THE PEARL FISHERY OF CEYLON.

PART I.

The pearl fishery is, perhaps, on the whole, the most interesting thing connected with the island of Ceylon. The number of persons who assemble, when the season for pearl-diving commences, is from fifty to sixty thousand, consisting of divers, mariners, merchants, and tradesmen of every description.

At certain seasons the pearl-oysters are seen floating about on the sea, covering a great extent of surface, and so extremely minute as to appear like the spawn of fish. In this state they are carried by the currents round the coasts of Ceylon, until their increased size causes them to sink, when they form beds, from which a very considerable revenue is derived. The best oysters are those taken from the banks of Arippo, near the Gulf of Manaar, which are usually found in from five and a half to seven fathoms of water. The best pearls are generally taken from the most fleshy part of the oyster, near the hinge of the shell; but they are likewise found in all parts of the fish, and adhering to the shells. There have occasionally been found upwards of a hundred pearls of different sizes in a single oyster. All the oysters do not contain pearls, which are supposed to be produced by disease in the fish. If a pearl be cut, it is found to consist of a succession of lamina, like the onion, and is no doubt composed of the same matter as shell. Notwithstanding the treasure which these oysters contain, a

bushel of them may be purchased off Arippo, during the fishing season, for a less sum than a bushel of common oysters at Faversham or Colchester.

The boats used at the pearl fisheries are from eight to fifteen tons burthen, and without decks. The head and stern are nearly alike, the latter having a slight curve, and the stern-post being generally straight. They have no keel; and the bottom is round, the breadth of the boat increasing to the top of the gunwale. These boats are rigged with one rude mast, and carry one lug-sail, made of light cloth, loosely sewed to a tight coir rope, so that it blows out very much. From these rude fittings, the boats are subject to frequent accidents, and often require to be towed to the shore. They leave the shore with a land wind about midnight, and proceed to the bank, a distance of from nine to twelve miles. If they reach it before daylight, they anchor close by the government guard-vessel, which is always stationed there, having lights hoisted at night to direct the boats to the bank. The men begin to dive as soon as there is light enough to see, and continue their labours till noon, when a gun is fired from the guard-vessel for the diving to cease. The weather is generally calm during the fishing period, the slightest interruption of which is an insurmountable obstacle to the continuance of their pursuit.

The crew of a boat consists of a “tindal” or master, ten divers, and thirteen other men, who manage the boat and attend to the divers when fishing. Each boat has five divingstones, the ten divers relieving each other, so that five are constantly at work during the hours of fishing. The weight of the diving-stones varies from fifteen to twenty-five pounds, according to the size of the diver: some stout men find it necessary to have from four to eight pounds of stone in a waist-belt, to enable them to keep at the bottom till they have filled their net with oysters. The form of a diving-stone resembles a pine, and is suspended by a double cord. The net is eighteen inches deep, and is fastened to a hoop eighteen inches in diameter, slung to a single cord.

On preparing to commence fishing, the diver strips off his clothes, keeping only a narrow slip of cloth round the loins. After offering up his devotions, he plunges into the water and swims to the diving-stone, which the attendants have hung over the boat's side; he then places the toes of his right foot between the double cord of the diving-stone: the coil of the double cord being passed over a stick projecting from the side of the boat, he is enabled, by grasping all parts of the rope, to support himself and the stone, and to raise or lower the latter for his own convenience while he remains at the surface: he now puts his left foot on the hoop of the net, and presses it against the diving-stone, retaining the cord in his hand, the attendants taking care that the cords are clear for running out of the boat.

THE PEARL FISHERY OF CEYLON.-PART II.

