any person of
other nation wants to fish for mother-of-pearl shell, he will have
to do as Captain Tiana did, and ask me for a letter of truth, and if
he has no letter and does not pay toll to the owners of the ground,
and especially to me, he cannot dive, and if he violates this and if
anything befalls him, I am not responsible and do not want to be
held responsible, because the mother-of-pearl shells are like the
property in our boxes given to us by God. They do not go away from
the places where they are put, they are not like fish that go about.
Therefore, we forbid it. It is our heritage from our forefathers.

(Signed) HADJI MOHAMAD JAMAUL KIRAM,
Sultan of Sulu.

[SEAL OF THE SULTAN.]

Following these representations, the legislative council of the Moro province, by authority of the Philippine Commission, interdicted all fishing for pearl-oysters within three marine leagues of any land within the territorial limits of the Moro province, without license first obtained from the treasurer of the district within which the vessel carries on the major part of its operations.[267] No license was to be issued to any vessel not owned in the Philippine Islands or in the United States, and not wholly owned by citizens of the United States, by natives of the Philippine Islands, or by persons who have acquired the political rights of natives,[268] except that foreign vessels which for one year immediately preceding had actually engaged in pearl fishing might secure license to continue therein for a period of five years thereafter.

Licenses were of two kinds, according to the nature of the fishery. To engage in fishing with the aid of diving-suits, the fee was five hundred pesos annually, for each of the greatest number of divers beneath the surface of the water at any one time. For fishing without submarine armor, the fee was five pesos annually, for each of the greatest number of nude divers to be employed by the vessel during any voyage, and the same sum for each of the greatest number of dredges or rakes to be employed beneath the surface at any one time; but this did not apply to vessels under 15 tons, owned and operated wholly by native Moros, until January 1, 1906.

It was also made unlawful to catch or to have in one’s possession within the Moro province “any pearl shell or any bivalvular or lateral plate, or any pearl shell of less than 4½ inches in diameter, measured with a flat, rigid measuring rod along the line of the ligament which joins one binocular or lateral plate to the other at the hinge, unless the lateral plate of such shell be more than 7 inches in diameter measured with a flat, rigid measuring rod from the outer edge of the horny lips to the center of the hinge, the rod being so placed as to form a right angle with the line of the hinge.”[269]

According to a report furnished by the Mining Bureau at Manila, there were seven vessels fishing with diving-suits in the Sulu Archipelago in 1905, each representing an investment of about 6000 pesos. In 1906 there were ten vessels engaged in this industry, and the collection on licenses for that fiscal year amounted to 3375 pesos. These vessels are mostly small Moro craft which cannot venture upon distant cruises in the archipelago for prospecting purposes, and their operations are confined for the most part to the immediate vicinity of Jolo. Each vessel carries one diver, a tender, a cook, and four sailors. In addition to food supplies, the sailors and the cook each receive twelve to fifteen pesos per month, the tender thirty to forty pesos per month, and the diver the same amount and in addition thereto a bonus of twenty cents for each shell secured. Near Jolo the vessels work throughout the year, but farther north very little fishing is done from December to April, when monsoons prevail. The man in charge of each vessel is obliged by law to keep an accurate record of the number and weight of shells found, and his figures are checked up by a customs official at either Jolo or Zamboanga, the ports of discharge.

To enable them to secure pearl-oysters at depths of from twenty to forty fathoms, the Sulus have long made use of a dredge (_badja_) peculiarly constructed of native materials, and admirably adapted to the purpose. This consists of five or more long wooden teeth slightly curved and spreading outward, with an expanse at the ends of twenty inches or more. The dredge is properly balanced by two stones, and a bridle rope is so attached to it that, when thrown overboard and towed behind a canoe drifting with the current or the wind, the implement rests on the curve of the teeth, which are in almost a horizontal position. As the teeth enter the gaping shell of an oyster lying on the bottom, the animal instantly closes tightly on the intruder and effects its own capture. The principle is similar to that of the “crowfoot” dredge of the Mississippi River, although the design of the implement is radically different. A second rope is attached so as to raise and lower the implement and to detach it from corals, rocks, and other objects against which it may catch in its course on the bottom. This dredge is designed for very deep areas, where the bottom is relatively smooth.

