Pearl fisheries

“ For centuries the Margaritifera vulgaris has sustained the great pearl fisheries of Ceylon, India, and Persia, and at present yields the bulk of pearls on the market, especially the seed-pearls and also those of medium size. It produces relatively few large ones, rarely exceeding twelve grains in weight. These pearls are commonly silvery white, and for their size command the highest prices, because of their beautiful form and superior luster. Excepting the Venezuelan species, this is the only pearl-oyster which at present supports extensive fisheries exclusively for pearls ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Gulf of California, and the islands of the Pacific, where pearl-diving is a profession and a regular source of livelihood, the number of employees is fairly constant. But in the rivers and ponds of America, as well as of Europe and of Asia, where neither experience nor costly equipment is required for the industry, and pearls to the value of very many thousands of dollars are obtained by men, women, and even children, on pleasure bent, as well as in the widely fluctuating professional fisheries, the problem is far more difficult. ”

“ When washing out the dead animals, a close watch is kept for loose pearls, which are always the finest, while those attached to the shells are removed by pincers or a hammer. In 1889 in 22 days 50 divers brought up 11,000,000 oysters. River-pearls are found in freshwater shells in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Canada, the United States and China. The chief river-pearl fisheries in the United States are in the streams of the Mississippi Valley; in Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio and Arkansas. ”

“ During the century following Tavernier’s time, the fisheries were vigorously prosecuted, owing to the impoverished condition of the reefs in India and America, and to the large demand for pearls, not only by the Oriental courts, but by the wealth and fashion of Europe. Except for the last four years, when the Ceylon fishery was very productive, throughout the eighteenth century the Persian Gulf was almost the only important source of supply for pearls. ”

“ James Webb, Porchester Street, had the good fortune to find a pearl weighing 31 grains in an Australian shell he was cutting up, and it has been valued at £100. As there is a good market here for pearls, no doubt many others have been found that "have not come to light." A few years back, "pearl fisheries" of rather an extraordinary kind were here and there to be found in the outskirts, the prices of good workable shell having risen to to such an extent that it paid to hunt for and dig up the scrap flung away in former years, as much as 15s. to 20s. ”

“ There are also pearl fisheries in the western hemisphere. The coast of Columbia and the Bay of Panama have furnished considerable quantities, but they are not considered equal to the pearls of the East in shape or color. Detailed accounts of the pearl fishery of Ceylon have been given by the Count de Noé and others, who have had ample means of watching the operations of the pearl-divers during a residence in that island. ”

“ The product of the pearl fisheries, either that of entire fisheries where they are managed by a company, or the gatherings of merchants, or even the single gems which may be acquired by the smaller merchants, all these usually find their way to the great markets, although occasionally they change hands at once. ”

“ All over the South Sea, pearl oysters are found about the islands and in the lagoons within the atolls which stud it, but in quantities too small in many places to induce capital to establish fisheries. Fishing for them is confined therefore to native divers who are rewarded by the occasional find of a few pearls, which often they sell at ridiculous prices to the stray traders who may chance to come their way. ”

“ Owing to the extended area over which the fishing is prosecuted and the existence of undisturbed breeding-oysters in the deeper waters, the reefs are not readily exhausted, notwithstanding the tens of millions of mollusks annually removed therefrom.
The fisheries are at their height from June to September, when nearly every person on the coast is interested in some capacity, if not in fishing, at least in furnishing supplies, cleaning shells, buying pearls, etc. In April and May the water on the deep banks is so cold that the fishermen confine their efforts to the more shallow areas. ”

“ As a rule the largest oysters and pearls, where there is a calcareous foundation for the bed, are taken from the deeper waters, and it is probable that as modern appliances are more generally used by the larger organizations now taking hold of the industry, the fisheries will be extended with good results in many localities to waters beyond the shallows now fished. ”

“ After these come the ancient fisheries of India, the most prolific in the world. The oysters here are smaller than those of the Arabian Sea and the shells are of no value, but they mature rapidly and yield great quantities of pearls. Myriads of them cover the shoals and banks between the coast of India, at the South-eastern point, and Ceylon, and as the beds are under government supervision, they cannot be destroyed by the reckless fishing of immature oysters. ”

“ For more than two centuries the Saxon fisheries have been carefully regulated by inspectors, who examine the streams every spring, and determine where fishing is to be permitted. After a tract has been fished over, it is left to rest for ten or fifteen years. The fisher-folk open the valves of the mussels with an iron instrument, and if they find no pearl restore the mussel to the water. ”

“ In many localities the pursuit yields far less profit than pleasure, and many a man who spends a summer in pearling is in a fair way to spend the winter at the expense of some one else.
The pearls are collected for the trade by a score or more of buyers, who visit the fisheries at intervals and purchase of the individual fishermen by personal dickering and bargaining. The buyers endeavor to keep informed of all choice pearls discovered, and when an especially valuable find is reported each one endeavors to have the first chance to secure it. ”

“ The output of the large fisheries is practically controlled by the great merchants of neighboring cities who know the methods and intricacies peculiar to the localities. For instance, the pearls of Ceylon go to Madras, and Bombay handles the bulk of those from the Arabian coast and the Red Sea. Lower California pearls are marketed chiefly at La Paz. Those from Venezuela are shipped principally to Paris and definite figures cannot be obtained. A few are brought to the United States direct from Venezuela, chiefly by Syrians who barter for them with the independent divers. ”

