Chapter VII: Introduction (6)

It is claimed—and doubtless with much truth—that it is not unusual for the boatmen to take advantage of the time spent in reaching the shore to surreptitiously open many of the oysters and extract the pearls therefrom, throwing the refuse back into the sea. It would appear from some authorities that this is a general practice. One official—and probably the one in the best position to know—reported in 1905 that more than 15,000,000 oysters, or nearly one fifth of the enormous catch during that season, were illicitly opened.[150] However, this statement is strongly disputed by the superintendent of the fishery, who states:

As a matter of fact the opening of oysters that goes on in the boats
is of a much more casual description than this. The divers
occasionally pick out some of the best looking oysters that happen
to be conspicuous, or some that open, and look inside them. It is
quite possible that a valuable pearl might be found in this way, but
the chances are against it. It is hardly likely that the divers
would throw into the sea an enormous quantity of perfunctorily
examined oysters in which they have a share and which contain
pearls, while they were aware that immediately on landing they could
get good prices for their shares.[151]

The government officials have endeavored to put a stop to whatever looting may exist, searching boats and occupants at the shore, revoking the license of any boat showing evidence of oysters having been opened or carrying knives or other appliances for that purpose. The fishermen are alleged to resort to all sorts of devices to secrete their illicit find of pearls, concealing them in the nose, ears, eyes, and other parts of the body, and even hiding them in parcels in the furled sails or attached to the embedded anchor. In some seasons—as in 1904 and 1905—the government employed a guard for each boat. But serious criticism has been made of the integrity of these guards, who, with compensation of only one rupee per diem, could scarcely be expected to resist the action of thirty or forty fishermen and report their doings, when by silence they would have much to gain, and “the guards simply add to the number of thieves on board” was reported by one superintendent.

Doubtless the most interesting sight in the Ceylon fishery is afforded by the return, about mid-afternoon, of the hundreds of novel, sail-spreading boats running before the wind and crowded with turbaned fishermen dressed in their few brilliant rags, and each anxious to be the first at the wave-washed beach, where they are welcomed by an equal if not greater number of officials, merchants, laborers, and camp followers, gathered on the shore to learn the result of the fishery. The fantastic appearance of the boats, the diversified costumes of the people, the general scene of animation, afford a view which for novelty is rarely equaled even in the picturesque Orient.

The average number of oysters brought in daily by each boat is about 10,000. Some days when the weather is unfavorable many of the boats return empty; on other days they may have 25,000 or more. In 1905 the maximum catch in one day for one boat was 29,990, while in 1904 a single boat brought in 37,675 oysters. The catch by the entire fleet one day in 1905 was 4,978,686 oysters, or an average of 16,485 for each of the 302 boats out on that occasion.

Each person taking part in the fishery receives as his compensation a definite portion of the oysters. By government regulations, published in 1855 and yet operative, each _sammatti_, _tindal_, and _todai_ receives daily one dive of oysters from each diver in the boat to which they are respectively attached. In some instances the hire of the boat is paid for in cash—about Rs.1.50 per day from each diver,—but in most cases either one fifth or one sixth of each diver’s portion is devoted to this purpose. After these provisions have been made, each diver gives one third of his remaining portion to his _manduck_, retaining the balance for himself. The Moormen divers from Kilakarai commonly contribute one dive daily to the mosque of their native town,[152] in addition to the portions given to the _sammatti_, _tindal_, and _todai_. Previous to 1855, the Hindu temples of the Madras Presidency were allowed to operate a certain number of boats on their own account, but this led to so many abuses that it was abolished.

After the boats are run up on the firm, hard beach, all the oysters are removed by the crews of the boats into the government _koddu_ or palisade, a large wattle-walled and palm-thatched inclosure with square pens, each bearing a number corresponding to that of each boat. This is done under close supervision to prevent a diversion of the oysters from the regular channels, which otherwise would be relatively easy among the animation and excitement caused by the thousands of persons about the landing-place.

Within the government inclosure, the oysters taken by each boat are divided by the fishermen themselves into three portions as nearly equal as possible. This applies not only to the oysters falling to the share of the divers and _manducks_, but also to those set apart for the _sammatti_, _tindals_, and _todais_, for hire of the boat and even for the Kilakarai mosque. An official indicates one of these as the share of the fishermen, who at once remove their portion from the inclosure through a narrow gate on the landward side. By this arrangement a satisfactory division of the oysters is secured and all cause for complaint or unfairness is removed. Previous to 1881, the fishermen received only one fourth of the catch as compensation for their work; but in that year their portion was increased to one third, at which it has since remained.