The Moros employ yet another method of fishing, using a _magtung-tung_ or three-pronged catcher, which is let down by a rattan rope and by means of which individual shells sighted from the surface are obtained. When the water is perfectly clear this implement can be operated where the depth is fifteen or eighteen fathoms, but its use is impractical where the water is clouded or there is even a slight ripple on the surface.

However, the bulk of the catch is made by the nude divers, of which there are hundreds at Maimbun, Tapul, Lugus and elsewhere. In their small boats these Moro fishermen visit the reefs, where the boats are anchored. Provided only with a short, heavy knife, with which to release the shells from the bottom or, perchance, as a weapon of defense against sharks and other fish, they enter the water feet first, but soon turn and descend head downward, precisely as on the Australian coast, swimming toward the bottom with bold strokes. The Sulu pearl-divers—and especially those at Parang, Patian and Sicubun—are among the most expert in the world. They easily penetrate to twelve fathoms and, if necessary, to eighteen or twenty fathoms. But they are not very industrious, and seldom descend more than twelve or fifteen times a day, preferring rather to go with their wants half satisfied than to satiate them by more active exertions.

Many descents may be necessary to locate and obtain a single oyster, but when this is secured the shell alone may ordinarily be traded for sufficient to supply the fisherman’s needs for several days, and there is always the chance of a pearl. After a short day of labor, the fishermen return, and the oysters which they have secured are opened and examined for pearls. After the flesh has been carefully searched it is placed in the sun to dry and, later, to be used for food, and the shells are carefully cleaned and placed under cover until they may be bartered or sold.

The Sulu shell is characterized by a peculiar yellowish tint around the rim, by means of which it is readily distinguished. Its size and beautiful iridescence make it very attractive, and for choice individual specimens high prices are received. It is the largest of the mother-of-pearl shells, single half-shells of “bold” size average one and one half pounds in weight, while some attain a weight of six pounds. The body of the shell furnishes the most beautiful of all mother-of-pearl, yet the necessity for discarding the yellow rim, or, rather, for using it separate from the rest, makes it unpopular with manufacturers. The annual product is estimated at 200 tons, valued in London and New York at $200,000, and of pearls about $30,000 worth.

The Sulu pearls are frequently large and of choice quality, but they are far more inclined to a yellowish tint than those from Australian waters, 1300 miles southward. The sultans accumulated the finest collection of them, and some of these found their way into the markets from time to time as the condition of the exchequer ran low or royal emergency required, as in 1882, for instance, when it was necessary to defray the expense of Sultan Buderoodin’s pilgrimage to Mecca. During the last six or seven years, much has been heard of the present sultan’s collection, which he largely inherited, and some fairly good specimens have been presented to prominent Americans.

Pearl-oysters are among the important resources of the inshore waters of the Dutch East Indies, including the surrounding seas of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, the Aru Islands, the Moluccas or Spice Islands, and Papua or New Guinea. For very many years the natives have gathered pearl shell and pearls from these waters, and especially on the coast of the Aru Islands, at Gilolo or Halmahera, and the islands thereabout, on the east coast of Celebes, and about the Sunda group. The collections were made in the shallow waters by beach-combing and by nude diving, and were bartered with the Chinese and Arab traders sailing from Singapore, Macassar, and other ports. Occasionally a pearling vessel from Singapore or from Torres Straits would try its luck in these waters; but, except for the work of the natives, the reefs were practically untouched previous to 1883.

As the Australian fleet increased in size and the oysters became scarce in Torres Straits and on the northwest coast, some of the vessels occasionally visited the Aru Islands, the coast of Papua, etc. These met with considerable success and the number of trips increased, especially in 1893, when oysters were unusually scarce in Australia.

