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Title: The Book of the Pearl

Author: George Frederick Kunz
Charles Hugh Stevenson

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Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF
THE PEARL ***

THE BOOK OF
THE PEARL

THE CZARINA OF RUSSIA

THE BOOK OF
THE PEARL
THE HISTORY, ART, SCIENCE, AND INDUSTRY OF THE
QUEEN OF GEMS

BY
GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ, A.M., Ph.D.
AND
CHARLES HUGH STEVENSON, LL.M., D.C.L.
Orient pearls fit for a queen
Will I give thy love to win,
And a shell to keep them in.
—The Faithful Shepherdess (1611)

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1908

Copyright, 1908, by
The Century Co.

Published October, 1908

THE DE VINNE PRESS

TO

MARGARET, THE PEARL

AS A SLIGHT MARK OF APPRECIATION BY THE AUTHORS OF HER
FATHER’S GENEROUS ENCOURAGEMENT OF SCIENCE, ART,
ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND LITERATURE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction xv

I Pearls among the Ancients 3

II Medieval and Modern History of Pearls 15

III Origin of Pearls 35

IV Structure and Forms of Pearls 51

V Sources of Pearls 65

VI The Pearl Fisheries of the Persian Gulf 85

VII East African Pearl Fisheries 153

VIII Pearl Fisheries of the British Isles 159

IX Pearl Fisheries of the South Sea Islands 189

X Pearl Fisheries of Venezuela 225

XI Pearl-Culture and Pearl-Farming 285

XII Mystical and Medicinal Properties of Pearls 301

XIII Values and Commerce of Pearls 319

XIV Treatment and Care of Pearls 375

XV Pearls as Used in Ornaments and Decoration 403

XVI Famous Pearls and Collections 449

XVII The Aboriginal Use of Pearls, and Their Discovery in Mounds and 485
Graves

Bibliography 517

Index 541

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Czarina of Russia Frontispiece

FACING PAGE
Ancient Chinese crown with pearls. Ancient Chinese pearl rosary. Chinese
priests keeping guard over the tombs of the kings, in Mukden, where the
crowns are preserved 4

Grecian pearl and gold necklace 8

Front cover of Ashburnham manuscript of the Four Gospels 16

Francis I, King of France, 1494–1547. Isabelle de Valois 19
(From photographs by A. Giraudon)

Maria Theresa (1717–1780), Queen of Hungary 24

Facsimile of title-page of decrees of Venetian Senate regulating the wearing
of pearls 27

Lady Abinger. Mrs. Adair. Baroness de Forest. Hon. Mrs. Renard Gréville.
Marchioness of Lansdowne. Lady Londonderry. Lady Wimborne 30
(From photographs, copyright by Lafayette, Ltd., London)

Venezuela shell. Panama shell 36

Shells from Venezuela with attached pearls. Exterior view of same. X-ray
photograph of shell, printed through exterior of shell and showing
encysted pearls 39

Mexican pearl-oyster with adherent pearl. Group of encysted pearls in shell
of Australian pearl-oyster. Mexican pearl-oyster with encysted fish.
Group of encysted pearls (oriental). Reverse of same group, showing
outline of the individual pearls 42

Cross section of an irregular pearl, magnified 80 diameters. Cross sections
of pearls, magnified 30 diameters. Thin section of mother-of-pearl,
magnified, showing sponge borings which traversed the pearl shell.
Structure of conch pearl produced by fracturing, magnified 80 diameters 53

Pearls from common clam of eastern coast of America. Pearl “nuggets”
from the Mississippi Valley. Wing pearls from the Mississippi Valley.
Dog-tooth pearls from the Mississippi Valley 55

Actual sizes of pearls from ⅛ grain to 160 grains 57

Brooches made of petal, dog-tooth, and wing pearls 58

Gray pearls in the possession of an American lady and brooch from Tiffany
& Co.’s exhibit, Paris Exposition, 1900 60

Shell of pearl-oyster with attached pearl 68

Pinna or wing shell. Pearl-oyster of Ceylon 72

Shell and pearls of the common conch 76

Cargo boat in pearl fishery of the Persian Gulf. Huts of mats and palm
leaves, the homes of the pearl fishermen at Menamah, Bahrein Islands,
Persian Gulf 87

Agha Mohammed (1666–1725). Shah Sulaiman (1647–1694) 88

Arab pearl-divers at work in the Persian Gulf 90

His Imperial Majesty, Mohammed Ali, Shah of Persia 94

The “Prince of Pearls”; the late Rana of Dholpur in his pearl regalia 101

The late Maharajah of Patiala 108

Facsimiles of notices of pearl-fishing at Marichchikadde, in English and
Cingalese 110–111

Unloading oysters from the vessels into the kottus at Marichchikadde,
Ceylon. The pearling fleet on the shore at Marichchikadde, Ceylon.
Hindu workmen preparing to drill pearls, Marichchikadde, Ceylon 115

Indian pearl merchants ready for business. Children of Persian pearl dealers 120

Street scene in Marichchikadde, the pearling camp of Ceylon. Return of the
fleet from the pearl reefs to Marichchikadde, Ceylon 126

Pearls presented by the Imam of Muscat to President Van Buren 131

Necklace and earrings from the treasury of the Emir of Bohkara 136

Carved “Jerusalem Shell” from the Red Sea 142

Cap of State, from looting of summer palace, Pekin, in 1860 145

Fishing for the awabi (abalone) shells at Wada-no-hara, Japan 148
(From “The Burlington Art Magazine”)

Old print showing four methods of catching pearl-bearing mollusks 160

Madame Norischkine née Straudman. Duchesse Elizabeth (Constantin).
(From a photograph by Ch. Bergamasco, St. Petersburg) (From a
photograph by A. Pasetti, St. Petersburg)
Daughter of General Sobelieff, first Countess Beauharnais 163

Scotch pearl rivers 167

Great Cameo Pearl 170

Dowager Czarina of Russia. Grand Duchess Vladimir.
(From a photograph by Ch. Bergamasco, St. Petersburg)
Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna 174

Miter of Patriarch Nikon 176

Panagia or ornament worn on the breast of a bishop in Russia 180

Russian Boyard ladies of the seventeenth century, showing caps and other
ornaments of pearls 184

Pearl-divers of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Settlement of pearl fishermen at
Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago 197

Pearling boats at Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago. Australian pearl-diver
(armored) coming up from the depths 204

Opening pearl-oysters and searching for pearls, off the coast of Australia.
Grading, weighing, and packing mother-of-pearl, off the coast of
Australia 213

Moro boats, used among the pearl islands of the Malay Archipelago. Raft
used for pearl-fishing in the Malay Archipelago 216

Pearling village, with youthful fishermen, Sulu Islands. Japanese diver in
Dutch East Indies, come up to “blow” for a few minutes 220

Gray pearls from Lower California, and diamonds 228

Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II 237

The Adams gold vase 248

Negro pearling camp, on bank of an Arkansas river. Group of Arkansas
pearl fishermen 254

Brooch, Renaissance style, set with baroque pearls, from American streams 259

Brooches and rings of fresh-water pearls from Wisconsin and Tennessee 262

Pearl-bearing unios 266

Pearling scene on White River, Arkansas. Pearling camp on upper
Mississippi River 270

The evolution of buttons, made from Mississippi shells 275

Necklace of fresh-water pearls 276

Shell of pearl-bearing abalone 280

Shell of Dipsas plicatus, with attached metal figures of Buddha coated with
nacre. Shell of Dipsas plicatus, with attached porcelain beads coated
with nacre 286

Artificial rearing-ponds for the development of pearl-oysters on the Island
of Espiritŭ Santo, Gulf of California. Trays containing small pearl-
oysters prepared for placing at the bottom of artificial rearing-ponds 291

Japanese legend of the dragon and the pearl, idealized in Jade 302

Russian eikon of the Madonna 312

Pectoral cross of Constantine IX, Monomachus (1000–1054 A.D.) 321

Great pearl necklace of the French crown jewels 332

The Siamese Prince in full regalia 336

Half-pearls: lots of three different sizes. Brooch of half-pearls and onyx,
United States, 1860 343

Pearl nose rings, Baroda, India. East Indian earring of strings of pearls and
table diamonds. Grape pendants. Oriental pearls 345

Necklace containing 126,000 seed-pearls, Louis XVI period 346

Seed-pearls and gold; Chinese ornaments of the nineteenth century.
Complete set of seed-pearl jewelry in original case 357

Persian princess and ladies in waiting 364

Facsimiles of the title-page and last leaf of an enactment abolishing duty on
pearls, English Parliament, 1732 368

Pearl drilling 376

Pearl stringing 383

Necklace of seed-pearls, United States, Civil War period 389

Mother-of-pearl shell from Tahiti 390

Ladies’ sewing case and scissors inlaid with half-pearls; watches incrusted
with half-pearls; snuff-box, ivory inlaid with fresh-water pearls;
miniature surrounded by half-pearls 395

Evolution of a seed-pearl brooch. Seed-pearls, Indian strings. White
horsehair for stringing 396

Facsimile of letter of M. Gaston Mogeaud, Director of the Louvre 398

Madame Thiers’s pearl necklace, bequeathed to the Louvre Museum, Paris 398
(From a photograph by A. Giraudon)

Antique ornaments of pearls 404

Tyszkiewizc bronze statuette of Aphrodite 407

Pearl earrings from Herculaneum and Pompeii 408

Antique pearl ornaments 410

East Indian necklace of pearls, table diamonds, glass beads, gold and
enamel 413

Crown of Reccesvinthus and other Gothic crowns of the seventh century 416
(From a photograph by A. Giraudon)

Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of
India 418
(From a photograph by W. & D. Downey, London)

Crown of St. Edward 424
(From “The English Regalia,” published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner
& Company, Ltd., London)

The Empress Dowager of China 431

Pearl ornaments of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 434

Margherita, Dowager Queen of Italy 439

Collection of black pearls belonging to an American lady 440

Señora Carmen Romero Rubio de Diaz, wife of President Porfirio Diaz of
Mexico 442
(From a photograph by Valleto & Co., Mexico)

Jade jar inlaid with pearls set with fine gold. Japanese decoration set with
pearls 444

Gaikwar of Baroda, 1908 450

Mary, Queen of Scots 453
(From “Portraits and Jewels of Mary Stuart,” published by James
MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow)

Queen Elizabeth of England. Elizabeth of France 456

Pearl carpet or shawl of the Gaikwar of Baroda 460

The Hope pearl. Weighs 1800 grains 463

Her Grace, the Duchess of Marlborough 465
(From a photograph by Lafayette, Ltd., London)

The Madame Nordica collection of colored pearls 468

Grand pearl diadem of the French crown jewels 471

The Imperial Austrian crown 472

The Great Sévigné of the French crown jewels 474

Madame Nordica 476

Mrs. George J. Gould 480

Fresh-water pearls from Hopewell group of mounds, Ross County, Ohio 499

Fresh-water pearls from Hopewell group of mounds, Ross County, Ohio 510

MAPS

PAGE

The pearling regions in Ceylon and British India 129

Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, the pearling center of the world 140

The pearling regions in Oceania and Malaysia 191

Venezuela and Panama, the principal pearling regions of South America 227

Gulf of California and the pearling territory of western Mexico 243

INTRODUCTION

The preparation of this book has been a joint labor during the spare
moments of the two authors, whose time has been occupied with subjects to
which pearls are not wholly foreign—one as a gem expert, and the other in
the fisheries branch of the American government. But for the views and
expressions contained herein, they alone are personally responsible, and do
not represent or speak for any interest whatever. For many years the writers
have collected data on the subject of pearls, and have accumulated all the
obtainable literature, not only the easily procurable books, but likewise
manuscripts, copies of rare volumes, original edicts, and legislative
enactments, thousands of newspaper clippings, and interesting illustrations,
many of them unique, making probably the largest single collection of data
in existence on this particular subject. It was deemed advisable to present
the results of these studies and observations in one harmonious volume,
rather than in two different publications. This publication is not a pioneer in
an untrodden field. As may be seen from the appended bibliography, during
the last two thousand years hundreds of persons have discussed pearls—
mystically, historically, poetically, and learnedly. Among the older writers
who stand out with special prominence in their respective periods are the
encyclopedist Pliny, in the first century A.D.; Oviedo and Peter Martyr of the
sixteenth century; the physician Anselmus De Boot, and that observant
traveler and prince of jewelers, Tavernier, in the seventeenth century. It
would be difficult to do justice to the many writers of the nineteenth century
and of the present time; but probably most attention has been attracted by
the writings of Hessling and Möbius of Germany; Kelaart, Streeter,
Herdman, and Hornell of Great Britain; Filippi of Italy, and Seurat and
Dubois of France. While the book is a joint work in the sense that each
writer has contributed material to all of the chapters and has critically
examined and approved the entire work, the senior author has more closely

applied himself to the latter half of the text, covering antiquity values,
commerce, wearing manipulation, treatment, famous collections, aboriginal
use, and the illustrations, while the junior author has attended to the earlier
half of the book, with reference to history, origin, sources, fisheries, culture,
mystical properties, and the literature of the pearl.
The senior author has had exceptionally favorable opportunities to
examine the precious objects contained in the various imperial and royal
treasuries. Through the courtesy of the late Count Sipuigine, Court
Chamberlain, and of the late General Philamanoff, custodian of the
Ourejena Palata, he was permitted to critically examine the Russian crown
jewels in the Summer Palace on the Neva, and in the Palata in the Kremlin,
at Moscow, he examined the crowns and jewels of all the early czars.
Through the courtesy of Baron von Theile, he was permitted to inspect
carefully and in detail the wonderful jewels of the Austrian crown, which
are beautifully ordered and arranged. The English and Saxon crown jewels
were also seen under favorable conditions which permitted detailed
examination, and the jewel collections of almost all the principal museums
of Europe and America were carefully studied. As regards the literature of
the subject, the senior author has gathered together the largest known
existing collection of works treating of pearls and precious stones.
In covering so comprehensive a subject, many obligations have been
incurred from individuals and officials, to whose courtesy and assistance is
due much of the interest of this work. To list all of these is impossible, yet it
would be ungrateful not to note the following: her Majesty Queen
Margherita of Italy; his Royal Highness the Gaikwar of Baroda; to H. R. H.
le Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria, of Munich; to the late Prince Sipuigine, then
chamberlain of the Russian Imperial Appanages; to Sir Edward Robert
Pearce Edgcumbe for data relative to fisheries of East Africa; Dr. H. C.
Bumpus, director of the American Museum of Natural History, New York,
for many courtesies in regard to materials and illustrations; Sir Caspar
Purdon Clarke, director, Dr. Edward Robinson, assistant director, J. H.
Buck, curator of Metal-work, and A. G. St. M. D’Hervilly, assistant curator
of Paintings, all of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for numerous
courtesies; Archer M. Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society and
Museum in New York City; Dr. Bashford Dean, Prof. Friedrich Hirth,
Chinese professor, Dr. Berthold Laufer, Prof. A. V. Williams Jackson,
professor of Indo-Iranian languages, and Prof. M. H. Saville, all of

Columbia University, New York City; J. Pierpont Morgan, for the right to
publish the illustration of Ashburnham missal; Dr. W. Hayes Ward,
Assyriologist; Dr. Charles S. Braddock, formerly Chief of Medical
Inspection for the King of Siam; Robert Hoe, for the two plates of unique
Persian illustrations from his manuscripts; Edmund Russell, for East Indian
material; F. Cunliffe-Owen, the author of diplomatic subjects; Ten Broeck
Morse; Walter Joslyn; Stansbury Hagar; Henri de Morgan, explorer; Dr.
Nathaniel L. Britton, director New York Botanical Garden, J. H. Lawles,
and Ludwig Stross, for many courtesies; Miss M. de Barril and Miss Belle
da Costa Greene, all of New York; Dr. Stewart W. Culin, of the Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Sciences; the Contessa Casa Cortez, for Peruvian
information, of Brooklyn; Dr. Charles B. Davenport, of the Carnegie
Institution Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor; Arthur C. Parker, archæologist,
State Museum, Albany, N. Y.; A. S. Clark, antiquarian, Peekskill, N. Y.; Dr.
Richard Rathbun, assistant secretary, Dr. Cyrus Adler, curator, Dr. Otis S.
Mason, curator of Ethnology, all of the Smithsonian Institution; Dr. S. W.
Stratton, chief of the Bureau of Standards; Miss E. R. Scidmore; Gilbert H.
Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic Magazine; Hon. William Eleroy
Curtis; his Excellency Enrique C. Creel, Embajador de Mexico, and James
T. Archbold, war correspondent, all of Washington, D. C.; Prof. W. P.
Wilson, director Philadelphia Commercial Museum, Clarence B. Moore,
Academy of Natural Sciences, and T. Louis Comparette, curator
Numismatic Collection, U. S. Mint, all of Philadelphia; Prof. Henry
Montgomery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Dr. Warren K.
Moorehead, archæologist, Andover, Mass.; H. D. Story, and Theo. M.
Davis, curators of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.; Miss
Mathilde Laigle of Wellesley College; Prof. F. W. Putnam and Alfred M.
Tozzer, Peabody Museum of Archæology, Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. Edward
S. Morse, Salem, Mass.; Dr. Hiram Bingham, Yale University; W. E. Frost,
Providence, R. I.; Dr. Edgar J. Banks, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.;
Hon. F. J. V. Skiff, director, for several photographs of museum material,
and Dr. George A. Dorsey, curator of Anthropology of the Field Columbian
Museum; Dr. A. R. Crook, curator of the Museum of Natural History,
Springfield, Ill.; Richard Hermann, director Hermann Museum, Dubuque,
Ia.; Charles Russell Orcutt, San Diego, Cal.; David I. Bushnell, St. Louis,
Mo.; Dr. J. H. Stanton, Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Joe Gassett, Clinton, Tenn.;
Prof. Wm. C. Mills, University of Ohio, Columbus, O., for material

covering the new Ohio mound discoveries; Mrs. Marie Robinson Wright,
author and South American traveler, New York City; Miss Helen Woolley
of Judson College, Alabama; Prof. Dr. Eugene Hussak, Rio Janeiro; Hon.
George E. Anderson, Consul General of the United States, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil; Señor L. E. Bonilla, Consul General of Colombia; Madam Zelia
Nuttall, Coyoacan, Mexico; Prof. Waldstein, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge, England; Dr. O. F. Bell, assistant keeper Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford; Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, Chinese authority; Lady Christopher
Johnston, Dr. William F. Petrie, University College, Dr. Charles Hercules
Read, director of the department of Archæology, British Museum, for
illustrations and data; Cyril Davenport, antiquarian writer of the British
Museum, for the illustration of the English crown, and crown information;
to Sir John Evans, late veteran archæologist and writer; Thomas Tyrer,
chemist, W. Talbot Ready, A. W. Feaveryear, E. Alfred Jones, author on
metal-work, Edwin W. Streeter, all of London, England; Prof. H. P.
Blackmore, curator Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, England; Dr. Thos.
Gann, Harrogate, England; Prof. Arthur E. Shipley, Cambridge, England;
Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, Labrador; T. W. Lyster, librarian of the National
Library of Ireland, Prof. R. F. Scharff, director of the National Museum of
Ireland, Dublin, W. Forbes Hourie, all of Ireland; Mr. James Hornell, Dr. W.
A. Herdmann, all on information concerning the Ceylon fisheries; Prof.
James M. Milne, Belfast, Ireland; David MacGregor, Perth, Scotland;
Joseph Baer & Co., Frankfurt, Germany; Herrn C. W. Kesseller, Idar,
Germany; Prof. Dr. Carl Sapper, University of Tübingen, Germany;
Geheimrath Prof. Dr. Max Bauer, University of Marburg, Germany; Herrn
Prof. Dr. Hofer, director Biologische Versuchsstation, Munich; Herrn Ernst
Gideon Bek, Pforzheim, Germany; Hon. Albert H. Michelsen, American
Consul at Turin; Sabbatino De Angelis, of Naples, Italy; Mons. Alphonse
Falco, of the Chambre Syndicale Pierres Précieuses of Paris; Prof. A.
Lacroix, Musée Histoire Naturale, Paris; Mons. Georges Pellisier, Paris; Sr.
Gaston J. Vives, La Paz, Mexico; Prof. R. Dubois, Faculté des Sciences,
University of Lyons, France; Prof. P. Candias, director of the National
Museum, Athens, Greece; Prof. G. A. F. Molengraaff, University of Delft,
Holland; the late Prof. Dr. Furtwängler of Munich; Dr. Otto Leiner, Custus
Landes-Museum at Constanz, Baden; Herrn Dr. A. B. Meyer, Herrn Carl
Marfels, Berlin; Prof. Dr. H. Schumacher, University of Bonn; Geheimrath
C. F. Hintze, Breslau; Herrn R. Friedlaender & Sohn, Berlin; Herrn Reg.-

Rath Dr. W. von Seidlitz, Dresden; Dr. R. Jacobi, director König
Zoologichen Museum, Dresden, Germany; his Excellency Dr. Szalaz,
director Hungarian National Museum; Dr. S. Radischi, director National
Industrial Museum of Budapest; and to Herrn A. B. Bachrach, Budapest,
Hungary; Frau Melanie Glazer, of Prague, and Herrn V. Fric, Prague,
Bohemia; Herrn Prof. Dr. F. Heger, Custus Imperial Archæological
Collection, Vienna; Herrn H. von Willer and Herrn Max Zirner, of Vienna;
Herrn Leopold Weininger, the artisan goldsmith of Austria, for many
courtesies; Prof. W. Vernadskij, University of Moscow; Mons. C. Faberje,
Joaillier de la Cour, St. Petersburg, Russia; his Excellency Baron P.
Meyerdorff, assistant director, Musée des Antiques, Ermitage Impériale, St.
Petersburg, for important data and illustrations; his Excellency N. J. Moore,
Premier, Western Australia; Dr. K. Van Dort, engineer of Bankok, Siam; Dr.
J. Henry Burkill, of the India Museum, Calcutta, India; Alphaeus E.
Williams, manager of the De Beers Mine, Kimberley; Capt. E. L. Steever,
District Governor of Jolo, Philippine Islands; Dr. T. Nishikawa, Zoölogical
Institute; K. Mikimoto, both of Tokio, Japan; Dr. S. M. Zwemer of Bahrein,
Persian Gulf; Mr. Hugh Millman of Thursday Island, Australia; Julius D.
Dreher, American Consul at Tahiti, Society Islands; and not least, by any
means, the uniform promptness and completeness with which the officials
of the British Colonial Service have responded to the many inquiries which
the writers have addressed to them.
The Authors.

September, 1908.

I
PEARLS AMONG THE ANCIENTS

THE BOOK OF THE PEARL

I
PEARLS AMONG THE ANCIENTS

The richest merchandise of all, and the most soveraigne commoditie throughout the whole world,
are these pearles.
Pliny, Historia naturalis.
Lib. IX, c. 35.