As soon as the fishermen pass out of the government _koddu_ with their quota, they are met by a crowd of natives eager to buy the oysters in small lots, and frequently at so many per rupee—ranging from eight to twelve ordinarily. This “outside market” is one of the many interesting features of the camp, for there are few persons on the shore who do not risk small sums in testing their fortunes in this lottery. And a wonderful lottery it is too, in which a man may risk a few coppers and win a prize worth hundreds of dollars. A poor Tamil once bought five oysters for half a rupee, and in one of them he found the largest pearl of the season. Any not sold among this eager, animated throng are at once marketed with a native buyer. The diver then hastens to immerse himself in one of the bathing tanks provided for the purpose. It is claimed that if this bath is omitted after immersion all the morning in the salt water of the gulf, the diver is liable to fall ill; and a sufficient supply of fresh water for this purpose is an important factor in the arrangement of the camp.

Owing to their sale in much smaller lots, or as we may say, at retail, the fishermen succeed in getting relatively high prices for their oysters, and their earnings exceed one half of the government’s share. In 1905 this amounted to probably £86,000, or an average of about $1350 for each of the 318 boats. However, some crews made very much more than this, with a corresponding decrease for the others. Although 1905 was a record year for large returns, even in an ordinary season pearl fishing is relatively profitable, as a skilled diver earns five or six times as much as a common laborer in Ceylon. The regulations particularly forbid the employment of divers for a monetary consideration instead of for a share of the oysters according to the established custom.

The remaining two thirds of the oysters in the _koddu_ are the property of the government. These are combined and counted. At nine o’clock each evening they are sold at auction, and by noon of the following day all have been removed, and the inclosure is ready for the incoming catch.

At the auction the number of oysters to be sold that evening is announced, and bids are invited. Some one starts the bidding at, maybe, Rs.20 or 25, and this is advanced by successive bids until the limit appears to be reached, which may possibly be Rs.50 or 60. The successful bidder is permitted to take as many oysters in multiples of 1000 as he chooses; and after he is supplied, other merchants desiring them at that particular price are accommodated. If there is no further demand for them at that price, the bidding on the remaining oysters is begun precisely as at first, and when the maximum bid is reached, all merchants willing to give that amount are furnished with as many as they wish in multiples of 1000 as before. If this does not exhaust the oysters, the bidding on the remainder is started up again, and so on until all are sold.[153] No one knows at the time whether he is buying a fortune in gems or only worthless shells.

Indian pearl merchants ready for business
]

Children of Persian pearl dealers
]

The prices at which the oysters are sold at auction may differ greatly from the estimated valuation of the samples secured in the February examination. For instance, in 1905 the valuation of the South Madaragam oysters was Rs.17.86 per 1000, yet the auction sales on the first day began at Rs.53 and went up to Rs.61 per 1000, or three times the valuation; and about the same general proportion of increase prevailed for the oysters from the remaining banks, a result of great advances in the market for pearls.

The auction prices for the different lots and from day to day are fairly constant. But the shrewd Indian merchants know their business well and keep in close touch with the yield, so that there are many variations in the selling price that are puzzling to the uninitiated. A somewhat higher estimation is placed on the oysters from certain banks, and also on those from rocky portions of a particular reef, owing to their reputation for yielding a larger percentage of pearls. The estimation of particular oysters varies to some extent according to the amount of adhering rock and coral growth. As already shown, the prices in 1906 covered the remarkable range of from Rs.20 to 309 per 1000. Superstitious belief in luck also has its influence, and a buyer may consider a certain day as unfavorable for him and abstain from bidding on that occasion; or considering a particular day as lucky, he may bid very high to secure a considerable portion of the sales.

The prices in different seasons vary greatly. In 1860, the average was Rs.134.23 per 1000, which was unprecedentedly large; the nearest to this was Rs.79.07 in 1874 and Rs.49 in 1905. In 1880, the average price per 1000 was only Rs.11, which was the lowest ever recorded. The records for individual days greatly exceed these limits. The highest figures at which oysters have sold on any one day was Rs.309 per 1000 in 1906, the equivalent for each oyster of 10½ cents in American money. In 1874, the price reached Rs.210 per 1000, and in 1905, the maximum price was Rs.124, or about 4¼ cents for each oyster.