The following year, 1894, the government restricted the fishery to inhabitants of the Netherlands and of Netherlands India, or to companies established in those countries and operating under the Dutch flag. Owing to the activity of Dutch capital in coffee, tobacco and other plantation enterprises, the pearl resources received very little attention from them. The success of the Australian fishery encouraged the formation in 1896 of an Amsterdam company to exploit the Aru grounds; but apparently without financial success, for it liquidated in 1898.

Pearling village, with youthful fishermen. Sulu Islands
]

Japanese diver in Dutch East Indies, come up to “blow” for a few
minutes
]

In the meantime, residents of these islands paid more and more attention to the pearl fishery; also Europeans, Chinamen and Arabs arranged with the native chiefs for fishing in their territorial waters, paying therefor a fixed sum in cash or a percentage of the catch, which was permitted on approval by the governor-general of Dutch India. The fleet continued to increase from year to year, and in 1905 there was a very large influx of vessels from the Australian fisheries, 110 luggers and 7 tenders coming from Thursday Island alone.

The species are the same as occur on the northern coast of Australia, the “silver edge” or “golden lip” (_Margaritifera maxima_) occurring in greatest abundance, and the “black lip” (_M. margaritifera_) to a less extent.

The shells are the principal object of the search, and the pearls found incidentally form an additional source of revenue. These shells divide with those of Australia the reputation of being the most valuable in the world. They are commonly known in the trade by the name of the port from which they are originally shipped, as Manila, Macassar, Banda, Ceram, Penang, Mergui, etc. Before the exploitation of the Australian grounds, they sold at very high prices, and $2000 or more per ton was sometimes realized for those of the best quality. Singapore is the headquarters for supplies for the industry in all this region, and it is from that port that the shells and pearls are mostly distributed.

The pearls obtained in Netherlands India are of choice quality and of relatively large size, a considerable percentage of them weighing over eight grains, and fairly good pearls of fifty grains or more are occasionally reported. Colored pearls are rarely met with, nearly all of them being clear white, like the beautiful Macassar shell.

At Pados Bay, island of Borneo, one hundred or more persons find employment fishing the Placuna oysters, selling the shells for about $2 per picul (139 pounds to the picul), the dried meats at $4 to $6 a picul, and the seed-pearls (_seleesip_) at about $2 per mayam. Many of these pearls are sold in the village of Batu Batu. When a fisherman buys his few necessaries at the Chinese shops, he pulls out his little package of seed-pearls and pays in that currency, the Chinaman making a good profit by the transaction.

X

AMERICAN PEARLS

VENEZUELA, PANAMA, MEXICO, AMERICAN FRESH WATERS, MISCELLANEOUS

X
PEARL FISHERIES OF VENEZUELA

When I discovered the Indies, I said that they composed the richest
country in the world. I spake of gold and pearls and precious
stones, and the traffic that might be carried on in them.

Extract from Columbus’s Fourth Letter.

The Caribbean Sea furnishes one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the pearl fisheries. In no region of the world have these resources caused more rapid exploitation or affected the inhabitants to a greater extent than on the shores of Venezuela.

Before the discovery of America, the natives of this region collected pearls from the mollusks which they opened for food in times of necessity, and also sought them for ornamental purposes. And although they had large collections which they used for personal ornamentation and for decorating their temples, it does not appear that they prized them extravagantly, readily bartering them for small returns.

In Columbus’s account of his third and fourth voyages to America, he repeatedly refers to pearls. On the third voyage, in 1498, after passing the mouth of the Orinoco River, he entered the Gulf of Paria, where the natives “came to the ship in their canoes in countless numbers, many of them wearing pieces of gold on their breasts, and some with bracelets of pearls on their arms; seeing this I was much delighted and made many inquiries with the view of learning where they found them. They replied that they were to be procured in their own neighborhood and also at a spot to the northward of that place. I would have remained here, but the provisions of corn, and wine, and meats, which I had brought out with so much care for the people whom I had left behind, were nearly wasted, so that all my anxiety was to get them into a place of safety, and not to stop for anything. I wished, however, to get some of the pearls that I had seen, and with that view sent the boats on shore. I inquired there also where the pearls were obtained. And they likewise directed me to the westward and also to the north behind the country they occupied. I did not put this information to the test, on account of the provisions and the weakness of my eyes and because the ship was not calculated for such an undertaking.”