P
erfected by nature and requiring no art to enhance their beauty,
pearls were naturally the earliest gems known to prehistoric man.
Probably the members of some fish-eating tribe—maybe of the
coast of India or bordering an Asiatic river—while opening
mollusks for food, were attracted by their luster. And as man’s estimation of
beauty developed, he found in them the means of satisfying that fondness
for personal decoration so characteristic of half-naked savages, which has
its counterpart amid the wealth and fashion of the present day.
Pearls seem to be peculiarly suggestive of oriental luxury and
magnificence. It is in the East that they have been especially loved,
enhancing the charms of Asiatic beauty and adding splendor to barbaric
courts celebrated for their display of costume. From their possession of the
rich pearl resources it is natural that the people of India and of Persia should
have early found beauty and value in these jewels, and should have been
among the first to collect them in large quantities. And no oriental divinity,

no object of veneration has been without this ornament; no poetical
production has lacked this symbol of purity and chastity.
In a personal memorandum, Dr. A. V. Williams Jackson, professor of
Indo-Iranian languages in Columbia University, states that it is generally
supposed that the Vedas, the oldest sacred books of the Brahmans, contain
several allusions to pearl decorations a millennium or more before the
Christian era, as the word krisana and its derivatives—which occur a half
dozen times in the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas—are generally
translated as signifying “pearl.” Even if this interpretation of the term be
called into question on the ground that the Hindus of the Panjab were not
well acquainted with the sea, there can be little or no doubt that the
Atharvaveda, at least five hundred years before the Christian era, alludes to
an amulet made of pearls and used as a sort of talisman in a hymn[1] of
magic formulas.
Those two great epics of ancient India, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata, refer to pearls. The Ramayana speaks of a necklace of
twenty-seven pearls, and has pearl drillers to accompany a great military
expedition.[2] An old myth recounts the offerings made by the elements as
gifts worthy of the deity: the air offered the rainbow, the fire a meteor, the
earth a ruby, and the sea a pearl. The rainbow formed a halo about the god,
the meteor served as a lamp, the ruby decorated the forehead, and the pearl
was worn upon the heart.
The literature of Hinduism frequently associates the pearl with Krishna,
the eighth avatar or incarnation of Vishnu, the most popular god of Hindu
worship. One legend credits its discovery to the adorable Krishna, who
drew it from the depths of the sea to adorn his daughter Pandaïa on her
nuptial day. Another version makes the pearl a trophy of the victory of
Krishna over the monster Pankagna, and it was used by the victor as a
decoration for his bride.
In the classic period of Sanskrit literature, about the first century of the
Christian era, there were abundant references to pearls, generally called
mukta (literally “the pure”); and there are dozens of words for pearl
necklaces, circlets, strings, and ornamental festoons, particularly in the
dramas of Kalidasa—the Hindu Shakspere, who lived about the third
century A.D.—and of his successors.

In the Mahavansa and the Dipavansa, the ancient chronicle histories of
Ceylon in the Pali language, are several early Cingalese records of pearl
production and estimation.[3] The Mahavansa lists pearls among the native
products sent from Ceylon about 550 B.C., King Wijayo sending his father-
in-law gifts of pearls and chanks to the value of two lacs of rupees; and
notes that about 300 B.C., several varieties of Ceylon pearls were carried as
presents by an embassy to India.

Ancient Chinese crown with
pearls

Ancient Chinese pearl rosary

Chinese priests keeping guard
over the tombs of the kings, in
Mukden, where the crowns
are preserved

In the ancient civilization of China, pearls were likewise esteemed; this is
evidenced by the frequent mention of them in traditional history, their
employment in the veneration of idols, and as tribute by foreign princes to
the emperor. One of the very earliest of books, the Shu King (dating from
about 2350–625 B.C.), notes that, in the twenty-third century B.C., Yü
received as tribute oyster pearls from the river Hwai, and from the province
of King Kau he received “strings of pearls that were not quite round.”[4]
That ancient Chinese dictionary, the Nh’ya, originating thirty centuries ago,
speaks of them as precious jewels found in the province of Shen-si on the
western frontier.
Many fantastic theories regarding pearls are to be found in ancient
Chinese literature. Some writers credited them as originating in the brain of
the fabled dragon; others noted that they were especially abundant during
the reign of illustrious emperors, and they were used as amulets and charms
against fire and other disasters. Curious allusions were made to pearls so
brilliant that they were visible at a distance of nearly a thousand yards, or
that rice could be cooked by the light from them. And one found about the
beginning of the Christian era, near Yangchow-fu, in the province of Kiang-
su, was reported so lustrous as to be visible in the dark at a distance of three
miles.
In Persia, the popularity of pearls seems to date from a very early period.
Professor Jackson states that if they are not mentioned in the extant

fragments of the ancient Zoroastrian literature, the Avesta and the Pahlavi,
or by the Middle Persian books from the seventh century B.C. to the ninth
century A.D., it is probably a mere accident, due to the character of the work
or to the fragmentary condition of the literature; for pearls were well known
during that entire period, and seem to be indicated in extant sculptures. The
coin and the gem portraits of Persian queens commonly show ear-pendants
of these. The remains of a magnificent necklace of pearls and other gems
were recently found by J. de Morgan in the sarcophagus of an Achæmenid
princess exhumed at Susa or Shushan, the winter residence of the kings of
Persia. This necklace, perhaps the most ancient pearl ornament still in
existence, dates certainly from not later than the fourth century B.C., and is
now preserved in the Persian Gallery of the Louvre.[5] Even if we had no
other evidence, it would be natural to assume that the knowledge of pearls
was as wide-spread among the Iranians in antiquity as it was among the
Hindus, since the Persian Gulf, like the Indian Ocean, has been famous for
its fisheries from ancient times.
In the ruins of Babylon no pearls have been found; indeed, it would be
surprising if they could survive for so many ages in the relatively moist soil
which contains much saltpeter. Inlays of mother-of-pearl and decorations of
this material have been secured from the ruins of Bismaya, which Dr. Edgar
J. Banks refers to about 4500 B.C.
There is likewise little evidence that pearls were extensively employed
by the ancient Assyrians, notwithstanding that excavations at Nineveh and
Nimrud have furnished much information regarding their ornaments; and
the collars, bracelets, sword-hilts, etc., wrought in gold and ornamented
with gems, show that the jewelers’ art had made much progress. This is not
wholly trustworthy as determining the relative abundance; for being of
organic or non-mineral origin, pearls would not have survived the burial for
thousands of years so well as the crystal gems. An inscription on the
Nineveh Obelisk, which states, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson, that in
the ninth year of his reign Temenbar received, as “tribute of the kings of the
Chaldees, gold, silver, gems, and pearls,”[6] shows that the sea-born gems
were highly valued there.
The mother-of-pearl shell was in use as an ornament in ancient Egypt
certainly as early as the sixth dynasty (circa 3200 B.C.), the period of the
Tanis Sphinx. In a recent letter from Luxor, where he is studying the ruins

of ancient Thebes, Dr. James T. Dennis states that he has found several of
these shells bearing cartouches of that period; and in the “pan-bearing
graves” of the twelfth dynasty (2500 B.C.), the shell occurred not only
complete, but cut in roughly circular or oblong angular blocks and strung on
chains with beads of carnelian, pottery, etc.
So far as can be determined from the representations of ancient Egyptian
costumes, pearls do not seem to have been employed to any great extent in
their decoration. The necklaces, earrings, and other jewels found in the
tombs, which are composed largely of gold set with crystal gems, contain
the remains of a few pearls, but give no indication that they were numerous.
In fact, no evidence exists that they were used extensively before the
Persian conquest in the fifth century B.C.; and probably it was not until the
time of the Ptolemies that there began the lavish abundance which
characterized the court of Alexandria at the height of her power.
The authorities differ in regard to the mention of pearls in ancient
Hebrew literature; although in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament,
this significance has been given to the word gabîsh in Job xxviii. 18, where
the value of wisdom is contrasted with that of gabîsh. Some writers claim
that this word refers to rock crystal. Other authorities are of the opinion that
the word peninim in Lam. iv. 7, which has been translated as “rubies,”
actually signifies pearls. In Gen. ii. 12, Prof. Paul Haupt has proposed to
render shoham stones by pearls, since the Hebrew word translated “onyx,”
if connected with the Assyrian sându, might mean “the gray gem.” It does
not appear that they entered into the decorations of the Tabernacle and the
Temple, or were largely employed in the paraphernalia of the synagogue.
In the New Testament, however, there are numerous references to the
estimation in which pearls were held. In his teachings, Christ repeatedly
referred to them as typifying something most precious: “The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he
had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought
it” (Matt. xiii. 45, 46); and in “casting pearls before swine,” in that great
Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 6). In picturing the glories of the Heavenly
City, St. John made the twelve gates of pearls (Rev. xxi. 21); and what
could better serve as portals through the walls of precious stones?
In the Talmud, pearls are frequently mentioned, and usually as signifying
something beautiful or very costly, as “a pearl that is worth thousands of

zuzim” (Baba Batra, 146a); a “pearl that has no price” (Yerushalmi, ix.
12d); the coats which God made for Adam and Eve were “as beautiful as
pearls” (Gen. R. xx. 12), and the manna was “as white as a pearl” (Yoma,
75a). Their purchase formed one of the exceptions to the law of Ona’ah
(overcharge), for the reason that two matched pearls greatly exceeded the
value of each one separately (Baba Mezi’a, iv. 8).
The high value attached to pearls by the ancient Hebrews is illustrated by
a beautiful Rabbinical story in which only one object in nature is ranked
above them. On approaching Egypt, Abraham hid Sarah in a chest, that
foreign eyes might not behold her beauty. When he reached the place for
paying custom dues, the collectors said, “Pay us the custom”; and he
replied, “I will pay your custom.” They said to him, “Thou carriest clothes”;
and he stated, “I will pay for clothes.” Then they said to him, “Thou carriest
gold”; and he answered, “I will pay for gold.” On this they said to him,
“Surely thou bearest the finest silk”; and he replied, “I will pay custom for
the finest silk.” Then said they, “Truly it must be pearls that thou takest with
thee”; and he answered, “I will pay for pearls.” Seeing that they could name
nothing of value for which the patriarch was not willing to pay custom, they
said, “It cannot be but that thou open the box and let us see what is within.”
So the chest was opened, and the land was illumined by the luster of Sarah’s
beauty.[7]
The love which the early Arabs bore to pearls is evidenced by the
references to them in the Koran, and especially the figurative description
given of Paradise. The stones are pearls and jacinths; the fruits of the trees
are pearls and emeralds; and each person admitted to the delights of the
celestial kingdom is provided with a tent of pearls, jacinths and emeralds; is
crowned with pearls of incomparable luster, and is attended by beautiful
maidens resembling hidden pearls.[8]
The estimation of pearls among the art-loving Greeks may be traced to
the time of Homer, who appears to have alluded to them under the name
τρίγληνα (triple drops or beads) in his description of Juno; in the Iliad, XIV,
183:
In three bright drops,
Her glittering gems suspended from her ears.

and in the Odyssey, XVIII, 298:

Earrings bright
With triple drops that cast a trembling light.

Classical designs of Juno usually show the three pear-shaped pearls
pendent from her ears. The ancient Greeks probably obtained their pearls
from the East through the medium of Phenician traders, and a survival of
the word τρίγληνα seems to exist in the Welsh glain (bead), the name
having been carried to Britain by the same traders, who exchanged textiles,
glass beads, etc., for tin and salt.
The Persian wars in the fifth century B.C., doubtless extended the
acquaintance which the Greeks had with pearls, as well as with other
oriental products, and increased their popularity. One of the earliest of the
Greek writers to mention pearls specifically appears to have been
Theophrastus (372–287 B.C.), the disciple and successor of Aristotle, who
referred to them under the name μαργαρίτης (margarites), probably derived
from some oriental word like the Sanskrit maracata or the Persian
mirwareed. He stated that pearls were produced by shell-fish resembling the
pinna, only smaller, and were used in making necklaces of great value. In
Pliny’s “Historia naturalis,” that great storehouse of classical learning,
reference is made to many other writers—mostly Greeks—who treated of
gems; but virtually all of these writings have disappeared, except fragments
from Theophrastus, Chares of Mytilene, and Isidorus of Charace.

GRECIAN PEARL AND
GOLD NECKLACE

Of about third century B.C.

Now in Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York

From Greece admiration for pearls quickly extended to Rome, where
they were known under the Greek word margaritæ. However, a more
common name for this gem in Rome was unio, which Pliny explained by
saying that each pearl was unique and unlike any other one. The conclusion
of the historian Ammianus Marcellinus (330–395 A.D.), that it was because
each one was found singly in a shell,[9] seems scarcely correct. Claude de
Saumaise, the French classical scholar, thought that the common name for
an onion was transferred to the pearl, owing to its laminated construction.[10]
According to Pliny, the Romans used the word unio to distinguish a large
perfect pearl from the smaller and less attractive ones, which were called
margaritæ.[11]
It was not until the Mithridatic Wars (88–63 B.C.) and the conquests by
Pompey that pearls were very abundant and popular in Rome, the great
treasures of the East enriching the victorious army and through it the
aristocracy of the republic. In those greatest spectacular functions the world
has ever known—the triumphal processions of the conquering Romans—
pearls had a prominent part. Pliny records that in great Pompey’s triumphal
procession in 61 B.C. were borne thirty-three crowns of pearls and numerous
pearl ornaments, including a portrait of the victor, and a shrine dedicated to
the muses, adorned with the same gems.[12]
The luxuries of Mithridates, the treasures of Alexandria, the riches of the
Orient were poured into the lap of victory-fattened Rome. From that time
the pearl reigned supreme, not only in the enormous prices given for single
specimens, but also in the great abundance in possession of the degenerate
descendants of the victorious Romans. The interior of the temple of Venus
was decorated with pearls. The dress of the wealthy was so pearl-bedecked
that Pliny exclaimed in irony: “It is not sufficient for them to wear pearls,
but they must trample and walk over them”;[13] and the women wore pearls
even in the still hours of the night, so that in their sleep they might be
conscious of possessing the beautiful gems.[14]
It is related that the voluptuous Caligula (12–41 A.D.)—he who raised his
favorite horse Incitatus to the consulship—decorated that horse with a pearl
necklace, and that he himself wore slippers embroidered with pearls; and
the tyrannical Nero (37–68 A.D.), not content with having his scepter and
throne of pearls, provided the actors in his theater with masks and scepters
decorated with them. Thus wrote the observant Philo, the envoy of the Jews

to the Emperor Caligula: “The couches upon which the Romans recline at
their repasts shine with gold and pearls; they are splendid with purple
coverings interwoven with pearls and gold.”
Yet not all the men of Rome were enthusiastic over the beautiful “gems
of the sea, which resemble milk and snow,” as the poet Manlius called
them. Even then, as now, there were some faultfinders. The immortal Cæsar
interdicted their use by women beneath a certain rank; Martial and Tibullus
inveighed against them; the witty Horace directed his stinging shafts of
satire against the extravagance. Referring to a woman named Gellia,
Martial wrote: “By no gods or goddesses does she swear, but by her pearls.
These she embraces and kisses. These she calls her brothers and sisters. She
loves them more dearly than her two sons. Should she by some chance lose
them, the miserable woman would not survive an hour.”[15] Hear what stern
old Seneca had to say: “Pearls offer themselves to my view. Simply one for
each ear? No! The lobes of our ladies have attained a special capacity for
supporting a great number. Two pearls alongside of each other, with a third
suspended above, now form a single earring! The crazy fools seem to think
that their husbands are not sufficiently tormented unless they wear the value
of an inheritance in each ear!”[16]
The prices reported for some choice ones at that time seem fabulous. It is
recorded by Suetonius, that the Roman general, Vitellius, paid the expenses
of a military campaign with the proceeds of one pearl from his mother’s
ears: “Atque ex aure matris detractum unionem pigneraverit ad itineris
impensas.” In his “Historia naturalis,” Pliny says that in the first century
[17]
A.D., they ranked first in value among all precious things, and reports
[18]
sixty million sestertii as the value of the two famous pearls—“the
singular and only jewels of the world and even nature’s wonder”—which
Cleopatra wore at the celebrated banquet to Mark Antony. And Suetonius[19]
places at six million sestertii the value of the one presented by Julius Cæsar
as a tribute of love to Servilia, the mother of Brutus, who thus wore
The spoils of nations in an ear,
Changed to the treasure of a shell.

Or, as St. Jerome expressed it in his “Vita Pauli Eremitæ”:
Uno filo villarum insunt pretia.

We are told by Ælius Lampridius that an ambassador once brought to
Alexander Severus two remarkably large and heavy pearls for the empress.
The emperor offered them for sale, and as no purchaser was found, he had
them hung in the ears of the statue of Venus, saying: “If the empress should
have such pearls, she would give a bad example to the other women, by
wearing an ornament of so much value that no one could pay for it.”
The word “margarita” was used symbolically to designate the most
cherished object; for instance, a favorite child. In an inscription published
by Fabretti, p. 44, No. 253, the word margaritio has the same significance.
(Sex. Bruttidio juveni margaritioni carissimo, vixit annis II mensibus VII,
diebus XVIII.)[20]
While the ancient writers were familiar with the pearl itself, they knew
little of the fisheries, and related many curious stories which had come to
Athens and Rome. Pliny and Ælianus quoted from Megasthenes that the
pearl-oysters lived in communities like swarms of bees, and were governed
by one remarkable for its size and great age, and which was wonderfully
expert in keeping its subjects out of danger, and that the fishermen
endeavored first to catch this one, so that the others might easily be secured.
Procopius, one of the most entertaining of the old Byzantine chroniclers,
wrote of social relations between the pearl-oysters and the sharks, and of
methods of inducing the growth of pearls.
The principal fisheries of antiquity were in the Persian Gulf, on the coasts
of Ceylon and India, and in the Red Sea. The pearls referred to in ancient
Chinese literature appear to have been taken from the rivers and ponds of
that country, while those in Cochin China and Japan seem to have come
from the adjoining seas. The pearls were distributed among the nations in
control of the fisheries, and from them, other people received collections,
either as presents, in conquest, or by way of trade. History makes no
mention of pearls having been obtained elsewhere than in the Orient up to
the time of Julius Cæsar, when small quantities of inexpensive ones were
collected in Britain by the invading Romans. And in the first century A.D.,
Pliny states that small reddish pearls were found about Italy and in the
Bosphorus Straits near Constantinople.
A number of specimens of pearls of the artistic Greeks and of the
luxurious Romans are yet in existence, and some of these are in a fairly
good state of preservation. A notable and interesting example is a superb

Greek necklace of pearls and gold, referred to the third century B.C., and
now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Several earrings now
in that museum, in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, the British Museum, the
Louvre in Paris, and in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, are shown in this
book. Some of these may have decorated ears that listened to the comedies
of Aristophanes, the tragedies of Euripides, the philosophies of Plato, or the
oratory of Demosthenes. A number of classic statues have the ears pierced
for earrings, notably the Venus de Medici now in the Tribuna of the Uffizi,
Florence; and a magnificent pair of half-pearls is said to have decorated the
Venus of the Pantheon in Rome.[21] Pearl grape earrings are shown on the
artistic intaglio by Aspasios, representing the bust of the Athene Parthenos
of Phidias, which has been in the Gemmen Münzen Cabinet at Vienna since
1669.
The beautiful Tyszkiewicz bronze statuette of Aphrodite was acquired in
1900 by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and has even yet a pearl in a
fairly good state of preservation suspended from each ear by a spiral thread
of gold which passes quite through the gem and also through the lobe of the
ear. This statuette has been described as “the most beautiful bronze Venus
known.”[22] Professor Froehner considers that it belongs nearer to the period
of Phidias (circa 500–430 B.C.) than to that of Praxiteles (circa 400–336
B.C.); but Dr. Edward Robinson does not concur in this opinion, and refers it
to the Hellenic period (circa 330–146 B.C.).
However, considering the very large accumulations, relatively few pearls
of antiquity now remain, and none of these is of great ornamental value.
Those in archæological collections and art museums are more or less
decayed through the ravages of time and accident to which they have been
subjected. While coins, gold jewelry, crystal gems, etc., of ancient
civilizations are relatively numerous, the less durable pearls have not
survived the many centuries of pillage, waste, and burial in the earth.
A well-known instance of this decay is found in the Stilicho pearls, which
owe their prominence to the incident of their long burial. The daughters of
this famous Roman general, who were successively betrothed to the
Emperor Honorius, died in 407 A.D., and were buried with their pearls and
ornaments. In 1526, or more than eleven centuries afterward, in excavating
for an extension of St. Peter’s, the tomb was opened, and the ornaments

were found in fair condition, except the pearls, which were as lusterless and
dead as a wreath of last year’s flowers.

II

MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY

II
MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY OF PEARLS

I’ll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail
Rich pearls upon thee.
Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, sc. 5.

T
he popularity of pearls in Rome has its counterpart in the Empire
of the East at Byzantium or Constantinople on its development in
wealth and luxury after becoming the capital of that empire in 330
A.D. Owing to its control of the trade between Asia and Europe,
and the influence of oriental taste and fashion, enormous collections were
made; and for centuries after Rome had been pillaged, this capital was the
focus of all the arts, and pearls were the favorite ornaments. The famous
mosaic in the sanctuary of San Vitale at Ravenna, shows Justinian (483–
565) with his head covered with a jeweled cap, and the Empress Theodora
wearing a tiara encircled by three rows of pearls, and strings of pearls
depend therefrom almost to the waist. In many instances the decorations of
the emperors excelled even those of the most profligate of Roman rulers.
An examination of the coins, from those of Arcadius in 395 to the last
dribble of a long line of obscure rulers when the city was captured and
pillaged by Venetian and Latin adventurers in 1204, shows in the form of
diadems, collars, necklaces, etc., the great quantity of pearls worn by them.
The oldest existing crown in use at the present time, the Hungarian crown
of St. Stephen, which is radiant with pearls, is of Byzantine workmanship.
Outside of Constantinople, the demand and fashion for pearls did not
cease with the downfall of the Roman Empire and the spoliation of Rome in
the fifth century. The treasures accumulated there, and the gems and jewels,
were carried away by the conquering Goths and scattered among the great
territorial lords of western and northern Europe.

In the ancient cities of Gaul, in Toulouse and Narbonne, the Ostrogoth
and the Visigoth kings collected enormous treasures. The citadel of
Carcassonne held magnificent spoils brought from the sacking of Rome in
410 by Alaric, king of the Ostrogoths, consisting in part of jewels from the
Temple, these having been carried to Rome after the spoliation of Jerusalem
in 70 A.D. Several beautiful objects of this and somewhat later periods are
yet in existence, notably the Visigothic crowns and crosses, in the Musée de
l’Hôtel de Cluny, Paris, the most beautiful of which are probably the crown
and the cross of Reccesvinthus.[23]
Even as the treasures of Rome were despoiled by the Ostrogoths and the
Visigoths, so, later, their collections were depleted by the military
operations of the Franks, when Narbonne was pillaged; when Toulouse was
sacked by Clovis, or Chlodowig, in 507; when the churches of Barcelona
and Toledo were despoiled by Childebert in 531 and 542; and by various
expeditions in succeeding years.
The military triumphs of the Franks placed them in the highest rank
among the peoples of Europe, in the sixth and seventh centuries, in the
possession of treasures of jewels which enriched their palaces and great
churches. And the taste which the triumphs of war had developed was
maintained by the trade carried on by the Jewish and Syrian merchants. The
inhabitants of Gaul were extremely fond of objects of art, of rich costumes,
and of personal decorations; and the courts of some of the early kings
rivaled in magnificence those of oriental monarchs. Especially was this true
during the reign of King Dagobert (628–638), who competed in splendor
with the rulers of Persia and India. His skilful jeweler, Eligius (588–659),
was raised to the bishopric of Noyon, and eventually—under the name of
St. Eloi—became one of the most popular saints in Gaul. Under direction of
this artistic bishop, the ancient churches received shrines, vestments, and
reliquaries superbly decorated with pearls and other gems. Indeed, for
several centuries following the time of Eligius, the greatest treasures of
jewels seem to have been collected in the churches.
The use of gems in enriching regalia, vestments, and reliquaries in
Europe, advanced greatly during the reign of Charlemagne (768–814); and
princes and bishops competed with each other in the magnificence of their
gifts to the churches, sacrificing their laical jewels for the sacred treasures.
Few of the great ornaments of Charlemagne’s time are now in existence in

the original form. Doubtless the most remarkable pieces are the sacred
regalia of the great emperor, preserved among the imperial treasures in
Vienna.