The oyster-buyers are principally wealthy Chetties from Madura, Ramnad, Trichinopoli, Parambakudi, Tevakoddai, Paumben, Kumbhakonam, and other towns of southern India. These are quite different from the scantily clothed Naddukoddai Chetties so common in Ceylon. Many of them are fashionably dressed in semi-European costume, with walking-stick, patent leather boots, and other evidences of contact with Europe. Smaller quantities of oysters are purchased by Moormen of Kilakarai, Ramnad, Bombay, Adrampatam, Tondi, etc. A few oysters are also purchased by the Nadans or Chánár caste people of Perunali, Kamuti, and Karakal. Over 99 per cent. of the 50,346,601 oysters sold by the government in 1905 were secured by Indian buyers, and less than one per cent. by Cingalese. A few of the oysters—from two to five per cent.—are sent to Indian and Ceylon ports, but most of them are opened at the fishing camp.

The purchaser of only a small number of oysters may open them at once by means of a knife, and with his fingers and eyes search for the pearls. By this method very small pearls may be easily overlooked, and it is scarcely practicable in handling large quantities of oysters. These are removed to private inclosures known as _toddis_ or _tottis_, situated some distance from the inhabited portions of the camp; where, exposed to the solar heat, they are permitted to putrefy, and the fleshy parts to be eaten by the swarms of big red-eyed bluebottle flies, and the residue is then repeatedly washed.

Shakspere may have had in view some such scene as this when he spoke of the “pearl in your foul oyster.” The lady who cherishes and adorns herself with a necklace of Ceylon pearls would be horrified were she to see and especially to smell the putrid mass from which her lustrous gems are evolved. The great quantity of repulsive bluebottle flies are so essential to success in releasing the pearls from the flesh, that a scarcity of them is looked upon as a misfortune to the merchants. However, except it may be at the beginning of a fishery, there is rarely ever a cause for complaint on this score, for commonly they are so numerous as to be a great plague to persons unaccustomed to them, covering everything, and rendering eating and drinking a difficult and unpleasant necessity, until darkness puts a stop to their activities. But the intolerable stench, impossible of description, the quintessence of millions of rotting oysters, fills the place, and makes existence a burden to those who have not acquired odor-proof nostrils. This animal decomposition seems almost harmless to health; indeed, the natives evidently thrive on it, and eat and sleep without apparent notice of the nauseous conditions. And yet vegetable decomposition in this region is usually followed by fatal results. Notwithstanding sanitary precautions and the usual quarantine camp and hospitals, cholera occasionally becomes epidemic and puts a stop to the fishery, as was the case in 1889; but this probably was due more to the violation of ordinary sanitary laws than to the decaying oysters.

In a large _toddi_ the oysters are placed in a _ballam_, or a dug-out tank or trough, fifteen or twenty feet long and two or three feet deep, smooth on the inside so that pearls may not lodge in the crevices. This tank is covered with matting, and the _toddi_ is closed up, sealed, and guarded for a week or ten days, when the fly maggots will have consumed practically all of the flesh tissues, leaving little else than the shells and pearls. The tank is then filled with sea water to float out the myriads of maggots. Several nude coolies squat along the sides to wash and remove the shells. The valves of each shell are separated, the outsides rubbed together to remove all lodgments for pearls, and the interior examined for attached or encysted pearls. The washers are kept under constant supervision by inspectors to prevent concealment of pearls; they are not permitted to remove their hands from the water except to take out the shells, and under no circumstances are they allowed to carry the hands to the mouth or to any other place in which pearls could be concealed.

After the shells have been removed, fresh supplies of water are added to wash the debris, which is turned over and over repeatedly, the dirty water being bailed out through sieves to prevent the loss of pearls. After thorough washings, every particle of the _sarraku_, or material at the bottom of the _ballam_, consisting of sand, broken pieces of shell, pearls, etc., is gathered up in a cotton cloth. Later the _sarraku_ is spread out on cloths in the sun to dry, and the most conspicuous pearls are removed. When dry, the material is critically examined over and over again, and winnowed and rewinnowed, and after it seems that everything of value has been secured, the refuse is turned over to women and children, whose keen eyes and deft fingers pick out many _masi-tul_ or dust-pearls; and even after the skill of these has been exhausted, the apparently worthless refuse has a market value among persons whose patience and skill meets with some reward. It is due largely to the extreme care in the search that so many seed-pearls are found in Ceylon.

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.

Street scene in Marichchikadde, the pearling camp of Ceylon
]

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.

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.

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.

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.