In his letter to one of the queen’s attendants, written in 1500, Columbus says, in justification of his conduct toward his miserable detractors: “I believed that the voyage to Paria would in some degree pacify them because of the pearls and the discovery of gold in the island of Española. I left orders for the people to fish for pearls, and called them together and made an agreement that I should return for them, and I was given to understand that the supply would be abundant.”

And again in the same letter, after speaking of a quantity of gold which mysteriously disappeared when Governor Bobadilla sent him and his brothers loaded with chains to Spain, he says: “I have been yet more concerned respecting the affair of the pearls, that I have not brought them to their Majesties.... Already the road is opened to gold and pearls, and it may surely be hoped that precious stones, spices, and a thousand other things will also be found.”

A more detailed account of Columbus’s pearling adventures, and of the subsequent discoveries and explorations on the Caribbean coast is given by Francisco Lopez de Gomara in his “Historia general de las Indias,” published in 1554, of which the following is a literal translation slightly abridged:

Since there are pearls on more than four hundred leagues of this
coast between Cape Vela and the Gulf of Paria, before we proceed
farther it is proper to say who discovered them. In the third voyage
made by Christopher Columbus to the Indies, in 1498, having reached
the island of Cubagua, which he called “Isle of Pearls,” he sent a
boat with certain sailors to seize a boat of fishermen, to learn
what people they were and for what they were fishing. The sailors
reached the shore where the Indians had landed and were watching. A
sailor broke a dish of Malaga ware and went to trade with them and
to look at their catch, because he saw a woman with a string of
rough pearls (_aljofar_) on her neck. He made an exchange of the
plate for some strings of rough pearls, white and large, with which
the sailors returned highly delighted to the ships. To assure
himself better, Columbus ordered others to go with buttons, needles,
scissors, and fragments of the same Valencian earthenware, since
they seemed to prize it. These sailors went and brought back more
than six marcs (forty-eight ounces) of rough pearls, large and
small, with many good pearls among them. Said Columbus then to the
Spaniards: “We are in the richest country of the world. Let us give
thanks to the Lord.” They wondered at seeing all those rough pearls
so large, for they had never seen so many, and could not contain
their delight. They understood that the Indians did not care much
for the small ones, either because they had plenty of large ones, or
because they did not know how to pierce them.

Columbus left the island and approached the land, where many people
had collected along the shore, to see if they also had pearls. The
shore was covered with men, women, and children, who came to look at
the ships, a strange thing for them. Many Indians presently visited
the ships, went on board and stood amazed at the dress, swords, and
beards of the Spaniards, and the cannon, tackle, and arms of the
ship. Our people crossed themselves, and were delighted to see that
all those Indians wore pearls on their necks and wrists. Columbus
asked by signs where they fished them, and they pointed to the coast
and island.

Venezuela and Panama; the principal pearling regions of South
America
]

Columbus then sent to the shore two boats with many Spaniards, for
greater certainty of those new riches, and because they importuned
him. The chief took them to a place where there was a circular
building that resembled a temple, where presently much bread and
fruits of different kinds were brought. At the end of the feast he
gave them pearls for sweetmeats, and took them afterward to the
palace to see the women and the arrangement of the house. Of the
numerous women there, not one was without rings of gold and
necklaces of pearls. The Spaniards returned to the ships, wandering
at such pearls and gold, and requested Columbus to leave them there.
But he did not wish to do so, saying they were too few to settle. He
hoisted sail and ran along the coast as far as Cape Vela, and from
there came to Santo Domingo, with the intention of returning to
Cubagua after regulating the affairs of the government. He
suppressed the joy he felt at having found such treasures, and did
not write to the king regarding the discovery of pearls, or at all
events did not write it until it was already known in Castile. This
was largely the cause for the anger of the king, and the order to
bring Columbus a prisoner to Spain. They say that he did not so much
intend to conceal this discovery from the king, who has many eyes,
as that he thought by a new agreement to get this rich island for
himself.