FRONT COVER OF
ASHBURNHAM
MANUSCRIPT OF THE
FOUR GOSPELS

From the ninth century. One
quarter of the actual
dimensions.

Owned by J. Pierpont
Morgan, Esq.

An artistic use for pearls at that time was in the rich and elegant bindings
of the splendidly written missals and chronicles, finished in the highest
degree of excellence and at vast expense. An artist might devote his whole
life to completing a single manuscript, so great was the detail and so
exquisite the finish. Vasari states that Julio Clovio devoted nine years to
painting twenty-six miniatures in the Breviary of the Virgin now in the
royal library at Naples. The library at Rouen has a large missal on which a
monk of St. Andoen is said to have labored for thirty years. These books
were among the most valued possessions of the churches, and their bindings
were enriched with gold and pearls and colored stones. The wealthy
churches had many such volumes; Gregory of Tours states that from
Barcelona in 531 A.D. Childebert brought twenty “evangeliorum capsas” of
pure gold set with gems. Several of these superbly bound volumes are yet in

existence, in the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice; in the treasury of the
cathedral at Milan; among the imperial Russian collections in the
Ourejenaya Palata at Moscow, etc.; and they furnish probably the most
reliable examples of artistic jewel work of the Dark Ages.
The most remarkable specimen of these books in America is doubtless
the Ashburnham manuscript of the Four Gospels, now owned by J. Pierpont
Morgan, Esq., which affords an interesting example of the jeweler’s art. For
many centuries it belonged to the Abbey of the Noble Canonesses, founded,
in 834, at Lindau, on Lake Constance. After an extended examination, Mr.
Alexander Nesbit concluded that the rich cover of the manuscript was
probably made between 896 and 899 by order of Emperor Arnulf of the
Carolingian dynasty. Most of the ninety-eight pearls appear to be from fresh
water, and probably all of them were obtained from the rivers of Europe.
This is one of the few remaining pieces of the magnificent ecclesiastical
jeweling of that period.
After the death of Charlemagne, internal dissensions, separations and the
division of the Empire into the nations of Europe, annihilated commerce,
oppressed the people, and impoverished the arts. In the ninth century, the
Normans pillaged many of the palaces and churches in Angoulême, Tours,
Orléans, Rouen, and Paris, and destroyed or carried away large treasures.
The tenth and the eleventh centuries were indeed the Dark Ages in respect
to the cultivation of the arts; yet even during that period the churches of
western Europe received many gems from penitent and fear-stricken
subjects. The heart of man, filled with the love of God, laid its earthly
treasure upon the altar in exchange for heavenly consolation. Pious faith
dedicated pearls to the glorification of the ritual; altars, statues, and images
of the saints, priestly vestments, and sacred vessels, were surcharged with
them. The great museums and the imperial collections contain some
beautiful and highly venerated objects of this nature.
In the meantime pearls of small size and of fair luster had been collected
in the rivers of Scotland, Ireland, and France, the headwaters of the Danube,
and in the countries north thereof. In England, as noted in the preceding
chapter, they were obtained by Cæsar’s invading legions, who carried many
to Rome. Ancient coins indicate that pearls formed the principal ornament
of the simple crowns worn by the early kings of Britain previous to Alfred
the Great.

The river pearls were not so beautiful as oriental ones; but, owing to the
ease with which they were obtained, they were employed more extensively
and especially in ecclesiastical decorations, the principal use for pearls from
the eighth to the eleventh century. Apparently authentic specimens of fresh-
water pearls of an early period are the four now in the coronation spoon of
the English regalia, which is attributed to the twelfth century.
From the most ancient times until the overthrow of the Roman Empire,
practically the only use for pearls was ornamental; but after the eighth
century there developed a new employment for these as well as for other
gems. Natural history was little studied in Europe from the ninth to the
fourteenth century, except for the effect which its subjects had in medicine
and magic, which were closely allied. Largely through Arabic influence, the
practice of medicine had developed into administering most whimsical
remedies, among which gems, and especially pearls, played a prominent
part, and belief in the influence of these was as strong as in that of the
heavenly bodies. For this application, large demands had arisen for pearls,
which seem to have been prescribed for nearly every ill to which the flesh
was heir. On account of their cheapness, the small ones—seed-pearls—were
used principally; though larger ones were preferred by persons who could
afford them. While many of these so-called medicinal pearls were obtained
from the Orient, most of them were secured from the home streams in the
north of Europe and in the British Isles.
After the decadence of Roman power in the East, the rulers of India and
Persia, through their control of the fisheries, again accumulated enormous
quantities of pearls. All of the early travelers to those countries were
astonished at the lavish display of these gems in decorative costume.
The manuscript of Renaudot’s two Mohammedans, who visited India and
China in the ninth century, notes that the kings of the Indies were rich in
ornaments, “yet pearls are what they most esteem, and their value surpasses
that of all other jewels; they hoard them up in their treasures with their most
precious things. The grandees of the court, the great officers and captains,
wear the like jewels in their collars.”[24]

FRANCIS I, KING OF
FRANCE, 1494–1547

Louvre, Paris

ISABELLE DE VALOIS

By Pantoia de la Cruz, Prado
Museum, Madrid

Inventories of some of the oriental collections of later times seem to be
extravagant fiction rather than veritable history. In that interesting book
dictated in a Genoese prison to Rusticiano da Pisa, accounts are given by
Marco Polo of great treasures seen by the first Europeans to penetrate into
China. He describes the king of Malabar as wearing suspended about his

neck a string of 104 large pearls and rubies of great value, which he used as
a rosary. Likewise on his legs were anklets and on his toes were rings, all
thickly set with costly pearls, the whole “worth more than a city’s ransom.
And ’tis no wonder he hath great store of such gear; for they are found in
his kingdom. No one is permitted to remove therefrom a pearl weighing
more than half a saggio. The king desires to reserve all such to himself, and
so the quantity he has is almost incredible.”[25]
Later travelers give wonderful descriptions of this excessive passion for
pearls. Literature is full of this appreciation, and of the part which these
gems played in the affairs of the Orientals. Who has not dwelt with delight
upon those imperishable legends such as are embodied in the Arabian
Nights, of the pearl voyages by Sindbad the Sailor, of the wonderful
treasure chests, and of the superb necklaces adorning the beautiful black-
eyed women!
The returning Crusaders in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the
development of the knightly orders, had much to do with spreading through
Europe a fondness for pearls in personal decoration. Those who, like
Chaucer’s knight, had been with Peter, King of Cyprus, at the capture and
plunder when “Alexandria was won,” returned to their homes with riches of
pearls and gold and precious stones. And learning much relative to
decorative art from Moorish craftsmen, the jewelers of western Europe set
these in designs not always crude and ineffective.
Although they were well known and valued, pearls do not seem to have
been much used in England before the twelfth century, as the Anglo-Saxons
were not an especially art-loving people. The word itself is of foreign
derivation and occurs in a similar form in all modern languages, both
Romance and Teutonic; perle, French and German; perla, Italian,
Portuguese, Provençal, Spanish, and Swedish; paarl, Danish and Dutch. Its
origin is doubtful. Some philologists consider it Teutonic and the
diminutive of beere, a berry; Claude de Saumaise derives it from pirula, the
diminutive of pirum, a sphere; while Diez and many others refer it to pira
or to the medieval Latin pirula, in allusion to the pear shape frequently
assumed by the pearl.[26]
The word pearl seems to have come into general use in the English
language about the fourteenth century. In Wyclif’s translation of the
Scriptures (about 1360), he commonly used the word margarite or

margaritis, whereas Tyndale’s translation (1526) in similar places used the
word perle. Tyndale translated Matt. xiii. 46: “When he had founde one
precious pearle”; Wyclif used “oo preciouse margarite.” Also in Matt. vii. 6,
Tyndale wrote, “Nether caste ye youre pearles before swyne”; yet Wyclif
used “margaritis,” although twenty years later he expressed it “putten
precious perlis to hoggis.” Langland’s Piers Plowman (1362), XI, 9, wrote
this: “Noli mittere Margeri perles Among hogges.” The oldest English
version of Mandeville’s Travels, written about 1400, contained the
expression: “The fyn Perl congeles and wexes gret of the dew of hevene”;
but in 1447, Bokenham’s “Seyntys” stated: “A margerye perle aftyr the
phylosophyr Growyth on a shelle of lytyl pryhs”; and Knight de la Tour
(about 1450) stated: “The sowle is the precious marguarite unto God.”
The word is given “perle” in the earliest manuscripts of those old epic
poems of the fourteenth century, “Pearl” and “Cleanness,” which have
caused so much learned theological discussion and which testify to the great
love and esteem in which the gem was held. The first stanza of “Pearl” we
quote from Gollancz’s rendition:
Pearl! fair enow for princes’ pleasance,
so deftly set in gold so pure,—
from orient lands I durst avouch,
ne’er saw I a gem its peer,—
so round, so comely-shaped withal,
so small, with sides so smooth,—
where’er I judged of radiant gems,
I placed my pearl supreme.[27]

The fourteenth-century manuscript in the British Museum gives this as
follows:
Perle plesaunte to prynces paye,
To clanly clos in gold so clere,
Oute of oryent I hardyly saye,
Ne proved I never her precios pere,—
So rounde, so reken in uche a raye,
So smal, so smothe her sydez were,—
Queresoever I jugged gemmez gaye,
I sette hyr sengeley in synglere.

And from a modern rendering of “Cleanness” we quote:

The pearl is praised wherever gems are seen,
though it be not the dearest by way of merchandise.
Why is the pearl so prized, save for its purity,
that wins praise for it above all white stones?
It shineth so bright; it is so round of shape;
without fault or stain; if it be truly a pearl.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries throughout Europe pearls were
very fashionable as personal ornaments, and were worn in enormous
quantities; the dresses of men as well as of women were decorated and
embroidered with them, and they were noted in nearly every account of a
festive occasion, whether it were a marriage, a brilliant tourney, the
consecration of a bishop, or the celebration of a victory in battle.
The faceting of crystal gems was not known at that time, and those
dependent on artifice for their beauty were not much sought after. Although
the diamond had been known from the eighth century, it was not generally
treasured as an ornament, and not until long after the invention of cutting in
regular facets—about 1450—did it attain its great popularity.
In the Dark Ages, it was customary for princes and great nobles to carry
their valuables about with them even on the battle-fields; first, in order to
have them always in possession, and second, on account of the mysterious
power they attributed to precious stones. Since jewels constituted a large
portion of their portable wealth, nobles and knights went into battle
superbly arrayed. In this manner the treasures were easily lost and
destroyed; consequently, relatively few of the personal ornaments of that
period are preserved to the present time.
Among the greatest lovers of pearls in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries were the members of the ducal house of Burgundy, and especially
Philip the Bold (1342–1404), Philip the Good (1396–1467), and Charles the
Bold (1433–77), and some of the gems which they owned are even now
treasured in Austria, Spain, and Italy. When Duke Charles the Bold, in the
year 1473, attended the Diet of Treves, accompanied by his five thousand
splendidly equipped horsemen, he was attired in cloth of gold garnished
with pearls, which were valued at 200,000 golden florins.[28] We are told
that “almost a sea of pearls” was on view at the marriage of George the
Rich with Hedwig, the daughter of Casimir III of Poland, at Landshut, in
1475. Among the many ornaments was a pearl chaplet valued at 50,000
florins which Duke George wore on his hat, and also a clasp worth 6000

florins.[29] Members of the related houses of Anjou and Valois also held
great collections. Nor in this account should we omit some of the English
sovereigns, including especially Richard II (1366–1400), one of the greatest
dandies of his day.
During the fifteenth century, enormous quantities of pearls were worn by
persons of rank and fashion. A remarkable 1483 portrait of Margaret, wife
of James III of Scotland, which is now preserved at Hampton Court, shows
her wearing such wonderful pearl ornaments that she might well be called
Margaret from her decorations. As this queen was praised for her beauty, we
fear the artist has scarcely done justice to her appearance; or possibly since
that period tastes have changed as to what on a throne passes for beauty.
Her head-dress is undoubtedly the most remarkable pearl decoration which
we have seen of that century.
The uxorious and sumptuous Henry VIII of England (1491–1547) spent
much of the great wealth accumulated by his penurious father, Henry VII,
in enriching the appearance of his semi-barbaric court. In this reign, the
spoliation of the Catholic cathedrals and churches contributed many pearls
to the royal treasury; and onward from that time, they were prominently
displayed among the ornaments of the women of rank in England. Most of
the portraits of Henry’s wives show great quantities of these gems; many of
them with settings doubtless designed by artistic Hans Holbein the Younger
(1497–1543); and during the succeeding reigns the women near the throne
were commonly depicted with elaborate pearl decorations.
The cold, unflattering portraits by Holbein of the court celebrities of that
period, not only of the gracious women and of the dandified men, but of the
clergy as well, show the prominence of pearls. Note his portrait of Jane
Seymour, of Anne of Cleves, of Christina of Denmark, and the pearl-
incrusted miter of Archbishop Warham of Canterbury.
An interesting story is told of Sir Thomas More, the learned chancellor of
Henry VIII, showing his view of the great display of jewels which
distinguished the period in which he lived:
His sonne John’s wife often had requested her father-in-law, Sir Thomas, to buy her a billiment sett
with pearles. He had often put her off with many pretty slights; but at last, for her importunity, he
provided her one. Instead of pearles, he caused white peaze to be sett, so that at his next coming
home, his daughter-in-law demanded her jewel. “Ay, marry, daughter, I have not forgotten thee!” So
out of his studie he sent for a box, and solemnlie delivered it to her. When she, with great joy, lookt
for her billiment, she found, far from her expectation, a billiment of peaze; and so she almost wept
for verie griefe.[30]

Meanwhile, in the yet unknown America, pearls were highly prized, and
their magic charm had taken an irresistible hold on aborigines and on the
more highly civilized inhabitants of Mexico and Peru. In Mexico the
palaces of Montezuma were studded with pearls and emeralds, and the
Aztec kings possessed pearls of inestimable value. That they had been
collected elsewhere for a long time is evidenced by the large quantities in
the recently opened mounds of the Ohio Valley, which rank among the
ancient works of man in America. As in the Old World, so in the New, they
had been used as decoration for the gods and for the temples, as well as for
men and women.
The principal immediate effect of Columbus’s discovery and of the
commercial intercourse with the New World, was the great wealth of pearls
which enriched the Spanish traders. The natives were found in possession of
rich fisheries on the coast of Venezuela, and somewhat later on the Pacific
coast of Panama and Mexico, whence Eldorado adventurers returned to
Spain with such large collections that—using an old chronicler’s expression
—“they were to every man like chaff.” For many years America was best
known in Seville, Cadiz, and some other ports of Europe, as the land
whence the pearls came. Until the development of the mines in Mexico and
Peru, the value of the pearls exceeded that of all other exports combined.
Humboldt states that till 1530 these averaged in value more than 800,000
piastres yearly.[31] And throughout the sixteenth century the American
fisheries—prosecuted by the Spaniards with the help of native labor—
furnished Europe with large quantities, the records for one year showing
imports of “697 pounds’ weight” into Seville alone.
For two centuries following the discovery of America, extravagance in
personal decoration was almost unlimited at the European courts, and the
pearls exceeded in quantity that of all other gems. Enormous numbers were
worn by persons of rank and fortune. This is apparent, not only from the
antiquarian records and the historical accounts, but also in the paintings and
engravings of that time; portraits of the Hapsburgs, the Valois, the Medicis,
the Borgias, the Tudors, and the Stuarts show great quantities of pearls, and
relatively few other gems.
Probably the largest treasures were in possession of the Hapsburg family,
which furnished so many sovereigns to the Holy Roman Empire, to Austria,
and to Spain, and which, by descent through Maria Theresa, continued to

rule the Holy Roman Empire until its abolition in 1806, and has since ruled
Austria and Hungary.
A number of superb pieces of jewelry owned centuries ago by members
of this illustrious family are yet in existence; notably the buckle of Charles
V, and especially the imperial crown of Austria, made in 1602 by order of
Rudolph II.[32]
Two great women of that period are noted for their passion for pearls,
Catharine de’ Medici (1519–89), and Elizabeth of England (1533–1603). It
requires but a glance at almost any of their portraits, wherein they are
represented wearing elaborate pearl ornaments, to see to what an extent
they carried this fondness. And many other women were not far behind
them, among whom were Mary Stuart, Marie de’ Medici, and Henrietta
Maria. And not only by the women, but by the men also, pearls were worn
to what now seems an extravagant extent. Nearly all the portraits of Francis
I (1494–1547), Henry II (1519–59), Charles IX (1550–74), and Henry III
(1551–89) of France; of James I (1566–1625), and of Charles I (1600–49)
of England, and likewise of other celebrities, show a great pear-shaped
pearl in one ear. Many portraits also show pearls on the hats, cloaks, gloves,
etc.
When the Duke of Buckingham went to Paris in 1625, to bring over
Henrietta Maria to be queen to Charles I, he had, according to an account in
the “Antiquarian Repertory,” in addition to twenty-six other suits, “a rich
suit of purple satin, embroidered all over with rich orient pearls, the cloak
made after the Spanish mode, with all things suitable, the value whereof
will be twenty thousand pounds, and this, it is thought, shall be for the
wedding day at Paris.”
In the rich and prosperous cities of southern Europe, pearls were no less
popular. From its share of the spoils of the Byzantine Empire, after its
partition in 1204, pearls and other riches were plentiful in Venice, and they
were increased by the rapidly developing trade with the Orient. In the rival
maritime cities, Genoa and Pisa, the gem was equally popular; and likewise
in Florence “the Beautiful.” When Hercule d’Este sought Lucrezia Borgia
(1480–1519) in marriage for his son, her father, Pope Alexander VI,
plunging both hands in a box filled with pearls, said: “All these are for her!
I desire that in all Italy she shall be the princess with the most beautiful
pearls and with the greatest number.”[33]

Separated by three centuries of time and by the intervening simplicities
of puritanism and democracy, it is difficult for us to appreciate the passion
for pearls in Europe at that period, which may well be called the Pearl Age.

MARIA THERESA (1717–
1780), QUEEN OF
HUNGARY

By Martin de Mytens, 1742

The sumptuary laws which prevailed at different times in France,
England, Germany, and other countries, did not overlook this extravagance;
and an entire volume might be devoted to the efforts to curb the excessive
use. In France they were probably most stringent during the reign of Philip
IV (1285–1314), of Louis XI (1461–83), of Charles IX (1560–74), of Henry
III (1574–89), and of Louis XIII (1610–43). In Germany almost every city
had its special restrictions. A sumptuary law of Ulm, in 1345, provided that
no married woman or maiden, either among the patricians or the artisans,
should wear pearls on her dresses; and another, in 1411, restricted them to
“one pearl chaplet,” and this should not exceed twelve loth (half ounce) in
weight. A Frankish sumptuary law of 1479 provided that ordinary nobles
serving a knight at a tourney should not wear any pearl ornaments,
embroidered or otherwise, excepting one string around the cap or hat. The
regulations decreed by the Diet of Worms, in 1495, set forth that the citizens
who were not of noble birth, and nobles who were not knights, must
withhold from the use of gold and pearls. A similar provision was enacted

by the Diet of Freiburg in 1498, and likewise by the Diet of Augsburg in
1530, which permitted the wives of nobles four silk dresses, but without
pearls. In the sumptuary law of Duke John George of Saxony, April 23,
1612, we read: “the nobility are not allowed to wear any dresses of gold or
silver, or garnished with pearls; neither shall the professors and doctors of
the universities, nor their wives, wear any gold, silver or pearls for fringes,
or any chains of pearls, or caps, neck ornaments, shoes, slippers, shawls,
pins, etc., with gold or silver or with pearls.” Beadles, burgomasters, and
those connected with the law-courts were forbidden to wear chains of pearls
and ornaments of precious stones on their dresses, caps, etc., or slippers or
chaplets with pearls.
Probably in no place were these laws more stringent than in the art-
loving republic of Venice from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. This
seems remarkable in view of the fact that this city was largely dependent for
its wealth and prominence on commerce with the East, of which pearls
constituted a prominent item.
The earliest Venetian restriction that we have found regarding pearls was
made in 1299; when, in a decree determining the maximum number of
guests at a marriage ceremony and the extent of the bridal trousseau, the
grand council of the republic provided that no one but the bride should wear
pearl decorations, and she should be permitted only one girdle of them on
her wedding dress. This enactment was modified in 1306, but numerous
other restrictions were substituted, notably in 1334, 1340, 1360, 1497, and
1562. These differed in many particulars: some forbade ornaments or
trimmings of pearls, gold, or silver on the dresses of any women except a
member of the Doge’s family; and other enactments required that, after a
definite period of married life, no woman should be permitted to wear
pearls of any kind. But an examination of the documents and of the
paintings of that period shows that these decrees had little effect, and the
luxury of the “Queen of the Adriatic” in the use of pearls at the most
brilliant epoch in her history is aptly reproduced in the portraits by
Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Lotto, the great Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese,
and other artists of the highest rank. In the engraving by Hendrik Goltzius
of a marriage at Venice in 1584, not one of the many women present seems
to be without her necklace and earrings of pearls, and some of them have
several necklaces.[34] And the same appears true of the principal female

figures in Jost Amman’s noted engraving, “The Espousal of the Sea,”
executed in 1565.[35]
As preservation of the republic became more difficult with declining
resources and with the continued growth of dazzling splendor, a resolution
in the Senate, dated July 8, 1599, set forth that “the use and price of pearls
has become so excessive and increases to such an extent from day to day,
that if some remedy is not provided, it will cause injury, disorders, and
notable inconvenience to public and private well-being, as each one of this
council in his wisdom can very easily appreciate.” And then it was enacted:
“That, without repealing the other regulations which absolutely prohibit the
wearing of pearls, it shall be expressly enjoined that any woman, whether of
noble birth or a simple citizen, or of any other condition, who shall reside in
this our city for one year (except her Serenity the Dogaressa and her
daughters and her daughters-in-law who live in the palace), after the
expiration of fifteen years from the day of her first marriage, shall lay aside
the string of pearls around her neck and shall not wear or use, either upon
her neck or upon any other part of her person, this string or any other kind
of pearls or anything which imitates pearls, neither in this city nor in any
other city or place within our dominion, under the irremissible penalty of
two hundred ducats.”
And yet ten years later, on May 5, 1609, another law enacted in the
Senate stated:
Although in the year 1599 this council decided with great wisdom that married women should be
permitted to wear pearls for only fifteen years after their first marriage, nevertheless it is very evident
that the desired end has not been attained, and the extravagance has continued up to the present time
and still continues with the gravest injury to private persons. Therefore, as it is necessary to remedy,
by a new provision, not only this considerable incommodity, but also to prevent in the future the
introduction into the city of a greater quantity of pearls than are found here at present, it is enacted,
that married women as well as those who shall marry in the future (except the Serene Dogaressa and
her daughters and her daughters-in-law living in the palace) of whatever grade and condition they
may be, who have resided in this city for one year, cannot wear pearls of any kind except for ten
years immediately following the day of their first marriage; and after that period they must lay aside
these pearls which they are forbidden to wear on any part of their persons, at home or abroad, and as
well in this as in the other cities, lands, and other places of our dominion, under the penalty of two
hundred ducats. And if the husband of the offending wife is a noble, he shall be proclaimed in the
greater council and declared a debtor to the office of the governors of the revenue in the sum of
twenty-five ducats for each fine; and if he is a citizen or of any other condition, besides the penalty of
two hundred ducats and the fine of twenty-five ducats above mentioned, he shall be banished for
three years from Venice and the Duchy, and the same for each offence. And pearls or anything which
imitates pearls, shall be forbidden to all other women, men and boys or girls of every age and
condition at all times and in all places, under the same penalty of two hundred ducats. In the future
no one shall in any manner bring pearls to this city as merchandise, under the penalty of their seizure

and forfeiture. And the merchant shall be imprisoned for five consecutive years; and if he flees, he
shall be banished from the city and district of Venice and from all other cities, lands, and places of
our dominion for eight consecutive years.... And all who at present have pearls to sell are required to
deposit a list of them with the sumptuary office, so as to avoid all fraud which could be practiced in
this matter.