Many divers will not venture to descend until the sharkcharmer is on the bank, and has secured the mouths of the sharks; while some are provided with a written charm from their priests, which they wrap up in oilcloth, perfectly secured from the water, and dive with it on their persons. Others, being Roman Catholics, appear satisfied with an assurance from their priest that they have his prayers for their protection; but I am informed that they are all happy to secure the interest of the shark-charmer, who is paid by the government, besides being allowed a perquisite of ten oysters from every boat daily during the fishery. These empirics have all the resolute audacity of their trade; they maintain their power with the most impertinent eloquence, and should a shark happen to give the lie to their pretensions, they are instantly ready with the most ingenious excuses; and so complete is their ascendancy over the credulity of the divers, that an accident from a shark never awakens the slightest mistrust of the power of these impostors to keep them off.

The number of oysters secured during the period of the

fishery, which is about a month, is prodigious. One boat has been known to bring to land in one day as many as thirtythree thousand. These are regularly deposited in heaps, as they are brought ashore, where they are allowed to remain until they become putrid, this being necessary in order to remove the pearls easily from the tough matter by which they are surrounded. They are then thrown into large square receptacles, enclosed by walls about a foot high, for the better preservation of the pearls. These compartments communicate by four uncovered drains of gradual descent with a bath in the centre of the enclosure, so that whatever pearls are swept away by accidental rains or the washing of the oysters are carried into this cistern, and none can be lost.

Where there are no pavements of the above description, the oysters are heaped on double mats, spread upon the sand within railed enclosures, at the gate of each of which a constant guard is kept for the prevention of thefts. But, notwithstanding all the vigilance that can be used, pilfering prevails through the different scenes of the fishery to a great extent. The divers, the boatmen, the persons employed in washing the oysters and sifting the sand, leave no expedient untried to accomplish frauds. Even the "peons," or policemen, employed as a check upon the labourers, have been known to attach a viscous substance to the ends of their canes, and thus extract valuable pearls from the washing troughs with the very instruments used to punish similar delinquents.

When the oysters are in a state of sufficient decay to be washed, a number of them are thrown into a canoe fifteen feet in length, three in breadth, and as many in depth. This canoe is filled with salt water, in which the oysters are allowed to remain for twelve hours, in order that the putrid substance may become perfectly soft, and be thus the more readily disengaged from the maggots, which float upon the surface, and are easily thrown out. From twelve to fifteen naked men are arranged along the sides of the canoe, which is a little elevated at one end, so as to allow the water to run off when it is full.

The oysters are taken up one by one, the shells broken from one another, and washed in the water. The stench proceeding from the canoe during this operation is the most disgusting that can be conceived. The labourers and overseers, however, remain from habit apparently insensible to the horrible odour, and prosecute their business without expressing any disagreeable sensations. Those shells which have pearls adhering to them are thrown on one side, and afterwards handed to clippers," ," whose business it is to disengage the pearls by means of a forceps and hammer. These pearls, imperfect and deformed as they invariably are, have been generally estimated at forty pagodas per pound weight, and have occasionally reached the price of sixty-four. The roundest and best of them are rendered fit to be strung with other pearls. Many of them are used for setting in brooches and rings. The refuse is mixed with the sand pearl, and sold to make "chunam" for the palates of certain Chinese epicures, from whom, it may be presumed, Cleopatra learned the luxury of swallowing pearls. This part of the produce of the pearl fishery is sufficient to pay the wages of all the servants and labourers employed, and to cover every other incidental expense.

When all the shells are thrown out of the canoe, the slimy substance of the oysters, turned into mud, remains at the bottom, mixed with sand and small fragments of shells. The dirty water is drawn off in buckets from the lower end of the canoe, and emptied into a sack hung like a jelly bag; thus no pearls can escape. Clear water is then poured in at the upper end of the canoe; three or four men stir up the putrescent mass and sand with their hands from the lower end, and prevent the pearls from being washed down. These sink to the bottom, and are kept back by raised pieces of wood, left in hollowing out the canoe. The large pearls are now distinctly seen; the whole of the refuse matter is taken from the canoe, and the bag spread out on a coarse cloth to dry in the sun.