“ Ranking next to Margaritifera vulgaris in extent of pearl production is the Margaritifera margaritifera, which is widely distributed about the tropical inshore waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is very much larger than the Lingah oyster, good specimens measuring seven or eight inches in diameter, and the nacreous interior is usually of a darker color. In addition to its yield of pearls, the shell of this species is of value in the mother-of-pearl trade, and contributes largely to the economic results of the fisheries. ”

“ In geographic range, the sources of pearls are widely distributed, each one of the six continents yielding its quota; but the places where profitable fisheries are prosecuted are restricted in area. First in point of value, and possibly of antiquity also, are the fisheries of the Persian Gulf, giving employment ordinarily to thirty thousand or more divers. The yield in the likewise ancient fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar is uncertain, but sometimes remarkably large. The Red Sea resources are now of slight importance compared with their extent in the time of the Ptolemies. ”

“ 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 ”

“ There are extensive beds, which are constantly fished, along the eastern coast of [242] Lower California from its junction with the United States to Cape San Lucas. La Paz is the principal centre of the fisheries. An English syndicate has a concession from the Mexican government which was lately renewed, for fishing about La Paz. Pearls worth $350,000, among them many fine black pearls, and five thousand tons of shells valued at $1,250,000, were taken in 1904. This syndicate employs all the modern appliances. ”

“ The graceful curves and the delicate tints of lovely pink color make it exceedingly attractive. The conch abounds in the waters of the West Indies, especially in the Bahamas, where many 78thousands are annually taken for the shell, which forms quite an article of commerce. The flesh is esteemed as food and is also used for bait; and it is particularly in preparing for these purposes that the pearls are found, as no established fisheries exist for the pearls alone. ”

“ But you ought to remember," the Deputy Commissioner continued, "that the finding of an occasional pearl in an oyster or a mussel is of comparatively little importance, because it's an irregular sort of thing. The mother-of-pearl industry, however, is of big importance, it has an economic value to the country, and consequently it's our business to see that the natural resources are as wisely used as possible. We'll start a party out there on June fifteenth, so you can report here by that time." ”

“ Young girls attend to the fishing, and workmen pierce them for about two copecks each. Choice ones sell for thirty to one hundred rubles apiece.
In the government of Archangel pearls have been collected for centuries from the streams flowing into the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean. An extended account of the fisheries of this region was given by Von Middendorff. [239] He states that the Unio margaritifera inhabits all the rivers in which the descent is not too rapid, and especially in the Tjura, the Tuloma, the Kovda, Kereda, the Kanda, etc. ”

“ In the aggregate, they cover an area fifty miles in length and twenty miles in width. Most of them are from five to twenty miles from the shore, and at a depth of five to ten fathoms. The principal paars are Cheval, Madaragam, Periya, Muttuvaratu, Karativu, Vankalai, Chilaw, and Condatchy. Only three have afforded profitable fisheries in recent years, i. e.: Cheval, Madaragam and Muttuvaratu.
The other paars are of practically no economic value at the present time. They become populated with tens of millions of oysters, which mysteriously disappear before they are old enough for gathering. ”

“ The one great industry, and the center of all interest throughout this region, is the pearl fishery. The present conditions are precisely as Palgrave wrote in 1863: “It is from the sea, not from the land, that the natives subsist; and it is also mainly on the sea that they dwell, passing amid its waters the one half of the year in search of pearls, the other half in fishery or trade. ”

“ In many instances farm-hands are there who have abandoned their crops, mechanics who have left steady jobs, railway men who have taken a lay-off, teachers, merchants, all eager and expecting to find a fortune. In some localities, pearl fishing has been used as an attraction in big picnic advertisements, and has drawn larger crowds than a public orator.
The mollusks are removed from the river bottoms in various ways and by many forms of apparatus. In the shallow streams the fishermen simply wade out in the water and pick up the shells by hand. ”

“ If the average quality of pearls contained in them be good, the competition is strong in proportion.
The pearl fishery commences in April, and lasts till towards the end of May. It attracts a concourse of visitors not only from the interior of the island, but from various parts of India, whose diversities of language, dress, and manners produce a striking effect. The sea-shore, at other times solitary, is, on the eve of the fishery, suddenly covered with innumerable huts, composed of a few poles stuck in the ground, interwoven with bamboo and covered with the leaves of the cocoa-nut palm. ”

“ It is hardly necessary to point out that pearls could not have been procured without the aid of adventurous mariners and boats that could breast the ocean wave and brave the perils of the deep. According to Varāhamihira, Garuḍa Purāṇa, and Bhoja, pearl-fishing was carried on in the whole of the Indian Ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, and its chief centres were off the coasts of Ceylon, Pāralaukika, Saurāshṭra, Tāmraparṇī, Pārasava, Kauvera, Pāndyavāṭaka, and Haimadesha. According to Agastya, the chief centres of Indian pearl-fishing were in the neighbourhood of Ceylon, Arabia, and Persia. ”