A copy of the title-page of this enactment is presented above.
The decrees and edicts were not confined to Venice, or to Italy, France, or
Germany; they made their appearance quite generally throughout western
and northern Europe and the interdictions of the civil authorities were
strengthened by the voice of the bishops and other clergy, especially in the
imperial cities of southern Germany. Yet the united authority of church and
state was ineffectual in stemming the tide of fashion and personal fancy,
and whether or not pearls should be worn became one of the much
discussed questions of that period.
To the question, “Whether the statute and regulation of Bishop
Tudertinus, who had excommunicated all women who wore pearls, was
binding,” Joannes Guidius replied that many denied that this was so, and
made the subtle defense that “the women had not accepted it and all had
worn pearls, and it was considered that such a law was binding only when it
was accepted by those for whom it was intended.”[36]
And as to the validity of the statutes requiring that women should not
wear more than a definite number of pearls, he decided that “such a statute

is valid and in itself good. And if the question is put whether every woman
who infringes incurs the penalty, an answer may be gathered from the
sayings of the doctors, who distinguish between married and unmarried
women. They consider that an unmarried woman is obliged to obey the
statute and regulation or to incur the penalty. But as to a married woman, if
her husband approves, she should obey the statute; if, however, the husband
objects, then the wife ought to wish to obey the statute, but in effect she
should rather obey her husband, for she is most immediately and strongly
bound to do this.”[37] Aided by such ingenious opinions as these, the women
continued to follow their own inclinations notwithstanding the opposition of
church and state.
Other fine distinctions were drawn by the lawyers of that day regarding
ownership of gems under certain conditions. For instance, it was decided
that pearls given by a father to his unmarried daughter remained her
property after marriage because “they are given for a reason, namely to
induce a marriage”; yet “pearls handed to a wife by her husband are not
considered as her property, but must be given to his heirs, since it is
supposed that they were given only for her adornment. The same holds
good as respects pearls handed to a daughter-in-law by her father-in-law.”[38]
However, the greed of fashion, which law-makers and bishops could not
arrest, was gradually satiated; and, influenced probably by the horrors of the
Thirty Years’ War, more simple taste prevailed in the latter part of the
seventeenth century.
In the meantime, improvements in cutting and polishing had greatly
increased the beauty and popularity of diamonds and other crystal gems,
and this adversely affected the demand for pearls. Furthermore, cleverly
fashioned imitations manufactured at a low cost also served to decrease the
relative rank and fashion of the sea-born gems. In the eighteenth century,
pearls were relatively scarce; the resources of the American seas were
largely exhausted, likewise the Ceylon and Red Sea fisheries were not to be
depended on, and practically the entire supply came from the Persian Gulf,
with a few from European rivers and the waters of China. As a result,
although they continued to be prized by connoisseurs, pearls were not so
extensively sought after by the rank and file of jewel purchasers.
It should be noted, however, that from the most ancient times, the princes
of India and of Persia have had their pick and choice of the output from

Ceylon and the Persian Gulf; and the largest single collections of the
Western world have never equaled the possessions of some of those rulers.
Some Indian princes have loaded themselves with thousands of pearls, and
individual ornaments have been valued not only by oriental, but by
European experts, at several millions of dollars.
The great diamond resources of Brazil were discovered in 1727, and after
a few years these came on the market at the rate of 140,000 carats annually.
At that time ladies of rank did not esteem diamonds so highly as pearls.
This distinction was accentuated by Lord Hervey in his account of the
coronation, in 1727, of George II and his consort Caroline, who wore not
only the great pearl necklace inherited from Queen Anne, but “had on her
head and shoulders all the pearls she could borrow of the ladies of quality at
one end of the town, and on her petticoat all the diamonds she could hire of
the Jews and jewelers at the other; so that the appearance and the truth of
her finery was a mixture of magnificence and meanness not unlike the éclat
of royalty in many other particulars, when it comes to be nicely considered
and its source traced to what money hires or flattery lends.”[39] In a portrait
of Charlotte (1744–1818), wife of George III, the pearls and diamonds
appear equally popular.
On the entry of the British into possession of Ceylon in 1796, the
fisheries of that country were resumed with great success after thirty years
of idleness, resulting in very large outputs for several seasons. But owing to
exhaustion of the areas, they were soon reduced, and the yield became
small and uncertain.
About 1845, pearls came on the market from the Tuamotu Archipelago
and other South Sea islands, and the industry was revived on the Mexican
coast. The pearls from these localities are noted for their range of
coloration, and particularly for the very dark shades, black or greenish black
being especially prominent. But the fashion, and thus, necessarily, the
demand, had always been for white and yellow pearls; consequently, these
black ones were of little value in the markets until about ten years later,
when they became fashionable in Europe largely through their popularity
with Empress Eugénie of France, then at the height of her power. To this
queen, pearls owe much of their high rank in fashion in the nineteenth
century; and on her head they were royal gems royally worn, as appears
from Winterhalter’s portrait of her, showing her magnificent necklace.

The discovery of the resources on the Australian coast about 1865, and
the development of the fishery there for mother-of-pearl, resulted in many
large white pearls coming from that coast. The search was confined to the
relatively shoal waters, until the introduction of diving-suits about 1880.
The use of these facilitated a considerable extension of the fisheries not
only on the Australian coast, but also in Mexico, the Malay Archipelago,
several of the South Sea islands, and some minor localities.
In America, few jewels were worn previous to the Civil War, owing to
the absence of great wealth and to the simplicity of taste in personal
decorations. The rapid increase in wealth and luxury, on the termination of
that war, resulted in a great demand for gems, and the most brilliant and
showy ones were selected, especially diamonds. This demand was the more
readily supplied by the discovery of the South African mines, with their
great yield from 1870 to the present time. So popular did that gem become
that many a young man invested his first earnings in a “brilliant,” and an
enormous diamond in the shirt-front became the caricatured emblem of a
prosperous hotel clerk.
But in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, in Europe, as well as in
America and elsewhere where gems are worn, luxury found in pearls a
refinement, associated with richness and beauty, exceeding that of
diamonds and other crystal gems, and in the last few years they have taken
the highest rank among jewels. This change in fashion and the increase in
wealth among the people developed vastly greater demands and
consequently very much higher prices. These have resulted in greatly
extending the field of search, and during the last two or three decades many
new territories have been brought into production.
By far the most important of these new regions is the Mississippi Valley
in America, the pearl resources of which were made known about a score of
years ago. As the exploitation developed, the gems from these streams
added very largely to the supply, especially of the baroque or irregular
pearls, which have increased greatly in fashion in the last ten years.

LADY MRS.
ABINGER ADAIR
LADY HON.
WIMBORNE MRS.
RENARD
GRÉVILLE
MARCHIONESS OF
LANSDOWNE
LADY LONDONDERRY
BARONESS DE FOREST

Notwithstanding the popular idea that pearls are scarce owing to
depletion of the fisheries, they are doubtless produced in greater quantities
at present than ever before in the history of the world. True, they were more
plentiful in Rome after the Persian conquest, and in Spain immediately
following the exploitation of tropical America; but it is highly probable that
in no equal period have the entire fisheries of the world yielded greater
quantities than in the five years from 1903 to 1907 inclusive. Certain
individual fisheries are now less productive than at the height of their
prosperity; those in the Red Sea do not compare favorably with their
condition in ancient times, the European resources are nearly exhausted, the
supplies from the Venezuelan coast do not equal those obtained early in the
sixteenth century, the yield from Mexico is not so extensive as twenty-five
years ago, and the same is true of some other regions. On the other hand,

the great fisheries of Persia and Ceylon are yet very prosperous, the Ceylon
fishery of 1905 surpassing all records, and the number of minor pearling
regions has largely increased.
The present value of pearls—which has advanced enormously since 1893
—is due to the extended markets and the increased wealth and fashion in
Western countries, rather than to diminished fisheries. The oriental demand
still consumes the bulk of the Persian and Indian output, and the vast
increase in wealth among the middle classes in America, Europe, and
elsewhere, has increased the demand tenfold over that of a century ago.
While women no longer appear ornamented from head to foot as in the
sixteenth century, pearls are in the highest fashion, and the woman of rank
and wealth usually prizes first among her jewels her necklace of pearls.

III

ORIGIN OF PEARLS

III
ORIGIN OF PEARLS

Heaven-born and cradled in the deep blue sea, it is the purest of gems and the most precious.
S. M. Zwemer.

T
he origin of pearls has been a fruitful subject of speculation and
discussion among naturalists of all ages, and has provoked many
curious explanations. Most of the early views—universally
accepted during those centuries when tradition had more influence
than observation and experiment—have no standing among naturalists at
the present time. And although much information has been gained as to the
conditions accompanying their growth, and many theories are entertained,
each with some basis in observed fact, science does not yet speak with
conclusive and unquestioned authority as to the precise manner of their
origin and development.
Owing to the chaste and subdued beauty of pearls, it is not strange that
poets of many countries have founded their origin in tears—tears of angels,
of water-nymphs, of the lovely and devoted. Sir Walter Scott in “The Bridal
of Triermain” refers to—
The pearls that long have slept,
These were tears by Naiads wept.

In one of his most lovely and consoling thoughts, Shakspere says:
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed,
Shall come again, transform’d to orient pearl,
Advantaging their loan with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness.

And we quote from Rückert’s “Edelstein und Perlen”:

I was the Angel, who of old bowed down
From Heaven to earth and shed that tear, O Pearl,
From which thou wert first-fashioned in thy shell.
To thee I gave that longing in thy shell,
Which guided thee and caused thee to escape,
O Pearl, from the bewitching sirens’ song.

In luster they so closely resemble the limpid, sparkling dewdrop as it first
receives the sun’s rays, that the ancients very naturally conceived that pearls
are formed from drops of dew or rain. The usual legend is, that at certain
seasons of the year, the pearl-oysters rise to the surface of the water in the
morning, and there open their shells and imbibe the dewdrops; these, aided
by the breath of the air and the warmth of the sunlight, are, in the course of
time, transformed into lustrous pearls; but if the air and the sunlight are not
received in sufficient quantities, the pearls do not attain perfection and are
faulty in form, color, and luster. However remarkable and even absurd this
may seem at present, it appears to have been universally accepted for
centuries by the most learned men of Europe as well as by primitive people
who delight in the mystical and fantastic. This opinion was recorded in the
Sanskrit books of the Brahmans and in other oriental literature. The
classical and medieval writings of Europe contain numerous references to
it; and it is found even yet in the traditions and folk-lore of some peoples.
In the first century A.D., Pliny wrote in his “Historia naturalis,” according
to Dr. Philemon Holland’s quaint translation:
The fruit of these shell fishes are the Pearles, better or worse, great or small, according to the
qualitie and quantitie of the dew which they received. For if the dew were pure and cleare which
went into them, then are the Pearles white, faire, and Orient; but if grosse and troubled, the Pearles
likewise are dimme, foule, and duskish; pale they are, if the weather were close, darke and
threatening raine in the time of their conception. Whereby (no doubt) it is apparent and plaine, that
they participate more of the aire and sky, than of the water and the sea; for according as the morning
is faire, so are they cleere: but otherwise, if it were misty and cloudy, they also will be thicke and
muddy in colour. If they may have their full time and season to feed, the Pearles likewise will thrive
and grow bigge: but if in the time it chance to lighten, then they close their shells together, and for
want of nourishment are kept hungrie and fasting, and so the pearles keepe at a stay and prosper not
accordingly. But if it thunder withall, then suddenly they shut hard at once, and breed only those
excrescences which be called Physemata, like unto bladders puft up and hooved with wind, no
corporal substance at all: and these are the abortive & untimely fruits of these shell fishes.[40]

PANAMA SHELL

(Margaritifera margaritifera
mazatlanica)

With pearls attached

VENEZUELA SHELL

(Margaritifera radiata)

Showing growth of pearls

Pliny’s views were probably derived from the ancient authorities of his
time, particularly from Megasthenes, Chares of Mytilene, and Isidorus of
Charace; and these curious fictions were incorporated by subsequent writers
and influenced popular opinion for many centuries. With scarcely a single
exception, every recorded theory from the first century B.C. to the fifteenth
century evidences a belief in dew-formed pearls.
This theory is referred to by Thomas Moore in his well-known lines:

And precious the tear as that rain from the sky,
Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea.

The Spanish-Hebrew traveler Benjamin of Tudela, in his “Masaoth” in
Persia (from 1160 to 1173), wrote: “In these places pearls are found, made
by the wonderful artifice of nature: for on the four and twentieth day of the
month Nisan, a certain dew falleth into the waters, which being sucked in
by the oysters, they immediately sink to the bottom of the sea; afterwards,
about the middle of the month Tisri, men descend to the bottom of the sea,
and, by the help of cords, these men bringing up the oysters in great
quantities from thence, open and take out of them the pearls.”[41]
From the “Bustan,” one of the most popular works of Sadi, the Persian
poet (1190–1291 A.D.), Davie quotes:
From the cloud there descended a droplet of rain;
’Twas ashamed when it saw the expanse of the main,
Saying: “Who may I be, where the sea has its run?
If the sea has existence, I, truly, have none!”
Since in its own eyes the drop humble appeared,
In its bosom, a shell with its life the drop reared;
The sky brought the work with success to a close,
And a famed royal pearl from the rain-drop arose.
Because it was humble it excellence gained;
Patiently waiting till success was attained.

Even the usually well-informed William Camden (1551–1623), in whose
honor the Camden Historical Society of England was named, accepted the
theory of dew-formed pearls. He stated that the river Conway in Wales
“breeds a kind of shells, which being pregnated with dew, produce pearl.”[42]
Also, speaking of the Irt in county Cumberland, England, he said: “In this
brook, the shell-fish, eagerly sucking in the dew, conceive and bring forth
pearls, or (to use the poet’s word) shell berries (Baccas concheas).”[43]
A recent letter from the American consul at Aden indicates that this view
is held even yet by the Arabs of that region. In giving their explanation for
the present scarcity in the Red Sea, he states: “There is a belief among them
that a pearl is formed from a drop of rain caught in the mouth of the pearl-
oyster, which by some chemical process after a time turns into a pearl; and
as there has been very little rain in that region for several years past, there
are few pearls.”

So firmly established throughout Europe was the belief in dew-formed
pearls, that its non-acceptance by the native Indians of America excited the
commiseration of the Italian historian Peter Martyr, in his “De Orbe Novo,”
one of the very first books on America, published in 1517. He states: “But
that they [pearls of Margarita Island on the present coast of Venezuela]
become white by the clearnesse of the morning dewe, or waxe yelowe in
troubled weather, or otherwise that they seeme to rejoice in fayre weather
and dear ayre, or contrary-wise, to be as it were astonished and dymme in
thunder and tempests, with such other, the perfect knowledge hereof is not
to be looked for at the hands of these unlearned men, which handle the
matter but grossly and enquire no further than occasion serveth.”[44] Peter
Martyr was distinguished for his learning, was an instructor at the court of
Spain at the height of its power, and came in contact with the most
enlightened men of Europe, consequently it may be assumed that he
reflected the best opinions of his time.
It was not long before the aborigines of America were not alone in
discrediting the views which had prevailed in Europe for more than fifteen
hundred years. That practical old sailor Sir Richard Hawkins concluded that
this must be “some old philosopher’s conceit, for it can not be made
probable how the dew should come into the oyster.”[45] A similar view is
expressed by Urbain Chauveton in his edition of Girolamo Benzoni’s
“Historia del Mondo Nuovo,” published at Geneva in 1578. From his
reference to pearl-oysters on the Venezuelan coast, we translate:

Shells from Venezuela (Margaritifera radiata) with attached
pearls

Exterior view of same

X-ray photograph of shell, printed through exterior of shell
and showing encysted pearls

Around the island of Cubagua and elsewhere on the eastern coast, are sandy places where the
pearl-oysters grow. They produce their eggs in very large quantities and likewise pearls at the same
time. But it is necessary to have patience to let them grow and mature to perfection. They are soft at
the beginning like the roe of fish; and as the mollusk gradually grows, they grow also and slowly
harden. Sometimes many are found in one shell, which are hard and small, like gravel. Persons who
have seen them while fishing say that they are soft as long as they are in the sea, and that the
hardness comes to them only when they are out of the water. Pliny says as much, speaking of the
Orientals in Book IX, of his Natural History, ch. 35. But as to that author and Albert the Great and
other writers upon the generation of pearls, who have said that the oysters conceive them by means of
the dew which they suck in, and that according as the dew is clear or cloudy the pearls also are
translucent or dark, etc., etc.,—all this is a little difficult to believe; for daily observation shows that
all the pearls found in the same shell are not of the same excellence, nor of the same form, the same

perfection of color, nor the same size, as they would or must be if they were conceived by the dew all
at one time. Besides this, in many of the islands the Indians go fishing for them in ten or twelve
fathoms depth, and in some cases they are so firmly attached to the rocks in the sea that they can be
wrenched off only by main strength. Would it not be difficult for them to inhale the quintessence of
the air there? It seems then that it is the germ and the most noble part of the eggs of the oyster which
are converted into pearls rather than any other thing; and the diversities of size, color, and other
qualities, proceed from the fact that some are more advanced than others, as we see eggs in the body
of the hen.[46]
The old theory of dew-formed pearls was illustrated even as late as 1684
on a medal struck in honor of Elena Piscopia of the Corraro family of
Venice. This bore an oyster-shell open and receiving drops of dew, and
underneath was engraved the motto “Rore divino” (By divine dew). Even
yet one hears occasionally from out-of-the-way places—as in the instance
reported by the American consul at Aden—of pearls formed from rain or
dew, notwithstanding that there seems to exist absolutely no justification for
it in scientific zoölogy.
Probably the most popular theory entertained from the fifteenth to the
seventeenth century was that pearls were formed from the eggs of the
oyster. This was intimated by Chauveton in the quotation above given, and
it was also referred to by many naturalists.
In an interesting letter, dated Dec. 1, 1673, and giving as his authority the
testimony of an eye-witness, “Henricus Arnoldi, an ingenious and veracious
Dane,” Christopher Sandius wrote: “Pearl shells in Norway do breed in
sweet waters; their shells are like mussels, but larger; the fish is like an
oyster, it produces clusters of eggs; these, when ripe, are cast out and
become like those that cast them; but sometimes it appears that one or two
of these eggs stick fast to the side of the matrix, and are not voided with the
rest. These are fed by the oyster against her will and they do grow,
according to the length of time, into pearls of different bigness.”[47] This
possibly hit the mark with greater accuracy than the observations of the
“ingenious and veracious Dane” warranted, for he seems to have had quite a
different idea as to the manner in which the pearls are “fed by the oyster
against her will” from those generally entertained by naturalists at the
present time.
However, Oliver Goldsmith settled the matter by declaring briefly:
“Whether pearls be a disease or an accident in the animal is scarce worth
enquiry.”[48] Thus it seems that notwithstanding all that had been written and
the extended attention given to the subject, theory prevailed to the almost

complete exclusion of practical investigation, with little intelligent advance
over Topsy’s “’spect they just growed.”
Owing, doubtless, to the scarcity of pearl-bearing mollusks in their
vicinities, naturalists of Europe were somewhat slow in giving attention to
the origin of pearls. This is further accounted for by the fact that the gems
occur more frequently in old and diseased shells than in the choice
specimens which have naturally attracted the notice of conchologists.
One of the first of the original observations made on this subject was that
by Rondelet, who, in 1554, advanced the idea that pearls are diseased
concretions occurring in the mollusca, similar to the morbid calculi in the
mammalia.[49]
The first writer to intimate the similarity in structural material or
substance between pearls and the interior of the shell in which they are
formed, appears to have been Anselmus de Boot (circa 1600), who wrote
that the pearls “are generated in the body of the creature of the same
humour of which the shell is formed; ... for whenever the little creature is ill
and hath not strength enough to belch up or expel this humour which
sticketh in the body, it becometh the rudiments of the pearl; to which new
humour, being added and assimilated into the same nature, begets a new
skin, the continued addition of which generates a pearl.”[50] The Portuguese
traveler, Pedro Teixeira (1608), stated: “I hold it for certain that pearls are
born of and formed of the very matter of the shell and of nothing else. This
is supported by the great resemblance of the pearl and the oyster-shell in
substance and color. Further, whatever oyster contains pearls has the flesh
unsound and almost rotten in the parts where the pearls are produced, and
those oysters that have no pearls are sound and clean fleshed.”[51]
Somewhat more than one hundred years later, this theory was confirmed
by investigations made by the famous physicist Réaumur (1683–1757).
Microscopic examination of cross sections of pearls show that they are built
up of concentric laminæ similar, except in curvature, to those forming the
nacreous portion of the shell. In a paper published by the French Academy
of Science in 1717,[52] Réaumur noted this condition, and suggested that
pearls are misplaced pieces of organized shell, and are formed from a
secretion which overflows from the shell-forming organ or from a ruptured
vessel connected therewith, and that the rupture or overflow is ordinarily
produced by the intrusion of some foreign or irritating substance.

Sir Edwin Arnold calls attention to this theory in his beautiful lines:
Know you, perchance, how that poor formless wretch—
The Oyster—gems his shallow moonlit chalice?
Where the shell irks him, or the sea-sand frets,
He sheds this lovely lustre on his grief.

In pursuance of this idea, we find, in 1761, the Swedish naturalist
Linnæus, “the father of natural history,” experimenting in the artificial
production of pearls by the introduction of foreign bodies in the shell, and
meeting with some degree of success. His discovery was rated so highly
that it has been announced by some writers as the reason why the great
naturalist received the patent of nobility, which is generally supposed to
have been the reward for his services to science.
It seems that Linnæus’s discovery but verified the old saying that there is
nothing new under the sun, for later it was announced[53] that in China—
where so many inventions have originated—this idea had been put to
practical account for centuries preceding, and the crafty Chinaman had
succeeded in producing not only small pearly objects, but even images of
Buddha, with which to awe the disciples of that deified teacher.
The method consisted in slightly opening or boring through the shell of
the living mollusk and introducing against the soft body a small piece of
nacre, molded metal, or other foreign matter. The irritation causes the
formation of pearly layers about the foreign body, resulting, in the course of
months or of years, in a pearl-like growth. While these have some value as
objects of curiosity or of slight beauty, they are not choice pearls, nor for
that matter were those produced by Linnæus.
It will be observed that the theory of Réaumur, and also that of Linnæus,
required the intrusion of some hard substance, such as a grain of sand, a
particle of shell, etc., to constitute a nucleus of the pearl; and this is the
accepted explanation at the present time as to the origin of many of the
baroque or irregular pearls, and likewise the pearly “blisters” and
excrescences attached to the shell. But not so as to the choice or gem pearls,
those beautiful symmetrical objects of great luster which are usually
referred to in speaking of pearls.
Examinations of many of these have failed, except in rare instances, to
reveal a foreign nucleus of sand or similar inorganic substance. In searching
many fresh-water mussels, Sir Everard Home frequently met with small

pearls in the ovarium, and he further noticed that these, as well as oriental
pearls, when split into halves, often showed a brilliant cell in the center,
about equal in size to the ova of the same mollusk. From these observations,
in 1826 he deduced his “abortive ova” theory, and announced:
A pearl is formed upon the external surface of an ovum, which, having been blighted, does not
pass with the others into the oviduct, but remains attached to its pedicle in the ovarium, and in the
following season receives a coat of nacre at the same time that the internal surface of the shell
receives its annual supply. This conclusion is verified by some pearls being spherical, others having a
pyramidal form, from the pedicle having received a coat of nacre as well as the ovum.[54]
Naturalists generally accepted these conclusions, that pearls originate in
pathological secretions formed, either as the result of the intrusion of hard
substances, or by the encysting or covering of ova or other objects of
internal origin; and there was no important cleavage of opinion until the
development of the parasitic theory, as a result of the researches of the
Italian naturalist Filippi, and those following his line of investigations. This
theory is not severely in conflict with those of Réaumur, Linnæus, Home,
etc., but relates principally to the identity of the irritating or stimulating
substance which forms the nucleus of the pearl.
In examining a species of fresh-water mussel, the Anodonta cygnea,
occurring in ponds near Turin, and especially the many small pearly
formations therein, Filippi observed that these were associated with the
presence of a trematode or parasitic worm, which he named Distomum
duplicatum, and which appears to be closely allied to the parasite which
causes the fatal “rot” or distemper in sheep. Under the microscope, the
smallest and presumably the youngest of these pearls showed organic nuclei
which appeared undoubtedly to be the remnants of the trematode. In
Anodonta from other regions, which were not infested with the distoma,
pearls were very rarely found by Filippi. In a paper,[55] published in 1852,
containing a summary of his observations, he concluded that a leading, if
not the principal, cause of pearl-formation in those mussels was the parasite
above noted; and in later papers[56] he included such other forms as Atax
ypsilophorus within the list of parasitic agencies which might excite the
pearl-forming secretions, comparing their action to that of the formation of
plant-galls.

Mexican pearl-oyster
(Margaritifera margaritifera
mazatlanica) with adherent
pearl

Group of encysted pearls in
shell of Australian pearl-
oyster (Margaritifera
maxima)

American Museum of Natural History

Mexican pearl-oyster (Margaritifera margaritifera
mazatlanica) with encysted fish

American Museum of Natural History

Group of encysted pearls Reverse of same group,
(Oriental) showing outline of the
individual pearls

The discovery of the parasitic origin of pearls was extended to the pearl-
oysters and to other parasites by Küchenmeister[57] in 1856, by Möbius[58] in
1857, and by several other investigators. Prominent among these were E. F.
Kelaart and his assistant Humbert, who, in 1859[59] disclosed the important
relation which the presence of vermean parasites bears to the origin of
pearls in the Ceylon oysters. These naturalists found “in addition to the
Filaria and Cercaria, three other parasitical worms infesting the viscera and
other parts of the pearl-oyster. We both agree that these worms play an

important part in the formation of pearls.” Dr. Kelaart likewise found eggs
from the ovarium of the oyster coated with nacre and forming pearls, and
also suggested that the silicious internal skeletons of microscopic diatoms
might possibly permeate the mantle and become the nuclei of pearls.
Unfortunately, Dr. Kelaart’s investigations were terminated by his death a
few months thereafter.
In 1871, Garner ascribed the occurrence of pearls in the common English
mussel (Mytilus edulis) to the presence of distomid larvæ.[60] Giard,[61] and
other French zoölogists, made similar discoveries in the case of Donax and
some other bivalves. In 1901, Raphael Dubois confirmed the observations
of Garner, associating the production of pearls in the edible mussels on the
French coasts with the presence of larvæ of a parasite, to which he gave the
name of Distomum margaritarum, and boldly announced: “La plus belle
perle n’est donc, en définitive, que le brillant sarcophage d’un ver.”[62]
Prof. H. L. Jameson, in 1902, disclosed the relation which exists between
pearls in English mussels (Mytilus) and the larvæ of Distomum somateriæ.
[63]
The life history of this trematode, as revealed by Dr. Jameson, is
especially interesting from a biological standpoint, since it is entertained by
three hosts at different times: the first host is a member of the duck family;
the second is the Tapes clam (Tapes decussatus), or perhaps the common
cockle (Cardium edule), which incloses the first larval stage, and the third is
the edible mussel, in which the second larval stage of the parasite stimulates
the formation of pearls. At the Brighton Aquarium and the Fish Hatchery at
Kiel, Dr. Jameson claims to have succeeded in artificially inoculating
perfectly healthy mussels with these parasites by associating them with
infested mollusks, and thereby producing small pearls.
From Dr. Jameson’s interesting paper we abridge the following account
of the manner in which the pearls are developed. The trematode enters
Mytilus edulis as a tailless cercaria, and at first may often be found between
the mantle and the shell. The larvæ, after a while, enter the connective
tissue of the mantle, where they come to rest, assuming a spherical form,
visible to the naked eye as little yellowish spots about one half millimeter in
diameter. At first the worm occupies only a space lined by connective-tissue
fibrils, but soon the tissues of the host give rise to an epithelial layer, which
lines the space and ultimately becomes the pearl-sac. If the trematode larva
completes its maximum possible term of life, it dies, and the tissues of the

body break down to form a structureless mass which retains the form of the
parasite, owing to the rigid cuticle. In this mass arise one or more centers of
calcification, and the precipitation of carbonate of lime goes on until the
whole larva is converted into a nodule with calcospheritic structure. The
granular matter surrounding the worm, if present, also undergoes
calcification. The epithelium of the sac then begins to shed a cuticle of
conchiolin, and from this point the growth of the pearl probably takes place
on the same lines and at the same rate as the thickening of the shell.[64]
Fully as remarkable as the observations of Dr. Jameson are the results
claimed by Professor Dubois in experimenting with a species of pearl-
oyster (M. vulgaris) from the Gulf of Gabes on the coast of Tunis, where
they are almost devoid of pearls, a thousand or more shells yielding on an
average only one pearl. Conveying these to the coast of France in 1903, he
there associated them with a species of trematode-infested mussel (Mytilus
gallo-provincialis), and after a short period they became so infested that
every three oysters yielded an average of two pearls.[65] This claim has not
been without criticism; but who ever knew scientists to agree?
In the pearl-oyster of the Gambier Islands (M. margaritifera cumingi),
Dr. L. G. Seurat found that the origin of pearls was due to irritation caused
by the embryo of a worm of the genus Tylocephalum, the life of which is
completed in the eagle-ray, a fish which feeds on the pearl-oyster.[66]
In 1903, Prof. W. A. Herdman, who, at the instance of the colonial
government, and with the assistance of Mr. James Hornell, examined the
pearl-oyster resources of Ceylon, announced: “We have found, as Kelaart
did, that in the Ceylon pearl-oyster there are several different kinds of
worms commonly occurring as parasites, and we shall, I think, be able to
show that Cestodes, Trematodes, and Nematodes may all be concerned in
pearl formation. Unlike the case of the European mussels, however, we find
that in Ceylon the most important cause is a larval Cestode of the
Tetrarhynchus form.”[67]
In his investigation of the Placuna oyster in 1905, Mr. James Hornell
found that the origin of pearls was due to minute larva of the same stage
and species as that which causes the pearls in the Gulf of Manar oyster.[68]
The spherical larvæ of this tapeworm sometimes occur in great
abundance, and there is evidence of forty having been found in a single
pearl-oyster. Mr. Hornell states that the living worm does not induce pearl

formation, this occurring only when death overtakes it while in certain parts
of the oyster. As a consequence, pearls are more numerous in oysters which
have been long infected, where the worms are older and more liable to die.
This parasitic worm has been traced from the pearl-oyster to the trigger-
fishes, which eat the pearl-oysters, and thence into certain large fish-eating
rays, where it becomes sexually mature and produces embryos which enter
the pearl-oyster and begin a new cycle of life-phases.
It seems, therefore, that the latest conclusions of science appear entirely
favorable to the parasitic theory as explaining at least one, and probably the
most important, of the causes for the formation of pearls; and that some
truth exists in the statement that the most beautiful pearl is only the brilliant
sarcophagus of a worm. This morphological change is not peculiar to
mollusks, for in most animal bodies a cyst is formed about in-wandering
larvæ. Fortunately for lovers of the beautiful, in the pearl-oysters the
character of the cyst-wall follows that of the interior lining of the shell, and
not only simulates, but far surpasses it in luster.
While the theory that pearls are caused by the intrusion of some unusual
substance has the evidence of actual demonstration in many instances, and
is unquestionably true to a large extent, yet microscopic examination of
some pearls suggests the theory that a foreign substance is not always
essential to their formation, and that they may originate in calcareous
concretions of minute size, termed “calcospherules.” As regards their
origin, Professor Herdman classifies pearls into three sorts: (1) “Ampullar
pearls,” which are not formed within closed sacs of the shell-secreting
epithelium like the others, but lie in pockets or ampullæ of the epidermis.
The nuclei may be sand-grains or any other foreign particles introduced
through breaking or perforation of the shell. (2) “Muscle pearls,” which are
analogous to gallstones, formed around calcospherules at or near the
insertion of the muscles. And (3) “Cyst pearls,” in which concentric layers
of nacre are deposited on cysts containing parasitic worms in the connective
tissue of the mantle and within the soft tissues of the body.[69]
Even a particle of earth, clay, or mud may form the nucleus of a pearl.
This was illustrated a few years ago in a fine button-shaped pearl, which
was accidentally broken under normal usage and was found to consist of a
hard lump of white clay surrounded by a relatively thin coating of nacre.

More remarkable yet are the cases in which a minute fish, a crayfish, or the
frustule of a diatom has formed the nucleus.
Several instances have been described by Woodward, Gunther, Putnam,
Stearns, and others, where small fish have penetrated between the mantle
and the shell of the mollusk, and the latter has resented the intrusion by
covering the intruder with a pearly coating. In two or three instances the
secretion occurred in so short a time that the fish suffered no appreciable
decomposition, and its species is readily identified by observation through
the nacreous layer. Among the remarkable specimens of this nature which
have come under our observation are two very curious shells received in
March, 1907, from the Mexican fisheries. One of these specimens shows an
encysted fish, so quickly covered and so perfectly preserved that even the
scales and small bones are in evidence; indeed, one can almost detect the
gloss on the scales of the fish; and in the other—with a remarkable comet-
like appearance—a piece of ribbed seaweed is apparently the object
covered.
From the foregoing, it appears that the pearl is not a product of health
associated with undisturbed conditions, but results from a derangement in
the normal state of the mollusk. Unable to resist, to rid itself of the
opposing evil, it exercises the powers given to it by a beneficent Creator
and converts the pain into perfection, the grief into glory. Nature has many
instances of the humble and lowly raised to high degree, but none more
strikingly beautiful than this. One of the lowest of earth’s creatures,
suffering a misfortune, furnishes a wonderful lesson upon the uses of pain
and adversity by converting its affliction into a precious gem symbolical of
all that is pure and beautiful. As written by a forgotten poet: “Forasmuch as
the pearl is a product of life, which from an inward trouble and from a fault
produces purity and perfection, it is preferred; for in nothing does God so
much delight as in tenderness and lustre born of trouble and repentance.” As
the great Persian poet Hafiz says:
Learn from yon orient shell to love thy foe,
And store with pearls the wound that brings thee woe.

IV

STRUCTURE AND FORMS

IV
STRUCTURE AND FORMS OF PEARLS

“This maskellez perle that boght is dere,
The joueler gef fore alle hys gold,
Is lyke the reme of hevenes clere”;
So sayde the fader of folde and flode,
“For hit is wermlez, clene and clere,
And endelez rounde and blythe of mode,
And commune to all that ryghtwys were.”
Fourteenth-century mss. of “Pearl,”
in the British Museum.

A
s Kadir Munshi says, “pearls have no pedigree”; their beauty is
not to be traced to their origin, but exists wholly in the
excellence of the surroundings in which they develop.
The pearl-bearing mollusks are luxurious creatures, and for the purpose
of protecting their delicate bodies they cover the interior of their shells with
a smooth lustrous material, dyed with rainbow hues, and possessing a
beautiful but subdued opalescence. No matter how foul, how coral covered,
or overgrown with sponges or seaweeds the exterior may be, all is clean and
beautiful within. This material is nacre or mother-of-pearl. It consists
ordinarily of an accumulation of extremely thin semi-transparent films or
laminæ of a granular organic substance called conchiolin, with the
interstices filled with calcareous matter. The nacre decreases in thickness
from the hinge toward the lip of the shell, and terminates a short distance
from the extreme edge.
Next to the nacre is the middle layer or the shell proper. In species of
Margaritifera, this stratum is commonly formed of layers of calcareous
prisms arranged vertically to the shell surface. External to this middle or
prismatic layer is the epidermis or periostracum, the rough outer coating of
varying shades, usually yellow or brown. Where the waves are rough, and

the bottom hard and rocky, this covering is thick and heavy, to afford
greater protection; but where the waters are smooth and gentle, and the
bottom free from rocks, Nature—never working in vain—furnishes only
thin sides and slight defense. As is the case with the nacre, the prismatic
layer and the periostracum decrease in thickness from the hinge to the edge,
and the inside lip of the shell shows the gradual union of the three
superimposed layers. The two outer layers are formed by the thick edge of
the mantle, the remaining portion—or nearly the entire surface—of this
organ secretes the nacral layer.
Not only is the interior of the shell made lustrous and beautiful, but this
tendency is exerted toward all objects that come in contact with the soft
body of the mollusk, either by intrusion simply within the shell, or deeply
within the organs and tissues of the animal itself. All foreign bodies—such
as small parasites, diatoms, minute pebbles, etc.,—irritate the tender tissues
of the mollusk, and stimulate the pearly formation which in course of time
covers them. At first the nacreous covering is very thin; but with added
layer after layer the thickness is enhanced, and the size of the object
increases as long as it remains undisturbed and the mollusk is in healthful
growth.
Chemically considered, aside from the nucleus, the structure of pearls is
identical in composition with that of the nacre of the shell in which they are
formed. Analyses have shown that those from the fresh-water mussels of
England and Scotland, and from the pearl-oysters of Australia and of
Ceylon, have nearly identical composition in the proportion of about 5.94
per cent. of organic matter, 2.34 of water, and 91.72 per cent. of carbonate
of lime.[70] The specific gravity ranges from nearly 2 to about 2.75,
increasing with the deposit of the nacreous coatings. The following
summary by Von Hessling[71] shows the results of certain determinations of
specific gravity:

Authority Specific Note
Gravity
Muschenbroet 2.750 at moderate temperature
Brisson 2.684 at 14° Réaumur
Möbius 2.686 4 fine pearls, weighing 2.396 gms.
Möbius 2.650 24 pearls, weighing 6.221 gms.
Möbius 2.336 63 brown pearls from Mazatlan, weighing 4.849 gms.
Voit 2.722 Bavarian pearls, 33⁄16 carats, medium quality
Voit 2.616 Bavarian pearls, 3⅝ carats, finer quality
Voit 2.724 Bavarian pearls, 1¾ carats, very fine
Voit 2.578 Bavarian pearls, gray, with some luster
Voit 2.765 Bavarian pearls, brown, ranking between good & black
Voit 2.238 Bavarian pearls, poor black pearls, impure

Cross section of an irregular pearl, magnified 80 diameters

Cross sections of pearls, magnified 30 diameters

Thin section of mother-of-
pearl, magnified, showing
sponge borings which
traversed the pearl shell

Structure of conch pearl
produced by fracturing,
magnified 80 diameters

The distinctive characteristic, the great beauty of a true pearl, is its luster
or orient, which is a subdued iridescence, rather than the glittering brilliance
of the diamond; and unless the shelly growth be lustrous it does not rank as
a gem pearl, no matter how perfect its form or beautiful its color. This luster
is due to the structural arrangement of the surface as well as to the quality

of the material. The nacreous material forming true pearls, and likewise
mother-of-pearl, is commonly deposited in irregular tenuous layers, very
thin and very small in area compared with the surface of the pearl. These
laminæ overlap one another, the surfaces are microscopically crumpled and
corrugated, and the edges form serrated outlines. The greater the angle
which the laminæ form with the surface, the closer will be these serrated
outlines, and where the plane of the exterior lamina is parallel with the
plane of the surface the lines are not present. This arrangement causes the
waves of light to be reflected from different levels on the surface, just as in
a soap bubble, and the minute prisms split the rays up into their colored
constituents, producing the chromatic or iridescent effect.
The cause is wholly mechanical, and an impression of the surface made
in very fine wax shows a similar iridescence. Also, if a piece of mother-of-
pearl be immersed in acid until the surface lime or shelly matter is
dissolved, the pellucid membrane shows the iridescence until it is so
compressed that the corrugations are reduced. About two score years ago an
Englishman invented steel buttons with similar minute corrugations
producing pearly effect, but the manufacture was unprofitable, owing,
principally, to their liability to tarnish.
In the shells of some mollusks—as the edible oysters (Ostrea) or the
giant clam (Tridacna),—there is almost a total absence of the crumpled
corrugated laminæ, and, consequently, there is little luster. In others the
nacre is of better quality, resulting in superior orient, and it probably
reaches its highest degree of perfection in the pearl-oyster (Margaritifera).
As the curvature of the surface of pearls is greater, and the minute striæ
are more numerous, than in ordinary mother-of-pearl, it follows that the
iridescence is likewise greater.
Superior nacre is more or less translucent, depending on its quality; and
to the iridescence of the outer laminæ is added that of many interior ones,
so that the luster is vastly increased. The position of the pearl within the
shell may greatly affect the quality of the material and, consequently, the
orient. The choicest are commonly found within the soft parts of the animal,
and those of poorer quality are at the edges of the mantle, or within the
fibers of the adductor muscle of bivalves.
The structure of pearls may be studied by examining thin cross sections
under the microscope, or by transmitted polarized light. It appears that

ordinarily a pearl is made up of many independent laminæ superimposed
one upon another “like the layers of an onion,” or, rather, resembling the
leaves near the upper part of a well formed cabbage. When subjected to
sufficient heat, the laminæ separate from each other, as do shells of edible
oysters and similar mollusks under like conditions. When broken by a
hammer, a pearl may exhibit this laminated formation. If not split directly
through the center, the central section may retain the spherical form; and as
this commonly remains attached to one of the parts, its concave impression
appears in the other portion of the broken pearl. The outer laminæ of many
pearls may be removed with a fair prospect of finding a good subjacent
surface, and this may be continued until the size is greatly reduced. These
laminæ are not always similar in color or luster.
However, not all pearls are laminated in this manner. Instead of
superimposed layers, some of them exhibit a crystalline form, composed of
beautiful prismatic crystals radiating from the center to the circumference.
In at least one oriental pearl examined, these crystals were in well defined
arcs, and were further separated into concentric rings of different degrees of
thickness, depth of color, and distance apart. Another specimen—a Scotch
pearl—combined in separate layers both the laminated form and the
crystalline structure.
Dr. Harley points out that some crystalline pearls apparently originate in
mere coalescences of mineral particles, rather than in well defined nuclei.[72]
Microscopic sections of crystalline pearls convey the idea that the prisms
branch and interlace with one another, and also that in some instances they
are of fusiform shape. However, these appearances seem to be due simply
to the cross sections having cut the prisms at different angles.
Pearls showing these types were exhibited at a meeting of the Royal
Society of London, June 8, 1887. That exhibit also contained a section of a
west Australian pearl of curiously complex crystalline formation; instead of
one central starting-point, it had more than a dozen scattered about, from
which the crystalline prisms radiated in all directions.
Since the three superimposed layers of the shell are secreted by separate
parts of the mantle, viz., the nacre by the general surface, the prismatic layer
by the inner edge, and the epidermis by the outer edge, it follows that if a
pearl in course of formation is moved from one of these distinctive portions
of the palial organ to another, the nature of its laminæ changes. Thus, if a

pearl formed on the broad surface of the mantle is moved in some way to
the inner edge of that organ, it may be covered with a prismatic layer; if
then moved to the outer edge it may receive a lamina of epidermis, and then
by changing again to the broad surface of the mantle it receives further
coats of nacre.

Pearls from common clam (Venus mercenaria) of eastern
coast of America

Pearl “nuggets” from the Mississippi Valley

Wing pearls from the Mississippi Valley

Dog-tooth pearls from the Mississippi Valley

The structure of pearls from univalve mollusks, such as the conch, the
abalone, etc., as well as those from some bivalves, as the Pinna, for
instance, differs from that of the true pearls formed in species of
Margaritifera. Instead of the alternate layers of conchiolin and of carbonate
of lime, many of these have an alveolar structure. When greatly magnified,
the surface of a Pinna pearl appears to be formed of very small polygones,
which, as decalcification shows, are the bases of small pyramids radiating
from the nucleus. The walls of these pyramids are formed of conchiolin,
and they are filled with carbonate of lime of a prismatic crystalline
structure. This is simply a modification of the parallel laminæ in the
Margaritifera pearls, for, as Dubois points out, in some sections we can see

portions where the alveolar formation has proceeded for a time
coincidentally with the lamellar form.
Pearls are affected by acids and fetid gases, and may be calcined on
exposure to heat. Their solubility in vinegar was referred to by the Roman
architect Vitruvius (“De Architectura,” L. viii. c. 3) and also by Pausanias, a
Greek geographer in the second century (“Hellados Periegesis,” L. viii, c.
18); but it seems that there could be little foundation for Pliny’s well-known
anecdote in which Cleopatra is credited with dissolving a magnificent pearl
in vinegar and drinking it—“the ransom of a kingdom at a draught”—to the
health of her lover Antony.[73] It is no more easy to dissolve a pearl in
vinegar than it is to dissolve a pearl-button—for the composition is similar,
and one may easily experiment for himself as to the difficulty in doing this.
Not only does it take many days to dissolve in cold vinegar the mineral
elements of a pearl of fair size, but even with boiling vinegar it requires
several hours to extract the mineral matter from one four or five grains in
weight, the acid penetrating to the interior very slowly. And in neither case
can the pearl be made to disappear, for even after the carbonate of lime has
dissolved, the organic matrix of animal matter—which is insoluble in
vinegar—retains almost the identical shape, size, and appearance as before.
If the pearl is first pulverized, it becomes readily soluble in vinegar, and
might be thus drunk as a lover’s potion, but it would scarcely prove a bonne
bouche.
Pearls assume an almost infinite variety of forms, due largely to the
shapes of the nuclei, and also to their positions within the mollusk. The
most usual—and, fortunately, also the most valuable—is the spherical,
resulting from a very minute or a round body as a nucleus and the uniform
addition of nacre on all sides. Of course, spherical pearls can result only
where they are quite free from other hard substances; consequently they
originate only in the soft parts of the mollusk and not by the fixation of
some nucleus to the interior surface of the shell.
The perfectly spherical pearls range in weight from a small fraction of a
grain to three hundred grains or more, but it is very, very rare that one of
choice luster weighs more than one hundred grains. The largest of which we
have any specific information was that among the French crown jewels as
early as the time of Napoleon, an egg-shaped pearl, weighing 337 grains.
The largest pearl known to Pliny in the first century A.D. weighed “half a

Roman ounce and one scruple over,” or 234½ grains Troy. These very large
ones, weighing in excess of one hundred grains, are called “paragons.” The
small pearls—weighing less than half a grain each—are known as “seed-
pearls.” The very small ones, weighing less than 1⁄25 of a grain, are called
“dust-pearls.” These are too small to be of economic value as ornaments.
Slight departures from the perfect sphere, result in egg shapes, pear
shapes, drop shapes, pendeloque, button shapes, etc. Some of these are
valued quite as highly at the present time as the spherical pearls, and many
of the most highly prized pearls in the world are of other than spherical
form. Indeed, pearls of this kind are found of larger size than the perfectly
round pearls. The egg-shaped pearl,[74] called “la Régente,”—one of the
French crown jewels sold in May, 1887—weighed, as stated above, 337
grains. The great pear pearl described by Tavernier—“the largest ever
discovered”—weighed about 500 grains. A button pearl received from
Panama in 1906 weighed 216 grains.
Wider departures from the spherical form result in cylindrical, conical,
top-shaped, etc. Some pearls present the appearance of having been turned
in a lathe with intricate tooling. Remarkable examples of these “turned
pearls” have been found, competing in their circular perfection with the best
work of a jeweler’s lathe.
Many standard varieties of non-spherical, but normally shaped pearls, are
recognized by the fishermen and the jewelers. For instance, in the
nomenclature of the American fishermen, bouton, or button pearls are
divided into “haystacks” and “turtle-backs,” according to the height of the
projection. Also, certain imperfections result in distinguishing names:
“bird’s-eye” refers to a pearl having a little imperfection on the best surface;
“ring-arounds” have a dark or discolored ring about them; and
“strawberries” have numerous minute projections on the surface.
During its growth, a spherical pearl may come in contact with a foreign
body, such as grit or a vegetable film, and the additional nacral layers
envelop the adjacent matter until it is entirely concealed within the pearl, its
position being recognized only by the excrescence on one side, and, with
continued increase in size, even this may be almost overcome.

ACTUAL SIZES OF PEARLS FROM ⅛ GRAIN TO 160
GRAINS

Sometimes double, triple, or multiple pearls are formed; each of these
may have a separate nucleus and grow independently for a time until they
adjoin each other; continuing to grow, they become so united as to form a
connected mass. The “Southern Cross” is a remarkable example of this. It
appears to consist of seven nearly spherical pearls attached to one another
in a straight line, and one projecting from each side of the second in the
row, thus forming a Roman cross.[75]
A few years ago, near Sharks Bay, on the coast of western Australia, a
cluster was found containing about 150 pearls closely compacted. This
cluster measured about one and a half inches in length, three quarters of an
inch in breadth, and half an inch in thickness.
When a growing pearl is very near to the nacreous lining of the shell, the
pressure between the two hard substances results in a rupture of the pearl-
forming sac and the epithelial layer of the shell, and the pearl comes in
actual contact with the nacre. The pearl gradually becomes attached to the
shell, and the under portion is prevented from growing further; the upper or
exposed surface receives other layers, resulting in the formation of a
bouton. As the shell around the pearl continues to grow, it gradually closes
about, and almost wholly conceals the pearl. Since it is constantly wasting
away on the exterior surface as it grows on the interior, it follows that in
time the shell passes the pearl quite through to the outside, where it rapidly
decays. Thus the oyster virtually forces the annoying intruder directly
through the wall of its house instead of by way of the open door, and
magically closes the breach with its marvelous masonry.

These embedded pearls are generally faulty and of diminished luster, but
in the aggregate, large quantities of imperfect ones, and especially half and
quarter pearls, are secured in this manner. Sometimes—particularly in the
Australian fisheries—large pearls are thus found, weighing twenty, forty,
sixty, and even eighty grains; and when the faulty outside layers of nacre
are removed, a subjacent surface of fine luster may possibly be revealed. In
bivalves, these adherent pearls are commonly in the deep or lower valve,
except in those unusual cases where the mollusks have been lying in a
reverse position. At the fisheries, the surfaces of the shells are carefully
inspected for evidence of pearly nodules, and these are broken open in
search for encysted objects. Cutters of mother-of-pearl occasionally find
embedded pearls of this kind which have escaped the vigilant eyes of the
fishermen.
We read of an instance in an important paper treating of the jeweling
trade of Birmingham: “A few years since [the paper was written in 1866] a
small lot of shells was brought to Birmingham, which either from ignorance
or mistake had not been cleared of the pearls at the fishery. A considerable
number were found and sold, and one especially was sold by the man who
had bought the shell for working into buttons, for £40. The purchaser, we
believe, resold the same for a profit of £160; and we have heard that it was
afterward held in Paris for sale at £800.”
A choice gem which was found in New York, in October, 1905, in an
Australian shell, sold finally for $1200.
The intrusion and continued presence of grains of sand or similar
material between the mantle and the shell causes the formation of nacre
over the foreign body, resulting in a chicot (blister pearl), or possibly a
quarter or a half-pearl. The growth of a chicot sometimes results from the
mollusk covering a choice pearl which has become loosened from the soft
tissues and adheres to the shell, as above cited. Hence, it is sometimes
desirable to break a chicot to secure its more valuable inclosure. In the
account of his interesting pearling experiences on the Australian coast,
Henry Taunton states: “During the first season’s shelling at Roebuck Bay,
we came across an old worm-eaten shell containing a large blister, which
was removed in the usual manner by punching a ring of minute holes
around its base; a slight tap was then sufficient to detach it. For many weeks
it was untouched, no one caring to risk opening it, for if filled with black

ooze, which is frequently the case, it would be of little value. At last, baffled
in his attempt to solve the problem, and emboldened by an overdose of
‘square face,’ the skipper gave it a smart blow with a hammer, which
cracked it open, and out rolled a huge pearl, nearly perfect, and weighing
eighty grains. A few specks and discolorations were removed by a skilful
‘pearl-faker,’ and it was sold in London for £1500.”[76]
Blister pearls are also caused by the defensive or protective action of the
mollusk in resisting the intrusion of some animal, as a boring sponge or a
burrowing worm, which has begun to penetrate the outer layers of the shell.
This stimulation causes the mollusk to pile nacreous material upon the spot,
thus making a substantial mound closely resembling a segment of a large
pearl. This walling-out of intruders is not the result of intelligent
forethought or of instinct, analogous to the repairing of a damaged web by a
spider, or the retunneling of a collapsed gallery by ants; it is a pathological
rather than an intelligent action.

BROOCHES MADE OF
PETAL, DOG-TOOTH, AND
WING PEARLS

From the Upper Mississippi
Valley

When the nucleus of a pearl is large and very irregular, it necessarily
follows that the deposited nacre roughly assumes the irregular outline of the

inclosed object. This is strikingly shown in pearls covering a minute fish, a
crayfish, or a small crab. Several specimens have been found in which the
species could be identified by examination through the nacreous coating.
In the American Unios there is a strong tendency to produce elongated
pearls near the hinge of the shell, which are consequently known as “hinge
pearls.” The occurrence and form of these suggest that their origin may not
be due to nuclei, but that they result from an excess of carbonate of lime in
the water, and that the animal stores a surplus of nacre in this convenient
form. There are several standard forms of these hinge pearls. Many are
elongated or dog-toothed, some are hammer-shaped, others resemble the
wings of birds, the petals of flowers, the bodies of fish, and various other
objects. A large percentage of the pearls found in Unios of the Mississippi
Valley are of these types.
Some irregular pearls or baroques are very large, weighing an ounce or
more. A well-known example is the Hope pearl, described on page 463,
which weighs three ounces. These monster pearls sometimes assume odd
shapes, such as clasped hands, the body of a man, lion, or other animal, etc.
Although baroques may have a pearly luster, they are not highly prized
unless unusually attractive, and they have little permanent value, apart from
their estimation in the eyes of admirers of the curious and unique. They are
used largely in l’art nouveau, and in forming odd and fanciful objects of
jewelry, the designer taking advantage of the resemblance which they bear
to common objects of every-day life, and by additions of gold and other
ornaments completing the form which nature had merely suggested.
Some remarkable examples of baroque mountings have been produced,
and a few are to be found in most of the large pearl collections. In a single
case in the Imperial Treasury at Vienna are baroques forming the principal
parts or figures of a horse, stag, lamb, tortoise, lizard, cock, dragon,
butterfly, gondola, hippopotamus, female bust, and three mermaids. Other
well-known collections are those of the royal family of Saxony in the Grüne
Gewölbe at Dresden; those in the Palace of Rosenberg at Copenhagen; in
the Waddesden (Rothschild) collection of the British Museum; among the
jewels in the Louvre in Paris; with the treasures of the Basilica of St. Mark
in Venice; and in the museum of the University of Moscow.
A remarkable pearl-like ornament more common in Asia than in the
Occident, is the coque de perle, which is an oval section of the globose

whorl of the Indian nautilus. The exterior or convex surface is highly
lustrous, but the material is very thin. It is commonly provided with a
suitable filling or backing of putty or cement to impart solidity, and is used
like a blister pearl. Sometimes two perfectly matched coques de perle are
filled and cemented together, giving the appearance of an abnormally large
oblong or nearly spherical pearl.
The color of pearls has no connection with the luster. In general it is the
same as that of the shell in which they are formed. Black pearls are found in
the black shells of Mexico, and pink pearls in the pink-hued Strombus of the
Bahamas. Ceylon pearls are seldom of any other color than white, and
Sharks Bays are almost invariably quite yellow or straw-colored, while
those of Venezuela are commonly yellowish tinged. But from other
localities, pearls simulate every tint of the rainbow, as well as white and
black. The most common, as well as the most desirable ordinarily, is white,
or rather, silvery or moonlight glint,—“la gran Margherita,” as Dante calls
it; but yellow, pink, and black are numerous. They may also be piebald—a
portion white and the rest pink or brown or black. Some years ago there was
on the market a large bean-shaped pearl of great luster, one half of which
was white and the other quite black, the dividing-line being sharply defined
in the plane of the greatest circumference. The pearls from Mexico, the
South Sea islands, and the American rivers are especially noted for their
great variety of coloration, covering every known tint and shade, and
requiring such a master as Théophile Gautier to do justice to them.
Many theories have been advanced to explain the coloration of pearls.
When the old idea of dew formation prevailed, it was considered that white
pearls were formed in fair weather, and the dark ones when the weather was
cloudy. It was further considered that the color was influenced by the depth
of the water in which they grew: that in deep water they were white, but
where it was so shallow that the sunlight easily penetrated, the pearls were
more likely to be dark in color. Tavernier curiously explained that the black
pearls of Panama and Mexico owed their color to the black mud in which
the pearl-oysters of those localities lived, and that Persian Gulf pearls were
more inclined to yellow than those of Ceylon, owing to the greater
putrefaction of the flesh before they were removed therefrom.[77] Two
centuries ago the color of a pearl was attributed to that of the central
nucleus, and it was concluded that if the nucleus was dark, the pearl would
be of a similar hue.[78] This theory has also been upset, for pearls are found

white on the exterior and quite dark within, and also with these conditions
reversed.

GRAY PEARLS IN THE
POSSESSION OF AN
AMERICAN LADY AND
BROOCH FROM TIFFANY
& CO.’S EXHIBIT, PARIS
EXPOSITION, 1900

The color of a pearl is determined by that of the conchiolin, as appears
from its remaining unchanged after decalcification. While generally it is the
same as that of the mother-of-pearl at the corresponding point of the shell in
which it is formed, there are many exceptions to this, and the reasons for
the varying tints and colors are probably to be found in the changes in
position of the pearl, the ingredients of the water, the health of the mollusk,
accidents of various kinds, etc. These factors will be referred to later in
discussing the pearls from different mollusks and regions; but in general it
is no more easy to explain the colors of pearls than it is to say why one rose
is white and another is yellow.
Medieval writers had much to say regarding unripe or immature pearls,
likening them to eggs in the body of a hen, which follow a uniform rate of
growth; and this idea is not entirely absent even in contemporaneous
writings. However, it is an interesting fact that the humble mollusks, like
the five wise virgins with prepared lamps, keep their gems perfect in beauty
and luster at all times. It matters not whether the pearl be removed when it

is only the size of a pinhead or not until it reaches that of a marble, it is at
all times a complete, a ripe, a perfect pearl, and the largest surpasses the
smallest only in the characteristics and properties which are incidental to
size. Imparting perfection and completion every day, every moment, the
mollusk utilizes the added time simply in enlarging its beautiful work.
Although art has made wonderful progress in that direction, the pearl,
like truth, is not easily imitated. There is as much difference between the
ubiquitous imitations and the perfect gem as there is between a
chromolithograph and a silvery Corot, or between the effects of cosmetics
and the freshness of youth. While to the unskilled, or under superficial
inspection, the false has some of the properties of the genuine, it is only
necessary to place them side by side to make the difference apparent.
However clever the imitation may be in color, in form, and in density, it
always lacks in richness, in sweetness, and in blended iridescence.

V

SOURCES OF PEARLS

V
SOURCES OF PEARLS

Rich honesty dwells like a miser, sir, in a poor house, as your pearl in your foul oyster.
As You Like It, Act V, sc. 4.

I
n 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. Other
Asiatic fisheries are in the Gulf of Aden, about Mergui Archipelago, on the
coast of China, Japan, Korea, and Siam, and also in the rivers of China,
Manchuria, and Siberia.
Aside from those produced in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the
pearl fisheries of Africa are of small extent. Some reefs exist on the lower
coast of the German East African territory and also in Portuguese East
Africa, but they have not been thoroughly exploited.
In most of the inshore waters of Australasia pearls may be secured; the
fisheries are most extensive on the northern coast of Australia, in the Sulu
Archipelago, and about the Dutch East Indies. Tuamotu Archipelago,
Gambier, Fiji, and Penrhyn are prominent in the South Pacific Ocean.
In the seas of Europe few pearls have been found, but the rivers have
yielded many; and although the resources have been greatly impaired, many
beautiful gems are yet found there.

South America contributes the important reefs on the coast of Venezuela
—the land of unrest and revolutions, whose fisheries were first exploited by
Columbus. Other South American countries in which pearls are collected
are Panama, Ecuador, Peru, etc. In North America, pearls are found in the
pearl-oyster of the Gulf of California, the abalone of the Pacific coast, the
queen conch of the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Unios of most of the rivers,
especially those of the Mississippi Valley.
Since pearly concretions partake of the characteristics of the shell within
which they are formed, it follows that practically all species of mollusks
whose shells have a well-developed nacreous lining yield pearls to a greater
or less extent. But the number of these species is relatively small. They
belong chiefly to the Margaritiferæ, or pearl-oyster family of the sea, and to
the Unionidæ, or family of fresh-water mussels. Pearls occur also in some
univalves, but not so abundantly as in bivalves of the families mentioned.
Broadly stated, we may hope to find pearls within any mollusk whose shell
possesses a nacreous surface; and it is useless to search for them in shells
whose interior is dull and opaque, such as the edible oyster for instance.
The great bulk of the pearls on the market, and likewise those of the
highest quality, are from the Margaritiferæ, which are widely distributed
about tropical waters. Although these mollusks are spoken of as pearl-
oysters, they are not related in any way to the edible oysters (Ostrea) of
America and Europe.[79] The flesh is fat and glutinous, and so rank in flavor
as to be almost unfit for food, although eaten at times by the poorer
fishermen in lieu of better fare. The origin of the name is doubtless due to
the fact that in the somewhat circular form of the shell they resemble
oysters rather than the elongated mussels of Europe, to which they are more
nearly related in anatomy. Also in that—like their namesakes—they are
monomyarian, having only one adductor muscle.
The two valves or sides of the pearl-oyster shell are nearly similar in
shape and almost equal in size; whereas in the edible oysters one valve is
thin and somewhat flat, while the other is thicker, larger, and highly convex.
In the latter, also, the hinge, or umbo, is an angular beak; but in the pearl-
oysters the umbo is prolonged by so-called ears or wings into a straight line
the length of which is nearly equal to the breadth of the shell.
The byssus, or bunch of fibers, by which pearl-oysters attach themselves
to the bottom indicates their relationship to the mussels. The possession of a

small foot and somewhat extended migratory powers—at least in the first
years of growth—also distinguish them from the sedentary edible oysters.
But from an economic point of view, the principal difference is the
possession of a thick, nacreous, interior lining in the shells of pearl-oysters,
which is wholly lacking in the edible species. Like their namesakes, the
pearl-oysters are exceedingly fertile, a single specimen numbering its
annual increase by millions.
Commercially considered, the pearl-oysters are roughly divisible into two
groups, (1) those fished exclusively for the pearls which they contain, and
(2) those whose shells are so thick as to give them sufficient value to
warrant their capture independently of the yield of pearls. The best
examples of the first group are the pearl-oysters of Ceylon and of
Venezuela, and to a less extent those of the Persian Gulf, the coast of Japan,
and of Sharks Bay, on the Australian coast. Of the second group, the pearl-
oysters of Torres Straits and of the Malay Archipelago are the most
prominent members. Between these two groups are the many species and
varieties whose shells and pearls are more evenly divided with respect to
value, including those of Mexico, Panama, the Red Sea, the South Sea
islands, etc.
Some conchologists recognize a large number of species of
Margaritiferæ, while other authorities consider many of these as local
variations of the same species. There is much difference in the size, color,
and markings of the shells in different localities, owing to varying
geographical and physical conditions. The distinction of species and the
nomenclature herein adopted are those of Dr. H. L. Jameson, who has
recently revised and rearranged the collection of shells belonging to this
family in the British Museum of Natural History,[80] and to whom we are
indebted for descriptive notes relative to several of the species.
The greatest pearl-producer in the family of pearl-oysters is the
Margaritifera vulgaris of the Gulf of Manaar and the Persian Gulf, and to a
much less extent of the Red Sea. It occurs in various other inshore waters of
the Indian Ocean, and about the Malay Archipelago and the coast of
Australia and New Guinea, although it is not the principal pearl-oyster of
those waters. An interesting account of its immigration into the
Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal was given by Vassel in 1896.[81]

This species is quite small, averaging two and a half inches in diameter in
Ceylon waters, and somewhat more in the Persian Gulf, whence large
quantities of the shell are exported under the name of “Lingah shell.” The
Ceylon variety has the nacreous lining almost uniformly white over the
entire surface, only the lip having a slightly pinkish ground color. The
exterior is marked by seven or eight reddish brown radial bands on a pale
yellow ground. In addition to its greater size, the Persian variety is darker,
and the lip of the shell has a reddish tinge.
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; in the fisheries
for all other species the value of the shells furnishes considerable revenue,
and in some localities this represents several times as much as the income
from the pearls.
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. Indeed, in several regions the shell is of more value than the
pearls, which represent only an incidental yield. As Jameson notes, the
color and markings of the shell, though extremely variable, generally
suffice to distinguish this species. The ground color of the exterior ranges
through various shades from yellowish brown to very dark brown. Its
characteristic markings consist of from ten to eighteen radial rows of white
and yellow spots, running from the umbo, or hinge, to the margin.
Several varieties of Margaritifera margaritifera are recognized. The type
species occurs along the north coast of Australia, from Brisbane on the east
to Sharks Bay on the west; on the New Guinea coast; at Formosa; and about

many of the islands of the Pacific. The well-known “black lip shell” of
Australian waters is of this species; it shows a greenish black on the margin
of the nacre. The yield of this is very small compared with that of the large
pearl-oyster of Australia.

SHELL OF PEARL-
OYSTER WITH ATTACHED
PEARL

(Margaritifera margaritifera
mazatlanica)

From Costa Rica

The Margaritifera margaritifera occurs on the eastern coast of Arabia in
two varieties, which differ somewhat from the type species. These have
been designated by Jameson as M. margaritifera persica and M.
margaritifera erythræensis. These are much larger than the Lingah shell of
the Persian Gulf, but are smaller than the Australian species. The percentage
of pearls in them is less than in the Lingah species, but from a commercial
point of view this is to some extent offset by the greater value of the shell.
The M. m. persica is more numerous in the gulf than the M. m.
erythræensis, and large quantities of the shell are marketed in Europe.
Formerly the shipments were made principally by way of Bombay, hence
the shell is known in the mother-of-pearl trade as “Bombay shell.” The
exterior is of a light grayish or greenish brown color, with yellowish white
radial bands. The nacre has a slightly roseate tint, and the margin is
greenish yellow. The pearls found herein are more yellowish in color and
attain a larger size than those from the Lingah oyster.

The M. m. erythræensis occurs also in the Red Sea and along the shores
of the Arabian Sea. Among mother-of-pearl dealers it is known as
“Egyptian shell” or “Alexandria shell,” owing to the fact that prior to the
opening of the Suez Canal shipments were commonly made by way of
Alexandria. The color of the nacre is darker than that of its related variety in
the Persian Gulf. In the trade, three grades of this shell are recognized,
classed according to the shade of color. The lightest comes from Massowah
and near the southern end of the Red Sea, and the darkest from farther
north, in the vicinity of Jiddah and Suakim.
The islands of the southern Pacific, and of eastern Polynesia especially,
yield another variety of M. margaritifera, to which the name M. m. cumingi
has been given. The nacre is of a dark metallic green, and in the mother-of-
pearl trade the shell is designated as “black-edged.” It attains a large size,
only slightly smaller than the large Australian species; many individual
specimens measure ten inches in diameter, and weigh six or seven pounds
for the two valves. Belonging to this variety are those oysters whose shells
are known in the markets of Europe and America as “Tahiti,” “Gambier,”
and “Auckland” shells, the name designating the port of shipment.
Yet another subspecies, the M. m. mazatlanica, occurs on the coasts of
Panama and Mexico, and especially in the Gulf of California. This is
likewise green-edged, and the exterior color is yellow or light brown. This
shell has been marketed in quantities since 1850, and is known in the
mother-of-pearl trade as “Panama shell.” It is smaller than the Australian
species, specimens rarely exceeding eight inches in diameter. It yields a
large percentage of the black pearls that have been so fashionable in the last
fifty years.
Since 1870, the largest pearls have been found mainly in a very large
species of pearl-oyster, Margaritifera maxima, obtained off the north and
west coasts of Australia, among the Sulu Islands, and elsewhere in the
Malay Archipelago. In the fisheries for this species, the mother-of-pearl is
the principal object sought, and the pearls are obtained incidentally. It is the
largest of all the members of this family, reaching in exceptional cases
twelve or thirteen inches in diameter, and weighing upward of twelve
pounds; while the Ceylon oyster rarely exceeds four ounces in weight. So
marked is this difference, that the Australian species is often designated the
“mother-of-pearl oyster,” and the Ceylon species the “pearl-oyster.”

Jameson notes that it differs from the Margaritifera margaritifera, its
nearest competitor in size, in its much longer hinge, its shape, its lesser
convexity, and in its color and markings. As described by him, the color
ranges from pale yellowish brown to deep brown, with traces of radial
markings of dark brown, green, or red in the umbonal area. In its marginal
region, the shell is marked by a series of circumferential lines about one
third of a millimeter apart.
Several geographical varieties of this species are recognized in the
mother-of-pearl trade, differing principally in the coloring of the interior
surface. The chief commercial varieties are “Sydney” or “Queensland,”
“Port Darwin,” “West Australian,” “New Guinea,” “Manila,” “Macassar,”
and “Mergui.” The nacre of those from the Australian coast is almost
uniformly silvery white. That of the “Manila shell” is characterized by a
broad golden border surrounding the silvery white nacre. The “Macassar
shell” lacks the golden border of the “Manila shell,” and is similar in its
uniform whiteness to the “Sydney shell,” but its iridescence is much greater.
The Margaritifera carcharium, from Sharks Bay, on the coast of
Australia, yields yellow pearls and small quantities of mother-of-pearl. This
species is small—three or four inches in diameter. The color is grayish or
greenish yellow, with several somewhat indistinct radial bands of brownish
green. The nacre has a yellowish green tint, with a margin of pale yellow,
with brown markings.
In the West Indies and on the Atlantic coast of tropical America,
especially the coast of Venezuela, occurs the Margaritifera radiata. This
species is quite small, and seems to be closely allied to the Ceylon oyster.
Like the latter, the nacreous interior is rich and brilliant, but owing to its
small size, the shell is wholly valueless as mother-of-pearl. The principal
and almost the only fishery for this species is on the Venezuelan coast, in
the vicinity of Margarita Island, the islands of Cubagua, and Coche.
The coast of Japan yields the Margaritifera martensi, which occurs
among the numerous islands in the southern part of the empire, but does not
extend beyond 40° north latitude. This species is likewise small, and closely
resembles the pearl-oyster of Ceylon, from which it differs principally in
coloration. As noted by Jameson, brown and white predominate in the
exterior coloring, and the interior of the lip is marbled with yellow ocher
and chocolate brown, instead of pink, as in the Ceylon shell.

There are numerous other species of pearl-oysters, but they are of slight
economic importance, and do not support fisheries of value.
As only a small percentage of the individual mollusks contain pearls, it
follows that vast quantities are destroyed without any return whatever, and
handling them merely adds to the expense of the industry, as well as
reduces the resources of the reefs. This could be obviated if it were
possible, without opening them, to determine the individual mollusks
containing pearls.
Among the several methods proposed for this purpose, especially
interesting is the use of X-rays, which was suggested by Raphael Dubois of
Lyons, France, in 1901.[82] The shells of some pearl-oysters—those of
Ceylon and of Venezuela for instance—are relatively thin, and it was
thought that by the means of the rays the presence of pearls could be
ascertained, and non-pearl-bearers could be saved from opening, and be
returned to the reefs without injury. Although the calcareous shell partly
interrupts the radiations, it is not difficult to recognize the presence of large
pearls.
The theory has never been found practical in application, owing largely
to the rough and irregular exterior of the shell and the small size of the
pearls. The presence of the larger pearls may be ascertained by this method;
but it is exceedingly probable that a very large percentage of the small ones,
and especially the seed-pearls, would be overlooked. Furthermore, if in
their sixth year oysters contain no pearls, the probability of appearance
therein later is very small, and little benefit would result from their return to
the water. As to saving the trouble of opening the non-pearl-bearing
mollusks, labor in the pearling regions is usually inexpensive, and this cost
is far more than offset by the reasonable certainty of securing practically all
the small as well as the large pearls by the present method of operation.
Owing to the greater thickness and the economic value of the large pearl-
oysters—as those of Australia or of Mexico, for instance—the application
of X-rays to them is obviously impractical. However, when pearl-oyster
culture becomes a highly developed industry, with personal ownership in
those mollusks returned to the water, some method such as this might be of
great value.
Pearls are yielded by various species of Unionidæ or Naiades occurring
in the rivers of America, Scotland, Saxony, Bavaria, Norway, Sweden,

Russia, France, China, etc. These mollusks exist exclusively in the fresh-
water streams, lakes, and ponds, and quickly die when submerged in salt
water. The Unionidæ are of particular interest in America, as it is here that
this group is most abundant, and nearly every stream east of the Rocky
Mountains contains more or less of them. The Mississippi basin abounds in
Unios, or “clams,” as they are known to the fishermen of that region, and
furnishes about 400 of the 1000 recognized species of this important family.
The Unios are most abundant in clear, running water, where the bottom is
gravelly or sandy. The interiors of the shells are iridescent, and vary greatly
in tint, exhibiting many delicate shades of color from silvery white to straw
color, pink, purple, brown, etc.
About five hundred species of American fresh-water mussels have been
recognized by conchologists. Many of these differ from one another so very
slightly that they are scarcely distinguishable from an examination of the
shells themselves, or even from the descriptions, and a detailed index to the
complete list is of little economic importance. The professional fishermen
and the shell-buyers take the trouble to name only the species with which
they deal, which includes only about twenty-five species, all of which are
margaritiferous, though some to a greater extent than others. In the pearling
regions a popular nomenclature exists, the names given by the fishermen
having reference to the shape, color, etc.
The niggerhead (Quadrula ebena) is the most numerous in the
Mississippi, and it is extensively used in button manufacture. The thick
shell of this species is almost round, with a black outer surface and a pearly
white interior. At maturity it averages about four inches in diameter and
four ounces in weight. Owing to its uniform whiteness and the flatness of
its surface, it is well adapted to button manufacture, and for this purpose
more than twenty thousand tons are taken in the Mississippi Valley every
year. When the fishery originated, the niggerhead was very abundant in
some places, and especially between La Crosse and Burlington. From a
single bed near New Boston, Illinois, measuring about 200 acres in area,
7500 tons, or about 70,000,000 individual shells, were removed in three
years. In 1897, a bed of 320 acres near Muscatine furnished 500 tons, or
about 4,750,000 shells. This species occasionally yields valuable pearls.
Two species of Unios, Quadrula undulata and Q. plicata, are known
among the fishermen as “three-ridges.” The former is also known as the

“blue-point” from the fact that the sharp edge is usually tinged faint blue on
the inside. Although not the best for button manufacture, the shells yield the
greatest number of pearls.

PINNA OR WING SHELL
(Pinna seminuda)

One third natural size

PEARL-OYSTER OF
CEYLON (Margaritifera
vulgaris)

Natural size

A species somewhat similar to the niggerhead is the bullhead
(Pleurobema æsopus). This shell is thick and opaque, the nacre is not so
iridescent as that of the niggerhead, nor does it yield pearls of such good

quality. These two species are not evenly distributed over the bottom of the
streams, but occur in great patches or beds, sometimes several feet in
thickness and covering many hundreds of acres. Some of the beds are
several miles in length, and they may be separated by twenty or thirty miles
in which the mollusks are so scarce that profitable fishing can not be made;
but usually the reefs are smaller and more closely situated.
The sand shells (Lampsilis)—of which there are several species—do not
occur in large beds, but are scattered over the sandy beaches and sloping
mud-banks. In shape they are narrow and long, adults measuring five or six
inches in length. Owing to the small waste in cutting, due to uniformity in
thickness, these shells are sold to button manufacturers for more than the
niggerhead, which in turn is more valuable than the bullhead.
The buckhorn (Tritigonia verrucosa) is very long and narrow; on the dark
brown exterior it is rough, as is the horn from which it takes its name, while
the interior shows a beautiful display of colors. This is not found in beds,
but lies scattered among other species. It sells at a relatively high price—
usually in excess of $20 per ton—for button manufacture.
Another species is the butterfly (Plagiola securis), which is very prettily
marked on the outside with faintly colored dotted stripes of varying length.
Over a background of dark yellow run black stripes to the outer edge of the
shell, with dark dots between the stripes. The shell is small and thick, and
like the sand shell and the buckhorn, is found in small quantities. Owing to
the beauty and permanency of its luster, this shell is in demand for button
manufacture, and its pearls are often very beautiful.
Other well-known species are the pancake (Lampsilis alatus), the maple-
leaf (Quadrula wardi), and hackle-back (Symphynota complanata). On the
Atlantic seaboard, the principal species in which pearls have been found are
Unio complanata; the Alasmodon arcuata, which has hinge teeth, and a
species of Anodon. Pearls from the Unio complanata are usually smaller
but more lustrous than those from either of the other species.
Among the many fresh-water mussels are found some remarkable
conditions of animal life. Probably the most curious is the parasitic stage of
certain species. When hatched from the egg, each one of these is provided
with hooks or spines, by means of which it attaches itself to the gills or fins
of a swimming fish and becomes embedded therein. After confinement in
this cyst for a period of two months or more, the small mollusk works its

way out and falls to the bottom of the river or pond, where its development
continues along lines more conventional to molluscan life.
In most of the species of Unios the sexes are separate; but it has been
determined that in some the individuals are provided with both sets of
sexual organs. It is claimed by some naturalists that certain species may
change from one sex to another; yet this does not seem to have been
positively established.
Not the least interesting of the habits of the Unios is the manner in which
they “walk,” bushels of them changing their habitation in a few hours. The
shell opens slightly and the muscular tongue-like “foot” is thrust out, and by
pressure of this on the bottom, the mollusk is propelled in a jerky, jumpy
movement with more speed than one would suppose possible for the
apparently inert creature.
The number of eggs produced by an individual in one season ranges from
a few hundred in some species to many millions in others, as in the
Quadrula heros, for instance. Most of the fresh-water mollusks are of slow
growth, reaching maturity in six or eight years, and it is believed that if
undisturbed they live to be from fifteen to fifty years old; indeed, some
writers credit them with attaining an age of one hundred years.
While outwardly there is no positive indication of the existence of pearls,
they are relatively scarce in young mollusks, and likewise in those having a
normal, healthy appearance, with smooth exterior free from blemishes, and
they are found generally in the older, irregular, and deformed shells, which
bear excrescences and the marks of having parasites. However, some of the
choicest pearls have come from shells relatively young and apparently in
perfect condition.
It has been pointed out that with the fresh-water Unios there are three
indications on which the fishermen to some extent rely for determining the
presence of pearls from the outward aspects of the shell. There are, first, the
thread or elevated ridge extending from the vertex to the edge; second, the
kidney-shape of the shell, and third, the contortion of both valves toward
the middle plane of the mollusk.
A single mollusk may contain several small pearls,—more than one
hundred have been found,—but in such cases usually none has commercial
value. Ordinarily only one is found in the examination of very many shells.
Of these objects it may be truthfully said that “many are found, but few are

chosen,” few that are of first quality or are worthy of a fine necklace. In
many instances, several pounds of cheap pearls would be gladly exchanged
for a choice gem weighing an equal number of grains.
On the Atlantic seaboard of America, the Anodontas, or “mussels,” as
they are known locally, are more numerous than the Unios. They prefer the
still waters of the ponds and lakes, rather than the swift currents of the
streams. The shell is much thinner than that of the Unios, and it is usually
not so brilliant in color and iridescence; consequently the pearly concretions
obtained from them are less lustrous.
The rivers of Europe, and of Asia also, contain numbers of pearl-bearing
mussels. In many localities the yield of pearls has at times attracted
attention and produced much profit, though probably never equaling the
present extent of the Mississippi River finds. The principal pearl-bearer of
Europe is the Unio margaritifera, the shell of which has been of some local
importance in the manufacture of pearl buttons. In Great Britain it is known
as the pearl-mussel; in France as the moule or huître perlière; in Germany
as perlenmuschel; in Belgium as paarl mossel de rivieren; in Denmark as
perle-skiael; in Sweden as perlmussla; in Russia as schemtschuschuaja
rakavina, and in Finland as simpsuckan cuosi. The Unio margaritifera
likewise exists in Siberia, and possibly elsewhere in Asia. Other species of
Unio exist there and in Mongolia, Manchuria, etc., as, for instance, U.
mongolicus, U. dahuricus, etc. A leading species in eastern China, the
Dipsas plicatus, has long been extensively employed in the artificial
production of pearly objects or culture pearls.[83] Unio pearls show less
uniformity of tints than those derived from the pearl-oysters. They present
an extended series of shades, corresponding to those on the interior of the
shells, from almost perfect white through various tints of cream, pink,
yellow, bright red, blue, green, russet, and brown. The metallic shades are
numerous, especially the steels and the coppers.
Most of the members of the Mytilidæ family, which includes the marine
mussels, are of slight luster; and the pearly concretions found in them are of
the grade known as “druggists’ pearls,” so-called because, formerly, they
were used in a powdered form in astringent and other medicines. However,
some of these mussels on the European coast yield pearls that are fairly
lustrous. The white and the pink are most numerous, but purple, red,
bronze, and yellow are by no means uncommon.

A few pearls are also obtained from the sea-wings or wing-shells (Pinna),
the silkworms of the sea, found in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the
Indian Ocean, the southern coast of America, and elsewhere. These shells
are narrow at the umbo, or hinge, long, and fan-shaped; they are generally
brittle, and present a horn-like appearance. The interior is commonly of a
silvery reddish or orange-colored hue, and this tint is imparted to the pearls.
The most characteristic feature of the Pinna is the thick rope of silky fibers,
from four to ten, and sometimes twenty or more inches in length,
constituting the byssus, a remarkable provision by means of which it
anchors itself to the bottom and thus outrides the storm. Formerly the
byssus was gathered in Sicily, washed in soap and water, dried, corded, and
fabricated into gloves and similar articles of a fine texture. The finished
garments were of a beautiful golden brown color, resembling the burnished
gold on the backs of some splendid flies or beetles.
The yield of Pinna pearls is very small. A few are obtained from the
Mediterranean, especially on the Adriatic coast. These are usually rose-
tinted or reddish in color, but of diminished orient, and inferior in size.
Pinna pearls are also reported from the Isle of Pines and from New
Caledonia, where they are commonly very dark, almost black in color.
The window-glass shell (Placuna placenta), the vitre chinoise of some
writers, yields a few small, irregularly shaped pearls of a dull leaden color.
It occurs in the inshore waters of the Indian and the southwestern Pacific
oceans; fisheries are prosecuted in Tablegram Lake, near Trincomali, on the
northeast coast of Ceylon; on the coast of Borneo, especially at Pados Bay,
and to a less extent in some other localities. This mollusk is quite distinct
from the true pearl-oyster, and in adult life is devoid of the byssus, living on
the muddy bottom of the shallow waters. The shell is almost circular, the
right valve is quite flat, and the left only slightly convex. It is remarkable
for its transparency, especially in the first year of growth, when the beating
of the heart of the mollusk is visible through it. Reaching maturity in about
two years, the shell becomes white and translucent, resembling pressed
isinglass somewhat in its texture. It then measures about six or seven inches
in length, and nearly the same in width. The outside is rough; the interior is
glazed over and has a subdued pearly luster. It is so thin and transparent that
with a strong light very coarse print can be read through it. It is commonly
used in the East Indies as a substitute for glass in windows, admitting a soft
mellow light into the room. For this purpose it is usually cut into small

rectangular or diamond-shaped pieces, about five or six square inches in
area, and these are inserted into sash frames. It forms a good economical
substitute for glass, not only in windows of native residences, but also in
lanterns and the like.

SHELL AND PEARLS OF
THE COMMON CONCH

(Strombus gigas)

Of Florida and the West
Indies

The giant clam (Tridacna gigas) of tropical waters yields a few large
opal-white symmetrical pearls, with faint luster and of little value. The
transversely oval shell of the Tridacna, with its great squamous ribs, is
probably the largest and heaviest in existence, single pairs weighing upward
of 500 pounds. It is found in tropical seas, and especially in the Indian
Ocean. It is much used for ornament, particularly for fountain-basins, and
for bénitiers, or holy-water fonts. A beautiful pair used as bénitiers in the
Church of St. Sulpice in Paris is said to have been a gift of the Republic of
Venice to Francis I. There seems to be no established fishery for this
mollusk, and the pearls very rarely come on the market. About four years
ago in New York City an effort was made to market one weighing about
200 grains. The owner represented that it was a “cocoanut pearl,” and

offered to sell it for $2000; whereas its actual value was probably not over
$10 or $20, and that only for a museum collection.
Pearls of slight luster also occur in the quahog, or hard clam (Venus
mercenaria), of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Although these are
rare, they are generally of good form, and some weigh upward of eighty
grains each. They are commonly of dark color, purplish, ordinarily, but they
may be white, pale lilac, brown, and even purplish black, or black. The
white ones—which so nearly resemble ivory buttons as readily to pass for
them at a casual glance—are of little value; but fine dark ones have retailed
at from $10 to $100 each. There is little demand for them, for unless the
color is very good, they possess slight beauty, lacking the orient peculiar to
choice pearls. Pearls have also been reported from the edible clam of the
Pacific coast of America.
Shelly concretions are found in the edible oyster of America (Ostrea
virginica), as well as in that of Europe (O. edulis); but these are commonly
objects of personal interest or of local curiosity, rather than of artistic or
commercial value, as they are lacking in luster and iridescence. Most of
them are dull or opal-white, some are purple, and a few are white on one
side and purple on the other. As many as fifty of these formations have been
found in a single oyster. Sometimes they are of odd appearance, suggesting
the human eye or face, and recently one was found which bore a striking
resemblance to a human skull. Notwithstanding many news items to the
contrary, it is doubtful whether the choicest pearl from an edible oyster
would sell for as high as $20 on its own merits; professional shuckers have
opened thousands of bushels of oysters without finding one which would
sell for ten cents.
Among univalves, the most prominent pearl-producer is probably the
common conch or great conch (Strombus gigas) of the West Indies and the
Florida coast, which secretes beautiful pink pearls of considerable value.
This is one of the largest of the univalve shells, some individuals measuring
twelve inches in length, and weighing five or six pounds. 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 thousands 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.
The ear-shells or abalones (Haliotidæ) found on the coasts of California,
Japan, New Zealand, and other localities in the Pacific, secrete pearly
concretions, sometimes with fine luster, but usually of small value. These
shells resemble in general outline the form of the human ear. Distinguishing
characteristics are the flatly-spiral bowl-like shape, and the regular series of
holes in the back near the distal margin, for the admission of water to the
respiratory organs. The holes are on the left side and parallel with the
columellar lip, and those nearest the apex close up as the shell increases in
size. The shells are rough externally, but beautifully nacreous within. In
variety and intensity of coloring, the nacre is superior to that of the pearl-
oysters, but it is not so harmonious, and it does not form so thick and flat a
layer.
Abalone pearls are especially interesting on account of their brilliant and
unusual colors. Green predominates, but blue and yellow also occur.
Although commonly very small, some of the well formed ones exceed
seventy-five grains in weight, and those of irregular shape may be very
much larger. The ear-shells also produce many irregular pearly masses.
Although these are without an established commercial value, their beautiful
greenish or bluish tints adapt them for artistic jeweled objects, such as the
body of a fly or of a beetle.
Similar concretions are found in species of turbos and turbinella,
especially the Indian chank (Turbinella rapa), which yields pink and pale
red pearls. The pearly nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) yields a few yellowish
pearls, especially those taken in Australian waters; but from the paper
nautilus—“the sea-born sailor of his shell canoe”—no pearls are obtained,
owing to the non-lustrous nature of the shell.
In bygone days, especially in Asia, and also to some extent in Europe,
pearls were credited as coming from many non-molluscan sources. The
Rabbis had the idea that they came also from fish, as noted in the story of a
tailor who was rewarded by finding a pearl in one which he bought (Gen. R.
xi. 5). The Raganighantu of Narahari, a Kashmir physician of about 1240
A.D., reported them as coming from bamboos, cocoanuts, heads of
elephants, bears, serpents, whales, fish, etc.;[84] although it conceded that
these were deficient in luster, which is recognized as the characteristic

feature of pearls. We understand, therefore, that this use of the word
signifies only hard concretions of a spherical form. In the apology for his
book, prison-bound Bunyan wrote:
A pearl may in a toad’s head dwell,
And may be found in an oyster shell.

The crystal gems—the diamonds, rubies, etc.—are practically unlimited
in their longevity, existing thousands of years unchanged in condition.
Except those which have been discovered by man, the earth contains about
as many as it ever did, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that in course
of time a considerable percentage of the total will be discovered. But in the
seas as well as in the rivers, the longevity of pearls is greatly restricted, and
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear[85]

to run their course of existence and decay unseen and unknown. Perishable
while in the seas, almost as cereals and fruits on land, the harvest must be
gathered with promptness or it is wasted. And it seems probable that only a
small percentage of the beautiful gems produced in the waters have
gladdened the sight of man.
With considerable hesitancy we have attempted to estimate the number of
persons employed in the pearl fisheries of the world, and the aggregate local
value of their catch. For two or three regions, this is not a matter of great
difficulty. For instance, the divers employed in the Ceylon fishery are
numbered each season, and the auction sales of their catch furnish a
reasonably satisfactory basis for determining the value of the output.
Likewise in Australia, Venezuela, and some minor localities, the fishermen
are numbered; but the reports are less satisfactory as to the value of the
pearls. 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.

Contending with these many difficulties, we venture to present the
following estimate of the number of persons employed in the pearl fisheries
of the world, and the value of the output in 1906.

Localities. Pearls
Fishermen Local Shells Local
No. Values. Values.
Asia:
Persian Gulf 35,000 $4,000,000 $110,000
Ceylon[86] 18,500 1,200,000 40,000
India 1,250 100,000 95,000
Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, etc.[87] 3,000 200,000 150,000
China, Japan, Siberia, etc. 20,000 400,000 50,000

Total 77,750 $5,900,000 $445,000
Europe:
British Isles 200 15,000
Continent of Europe 1,000 100,000 3,000

Total 1,200 $115,000 $3,000
Islands of the Pacific:
South Sea islands 4,500 125,000 500,000
Australian coast[88] 6,250 450,000 1,200,000
Malay Archipelago 5,000 300,000 800,000

Total 15,750 $875,000 $2,500,000
America:
United States rivers 8,500 650,000 350,000
Venezuela 1,900 275,000 10,000
Mexico 1,250 210,000 200,000
Panama 400 40,000 75,000
Miscellaneous 1,000 75,000 25,000

Total 13,050 $1,250,000 $660,000

Grand total 107,750 $8,140,000 $3,608,000

Our returns do not represent the annual output of pearls in the values best
known to gem buyers. The difference in price between pearls in the

fisherman’s hands in the Persian Gulf or at the Pacific islands, and that for
which they are exchanged over the counters in New York or Paris, is nearly
as great as the difference in value of wool on the sheep’s back and of the
same material woven into fashionable fabrics. For each dollar received by
the fisherman, the retail buyer probably pays three; and it is not
unreasonable to suppose that the pearls herein represented probably sold
ultimately for an aggregate of $24,420,000.
This summary falls far short in giving a correct idea of the importance of
the pearl fisheries in furnishing a livelihood to humanity; for it takes no
consideration of that great body of men who contribute incidentally to the
prosecution of the fisheries, such as shell-openers, pearl-washers,
watchmen, cooks, laborers, etc. In the Ceylon pearl fishery of 1906, for
instance, our estimate shows 18,500 fishermen; but there were 40,000
persons engaged at the pearl camp alone, and many others were given
employment in boat-building, supplying provisions, selling the pearls, etc.,
and this does not include the wives and children depending on the industry
for sustenance. Indeed, it seems not unreasonable to estimate that instead of
only the 18,500 fishermen, 85,000 persons were in a large measure
dependent for their livelihood on the Ceylon fishery in 1906.
Estimated on the same basis, we have a total of 500,000 persons
depending largely on the pearl fisheries of the world for their support. Thus
we see that pearl buyers and pearl wearers not only gratify a commendable
admiration for the beautiful, but contribute largely to the economic balance
whereby one class of humanity either sustains or is dependent upon another,
even though these classes be so widely separated as the crown of Russia
from the half-starved diver of the tropical seas. How strange is the
providence of God, who, by granting the pearl to the poor Arab, the Tamil
of India, the South Sea Islander, and the forgotten Selang of Mergui, makes
the greatest and wealthiest in the world contribute to their support.

VI

PEARLS FROM ASIA

THE PERSIAN GULF, FISHERIES OF INDIA, CEYLON
PEARL FISHERIES, RED SEA AND ARABIAN SEA,
CHINA, JAPAN, SIBERIA, ETC.

VI
THE PEARL FISHERIES OF THE PERSIAN GULF

Dear as the wet diver to the eyes
Of his pale wife, who waits and weeps on shore,
By sands of Bahrein in the Persian Gulf;
Plunging all day in the blue waves; at night,
Having made up his toll of precious pearls,
Rejoins her in their hut upon the shore.

Sir Edwin Arnold.

T
he pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf are the most famous and
valuable in the world, and have been prosecuted for more than
two thousand years. A translation by that eminent Assyriologist,
Jules Oppert, of a cuneiform inscription on a broken obelisk,
erected presumably by a king of Nineveh, seems to indicate a very early
origin for these fisheries.[89] Professor Oppert’s translation is:
In the sea of the changeable winds (i.e., the Persian Gulf),
his merchants fished for pearls;
In the sea where the North Star culminates,
they fished for yellow amber.

The earliest writing of Europeans on the East refer to these fisheries. An
account of them was given by the Greek writer Megasthenes, who
accompanied Seleucus Nicator, the Macedonian general, in his Asiatic
conquests, about 307 B.C. Shortly afterward they were noted by the Greek
historian, Isidorus of Charace, in his account of the Parthian Empire.
Extracts from Nearchus preserved by Arrian also mention them. Ptolemy
speaks of the pearl fisheries which existed from time immemorial at Tylos,
the Roman name for the present Island of Bahrein. These resources were
well known in the days of Pliny. In his “Historia Naturalis,” Book IX, ch.

35, he says: “But the most perfect and exquisite [pearls] of all others be
they that are gotten about Arabia, within the Persian Gulf.”[90] Pliny states
also (Book VI, ch. 25) that Catifa (El Katiff), on the Arabian coast opposite
Bahrein, was the center of an important fishery.
In the ninth century these fisheries were noted by Massoudi, one of the
earliest Arabian geographers.[91] In the latter part of the twelfth century they
were visited and described by the Spanish-Hebrew traveler, Rabbi
Benjamin of Tudela.[92] The Arabian traveler, Ibn Batuta, wrote of them
about 1336.[93] In 1508 they were noted in the account of Lodovico
Barthema’s expedition to the Island of Ormus. According to him:
At three days’ journey from this island they fished the largest pearls which are found in the world;
and whoever wishes to know about it, behold! There are certain fishermen who go there in small
boats and cast into the water two large stones attached to ropes, one at the bow, the other at the stern
of each boat to stay it in place. Then one of the fishermen hangs a sack from his neck, attaches a large
stone to his feet, and descends to the bottom—about fifteen paces under water, where he remains as
long as he can, searching for oysters which bear pearls, and puts as many as he finds into his sack.
When he can remain no longer, he casts off the stone attached to his feet, and ascends by one of the
ropes fastened to the boat. There are so many connected with the business that you will often see 300
of these little boats which come from many countries.[94]
Shortly following the visit of Barthema, the Portuguese under
Albuquerque took possession of the principal ports of the Persian Gulf, and
they imposed heavy taxes on the pearl fishery throughout the century of
their retention. While under their jurisdiction, the fisheries were visited and
described by J. H. van Linschoten in 1596, who wrote:
The principall and the best that are found in all the Orientall Countries, and the right Orientall
pearles, are between Ormus and Bassora in the straights, or Sinus Persicus, in the places called
Bareyn, Catiffa, Julfar, Camaron, and other places in the said Sinus Persicus, from whence they are
brought into Ormus. The king of Portingale hath also his factor in Bareyn, that stayeth there onlie for
the fishing of pearles. There is great trafficke used with them, as well in Ormus as in Goa.[95]

Cargo boat in pearl fishery of the Persian Gulf

Huts of mats and palm leaves, the homes of the pearl
fishermen at Menamah, Bahrein Islands, Persian Gulf

This was the Ormus where the treasures of the Orient were gathered in
abundance, the half-way house between the East and the West, making it
one of the greatest emporia of the world. So renowned was its wealth and
commerce that it was a saying among the Portuguese, were the whole world
a golden ring, Ormus would be the jeweled signet. It was built on an island,
supported a population of 40,000 persons, and was particularly well situated
as a distributing point for the pearls, which enriched the argosies of
Portugal, and contributed so largely to

the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Show’rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,

which Milton celebrates in “Paradise Lost.” This wonderful Ormus, in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries one of the wealthiest places in the
world, is now only a fishing village of less than a hundred huts.
It was at Ormus, nearly a century later, in 1670, that the shrewd old jewel
merchant, Tavernier, whose acquaintance with gems doubtless equaled that
of any man of his time, saw what he called “the most beautiful pearl in the
world”; not so much for its size, for it weighed only 48¼ grains, nor for its
regularity in form, but because of its most wonderful luster.[96]
In describing the fisheries, which had been retaken by the Persians in
1622, Tavernier wrote in 1670, according to Ball’s translation:
There is a pearl fishery round the island of Bahren, in the Persian Gulf. It belongs to the King of
Persia, and there is a good fortress there, where a garrison of 300 men is kept.... When the Portuguese
held Hormuz [Ormus] and Muscat, each boat which went to fish was obliged to take out a license
from them, which cost fifteen abassis [$5.45], and many brigantines were maintained there, to sink
those who were unwilling to take out licenses. But since the Arabs have retaken Muscat, and the
Portuguese are no longer supreme in the Gulf, every man who fishes pays to the King of Persia only
five abassis, whether his fishing is successful or not. The merchant also pays the king something
small for every 1,000 oysters. The second pearl fishery is opposite Bahren, on the coast of Arabia
Felix, close to the town of El Katif, which, with all the neighboring country, belongs to an Arab
prince.[97]
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. For several years following the reopening of the Ceylon
fishery in 1796, that region diverted some of the attention which the Persian
waters had been receiving, but it was not long before these regained their
ascendancy.
In 1838, Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted, an officer in the British India service,
reported that the fisheries of the gulf employed 4300 boats, manned by
somewhat more than 30,000 men.[98] Of these boats, 3500 were from the
Island of Bahrein, 100 from the Persian coast, and the remaining 700 from
the Pirate Coast situated between Bahrein and the entrance to the Gulf of
Oman. Lieutenant Wellsted estimated the value of the pearls secured

annually as approximately £400,000, which is somewhat less than the
average value of the output in recent years.
Twenty-seven years later, according to Sir Lewis Pelly,[99] who was in the
Indian service from 1851 to 1877, there were 1500 boats at Bahrein, and the
annual return from the whole fishery was £400,000, the same as previously
reported by Wellsted. In 1879, the value of the output was estimated at
£600,000 by the British Resident, Colonel Ross, and at £800,000 by
Captain L. E. Durand, of the British Protectorate of the Persian Gulf. Owing
to the increased market value, the average output in the last five years has
amounted to approximately four million dollars annually. This refers to the
local value only, which is greatly increased by the time the pearls leave the
markets in Bombay and Bagdad.
The Persian Gulf is nearly 600 miles long, with an average width of
somewhat more than 100 miles. The Strait of Ormus—thirty to sixty miles
wide—connects it with the Gulf of Oman, which opens directly into the
Arabian Sea. The depth of water rarely exceeds thirty fathoms. Oyster reefs
are well distributed throughout the gulf, and are in greatest abundance on
the Arab side between the 24th and 27th degrees of north latitude and the
50th and 54th degrees of east longitude, at a distance of from a few hundred
yards to sixty miles from the shore, and especially in the vicinity of the
Bahrein Islands. The oysters are scattered over level areas of coral rock and
sand, with depths ranging from two to eighteen fathoms.[100] The divers
rarely descend in deeper water than twelve fathoms, notwithstanding that
valuable pearls are apparently obtainable at greater depths.
Although the British Protectorate extends over the Persian Gulf, insuring
the peaceful prosecution of the fisheries and the settlement of intertribal
contentions by the government resident, the fisheries are under the
regulations of the maritime Arab sheiks. The restrictions imposed by these,
however, are principally with a view to collecting a revenue from each boat
employed. The total amount realized thereby is unknown, but there is good
reason for supposing that it is considerable.

AGHA MOHAMMED
(1666–1725)

Founder of the present
Persian dynasty

From a Persian manuscript in
the library of Robert Hoe,
Esq.

SHAH SULAIMAN (1647–
1694)

From a Persian manuscript in
the library of Robert Hoe,
Esq.

The fisheries are carried on during the greater part of every year,
presenting a strong contrast to the Ceylon fishery, which is prosecuted
usually less than forty days, and in only about one year in three on an
average. This is especially remarkable when it is considered that no
particular care is taken of the Persian reefs and, except for certain tribal
restrictions, the fishermen may work whenever and wherever they choose.
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. During the winter months, the cold
weather and the northwesterly gales interfere with the work, except such as
is prosecuted in the smaller bays and inlets.

The pearling operations are financed mostly by Indian bunnias, or
traders, principally from Bombay, who furnish capital for equipment,
supplies of food, etc., and who purchase the pearls in gross lots. These men
bear very hard on the fishermen, furnishing the supplies and buying the
pearls almost at their own prices; and the poor divers who explore the
depths and secure the pearls derive from their exertions little more than the
crudest necessaries of life, and are usually in debt to the traders.
The actual fishing operations are carried on mainly by the maritime tribes
of Hasa and Oman, including those on the Pirate Coast. The inhabitants of
the Bahrein Islands and the adjacent shores have been devoted to pearling
from time immemorial; but the Wahabis of the Pirate Coast—the
Ichthyophagi of Ptolemy’s time—have more recently, under the persuasive
influence of British gunboats and magazine-rifles, substituted pearling for
their two-century inherited life of fanatical piracy. Referring to these people
in his quaint sketches of Persia eighty years ago, Sir John Malcolm wrote:
“Their occupation is piracy, and their delight murder, and to make it worse
they give you the most pious reasons for every villainy they commit. They
abide by the letter of the sacred volume, rejecting all commentaries and
traditions. If you are their captive and offer all to save your life, they say,
“No! It is written in the Koran that it is not lawful to plunder the living; but
we are not prohibited from stripping the dead. So saying they knock you on
the head.”[101] Most of the Wahabi pearlers congregate in the mat-hut
settlements of Dobai, Abu Thubi, and Ras-el-Kheima, located at the mouths
of creeks which form fairly good harbors for the small boats. The Batina
coast also furnishes some pearl fishermen, these coming principally from
Fujaira, Shenas, Sohar, Suaik, and Sib.
The headquarters for the pearling fleet are at Bahrein Island, the largest
of the insular group bearing the same name, the islets of Moharrek, Sitrah,
and Nissan completing the group. This is the early home of Chaldean
civilization, and one of the traditional sources of the Phenicians, and
whence came that fish-god who—according to the Babylonian myth—bore
the ark over the deluge. This island, the center of the greatest pearl fishery
in the world, is half way down on the southern side of the Persian Gulf, and
twenty miles from the mainland of “Araby the blest.” It is about twenty-
eight miles in length, and ten in width at the widest part. The population
approximates 60,000, all Moslems, except about 100 Banyan traders from
Sindh, India. The northern half of the island is described as of great beauty,

being a garden of pomegranate, lemon, citron, and quince-trees, and
especially the magnificent date-palms, with numerous springs furnishing an
abundance of excellent fresh water. The principal settlement, Manama, with
about 10,000 inhabitants, is poorly built, the houses consisting mostly of
huts of mats and palm leaves; yet it presents a better appearance than any
other settlement along this coast.
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.
Hence their real homes are the countless boats which stud the placid pool,
or stand drawn up in long black lines on the shore, while little care is taken
to ornament their land houses, the abodes of their wives and children at
most, and the unsightly strong boxes of their treasures. ‘We are all, from the
highest to the lowest, slaves of one master—Pearl,’ said Mohammed bin
Thanee to me one evening; nor was the expression out of place. All thought,
all conversation, all employment, turns on that one subject; everything else
is merely by-game, and below even secondary consideration.”[102]

ARAB PEARL-DIVERS AT WORK IN THE PERSIAN
GULF

According to recent returns, the Persian Gulf fisheries employ about
3500 boats,[103] large and small, of which 1200 of the best are owned at

Bahrein, 700 on the coast of El Hassa from El Katar to Kuweit, and the
remaining 1600 are from various parts of the gulf, and especially from the
Pirate Coast east of El Katar. They measure from one to fifty tons. The
smaller ones, with three to fifteen men each, work near the shores; the
larger, carrying fifteen to thirty men, fish over the whole gulf, remaining out
for weeks at a time. These craft are very picturesque with their artistic rigs
and spoon-shaped sails, and when the fishery is at its height the scene is one
of rare interest. The boats from Bahrein are of excellent construction made
by native workmen using local materials, with home-woven sailcloth and
rigging of twisted date-fiber. Each of the larger ones usually evidences a
lingering trace of Semitic influence in its kubait, or figurehead, covered
with skin of the sheep or goat sacrificed in the launching ceremonies.[104]
The boats from El Hassa and the Pirate Coast are usually smaller and less
substantial than those from Bahrein, the fishermen from the latter place far
surpassing those of the mainland in civilization and industrial wealth.
The fleet is manned by approximately 35,000 fishermen. In addition to
the nakhoda, or captain, who is often the owner of the boat, the crew
consists of ghoas or divers, who are mainly Arabs and Sedees, and sebs, or
rope-tenders, who are usually Bedouins or Persians and attend the divers
and perform other duties. Many Hindus from India, and flat-nosed, sable-
hued Negroes from the east coast of Africa find employment here. On each
of the larger boats is a general utility man, known as el musully, literally the
“prayer-man,” who, in addition to various other duties, relieves those sebs
who stop to pray.
Among the fishermen are all types and classes to be met with in this part
of the world, with the usual contingent of the lame, the halt, and the blind.
There are a number of fishermen who have been maimed and mutilated by
shark bites. A surprisingly large number of men who have become totally
blind engage in diving, and they usually do fairly well where the oysters are
abundant on the reefs. And one or two unfortunate divers are reported who
continue the work even though handicapped by the loss both of a leg and of
eyesight, this interfering less with their diving than with their movements
on land.
The fishery in this region owes absolutely nothing to modern civilization
in the method of securing the pearls from the depth of the sea; it is carried
on to-day practically as it was six hundred years ago, and probably has been

without important variation for two thousand years. Aside from a loin-cloth,
the diver is devoid of clothing except that rarely, early in the season when
polypi abound, he is enveloped in a cotton overall as a protection. Over
each finger and thumb he wears a shield or stall (khubaat, or finger-hat),
about two inches long, made of flexible leather, to protect the fingers from
the sharp shells and coral-growths. As each fisherman usually wears out at
least two sets of these shields each season, it will be seen that a very large
quantity of them is required to supply the entire fleet.
The divers use stones on which they descend feet foremost. Although this
is less spectacular than the method of diving practised by the natives of the
South Sea islands, it enables the fisherman to reach the bottom more
speedily and with far less effort. The diving-stones range in weight from
thirty to fifty pounds each, depending largely on the depth of water and the
weight of the fisherman. They are somewhat oval in shape, and have one
end perforated to admit a rope. Immediately above the attachment is formed
a loop, resembling a stirrup, to receive the diver’s foot. When prepared for
the day’s work, each stone is suspended by a stout rope over outriggers
projecting from the side of the boat, and by a slip-knot is temporarily held
four and a half or five feet below the surface of the water. A very stout diver
may have a stone affixed to his waist to overcome his greater buoyancy.
Usually two divers use one stone together and descend alternately. Each one
has an attendant in the boat who assists him in ascending, and looks after
the ropes, baskets of shells, etc.
In preparing for descent, the fisherman takes hold of the rope from which
the diving stone is suspended, puts one foot in the loop just above the stone
and places the other foot in the rim of a net basket, eighteen inches wide,
made of coir rope. When ready, he signals his attendant, inhales several
good breaths, closes his nostrils with a fitaam or nostril-clasp of flexible
horn attached to a cord around his neck, raises his body somewhat above
the surface to give force to the descent, releases the slip-knot retaining the
stone, and sinks rapidly to the bottom. Immediately disengaging his foot
from the stone, he throws himself in a stooping position on the ground and
collects as many oysters as possible during the fifty seconds or more in
which he is able to remain under water. When near his limit of endurance,
he hastily gives a signal jerk to the rope attached to the basket, and the
watchful attendant hauls him up as speedily as possible, the diver frequently
quickening the ascent by hand over hand movement up the rope. When near

the surface, he lets go of the rope and with his arms close to his body pops
above the surface puffing and blowing. The contents of the net bag are
emptied into a large basket by the attendant, and the dead shells and other
refuse are separated from the live oysters and thrown back into the sea, the
diver having worked too rapidly at the bottom to discriminate closely as to
what he gathered.
In the meantime, the stone has been drawn up and suspended by the slip-
knot in its customary position and the diving partner is resting at the surface
preparatory to descending. Thus, diving alternately at intervals of five or six
minutes, each fisherman descends thirty or forty times in an ordinary day’s
work. The number of oysters gathered at each descent depends on such
conditions as their abundance, the depth and clearness of the water, etc. It
ranges from none to fifty or more, but ordinarily ten or twelve is a good
average. As the men commonly work on shares, the shells brought up by
each diver or by each pair of divers are kept separate.
The best type of Arab divers are very careful of themselves, drying the
body thoroughly with towels on coming out of the water, taking intervals of
rest during the day’s work; and even while in the water between dives they
may enjoy the luxury of a cheroot or pipe, or possibly a cigarette may pass
from mouth to mouth of several men.
When pursuing their work, the divers are abstemious. After devotions at
sunrise and a light breakfast of perhaps dates or rice and coffee, they begin
fishing. About noon they knock off for coffee, prayers, and an hour’s siesta,
and then resume work for several hours. When the day’s work is over and
they have faced Meccaward with the customary prayers, they rest and eat a
substantial meal, commonly of dates and fish roasted over a charcoal fire.
In equal depths the Arab fishermen remain under water longer than those
of India who resort to the Ceylon fishery, but this is partly counterbalanced
by the latter descending somewhat more frequently. When preparing for a
lengthy dive, the fisherman imbibes large quantities of air, opening his
mouth and inhaling large volumes.
The length of time a diver remains submerged in the average depth of
seven or eight fathoms rarely exceeds sixty seconds, although some may
remain seventy, eighty, and even ninety seconds on special occasion. A fully
substantiated instance is reported from Manaar of an Arab diver having
remained 109 seconds in seven fathoms of water. This occurred April 13,

1887, and was witnessed and reported[105] by Captain James Donnan, the
inspector of the fishery. Wellsted reports[106] a diving contest in the Persian
Gulf in which only one man, of the hundreds who competed, remained
down 110 seconds; the depth, however, is not noted.
There are numerous reports of much longer stays than these; indeed, a
study of the published evidence bearing upon the subject furnishes
surprising results. Ribeiro wrote, in 1685, that a diver could remain below
while two credos were repeated: “Il s’y tient l’espace de deux credo.”[107] In
his interesting account of the Ceylon fishery, Percival stated that the usual
length of time for divers to remain under water “does not much exceed two
minutes, yet there are instances known of divers who could remain four or
even five minutes, which was the case with a Caffre boy the last year I
visited the fishery. The longest instance ever known was of a diver who
came from Anjango in 1797, and who absolutely remained under water full
six minutes.”[108] Le Beck says, that in 1797, he saw a diver from Karikal
remain down for the space of seven minutes.[109] The merchant traveler, Jean
Chardin, reported in 1711 that the divers remain up to seven and a half
minutes under water: “Les plongeurs qui pêchent les perles sont quelquefois
jusqu’à demi-quart-d’heure sous l’eau.”[110]
In 1667, the Royal Society of London addressed an inquiry on this
subject to Sir Philiberto Vernatti, the British Resident at Batavia in the East
Indies. Vernatti’s reply gave certain details regarding the Ceylon fishery, but
did not touch upon the length of diving because, as he stated, he could not
“meet with any one that can satisfy me, and being unsatisfied myself, I
cannot nor will obtrude anything upon you which may hereafter prove
fabulous; but shall still serve you with truth.”[111] Two years later, and
presumably after investigation, Vernatti reported: “The greatest length of
time that pearl-divers in these parts can continue under water is about a
quarter of an hour; and that by no other means than custom; for pearl-diving
lasts not above six weeks, and the divers stay a great while longer at the end
of the season than at the beginning.”[112]

Photograph,
Underwood
&
Underwood,
N. Y.

HIS IMPERIAL
MAJESTY,
MOHAMMED
ALI, SHAH OF
PERSIA

Wearing the Kajar
crown

The anatomist Diemerbroeck relates[113] the case of a pearl diver who,
under his own observation, remained half an hour at a time under water
while pursuing his work; and this was seriously adopted without comment
by John Mason Goode in his “Study of Medicine.”[114] Ibn Batuta, “the
Doctor of Tangier,” wrote about 1336 that “some remain down an hour,
others two hours, others less.”[115] A still earlier writer, Jouchanan ibn
Masouiah,[116] in his book on stones, states that “the diver, when he dives,
places upon his nose a masfâsa lest water should enter into him, and
breathes through the fissure, and remains under water for half an hour.”
According to Sebaldus Rau[117] this masfâsa was an article resembling a
hood or cap, which the diver placed over his nose. It was made of some
impervious material and had a projection so long that it reached to the
surface of the water. The same writer believes that this object was alluded to
by Aristotle (“De part. animal.,” Lib. II, c. 16), where he likens the trunk of

the elephant to the instrument used by certain divers for aiding their
respiration, so that they could remain longer in the water and draw in air
from above the surface.[118] And here we cease pursuit of further records,
lest our faith in recorded testimony be too severely tested.[119]
A superficial inspection of the above evidence, from the one or two hours
noted by Ibn Batuta about the year 1336, to the half an hour of
Diemerbroeck in 1672, the quarter of an hour of Vernatti in 1669, the seven
and one half minutes of Chardin in 1711, the six minutes of Percival in
1803, to the 110 seconds of the present time, seems to indicate very clearly
a gradual but somewhat remarkable decrease in the ability of the Asiatic
divers, and that the pearl fishermen of the present day are very different
creatures from their ancestors. And especially is this so when it is
considered that the above records are not isolated reports selected for the
particular purpose of showing a decrease in the length of diving; on the
contrary they are authoritative and representative publications of their
respective periods. We do not recall having seen in any report issued
previous to 1675, an intimation that the limit of time was less than ten
minutes.
However, a careful consideration of the subject leads to the belief that
there has been no serious decrease in the length of time that the Arab and
Indian divers remain under water, and that either the writers were
misinformed or that the individual cases reported were extremely
exceptional. Ibn Batuta’s instance of one to two hours could easily be
caused by a mistake in copying Arabic manuscript, or in the translation. The
case related by Diemerbroeck in which a pearl diver remained submerged
half an hour, is more perplexing, especially as the physician reports that this
was done under his own observation. The numerous reports of five or six
minutes may have been based on a very exceptional case.
These statements are viewed as highly incredible by men who have spent
scores of years at the fisheries. A man may remain submerged for several
minutes, but the conditions are vastly different from the activities of pearl-
gathering at a depth of ten fathoms, where the pressure of the water is
nearly thirty pounds to the square inch, and the slightest exercise is
fatiguing. Unless the time is taken by a watch, it is easy to overestimate the
stay; the seconds pass very slowly when one is waiting momentarily for the
appearance of the diver’s head above the water, and certainly to the nearly

exhausted fisherman with straining chest and palpitating heart, the last few
seconds must seem extremely long indeed. An instance is noted in which an
Arab diver remained submerged seventy-one seconds, and on his
reappearance, naïvely inquired if he had not been down ten minutes. It
seems doubtful whether the 110 seconds herein noted has been greatly
exceeded, in recent years at least, by Arab or Indian divers, who do not
appear to equal the semi-amphibious natives of the South Sea islands in
their exploits.
One of the most curious features of the pearling industry is the manner in
which the fishermen secure supplies of drinking water. In the vicinity of
Bahrein, numerous fresh-water springs exist at the bottom of the gulf in
depths of two or three fathoms, and the fishermen dive into the depth of the
salt water down to where the fresh water is springing forth and there fill a
skin or other suitable receptacle which they bring to the surface. By running
a pipe down near the bottom in the vicinity of one of these springs, an
abundance of fresh water may be pumped into the boat.
Three species—or at least three varieties—of pearl-bearing oysters are
obtained in the Persian Gulf. These are known locally as mahar, sudaifee,
and zinni. Of these, the mahar or Lingah oyster, which corresponds to the
Ceylon pearl-oyster, yields the greatest quantity of pearls, and those of the
finest quality. It measures three or three and a half inches in diameter, and is
found in deeper water than the others. The sudaifee and the zinni, which are
larger, yield pearls in much smaller quantities than the mahar.
On large boats, which remain out for two or three weeks at a time, the
oysters are left on deck overnight, and the following morning they are
opened by means of a curved knife (miflaket), four or five inches in length.
The smaller boats working near shore convey the catch to the land for the
opening and searching for pearls.
The Persian Gulf pearls are commonly not so white as those from
Ceylon, but they are found of larger size, and it is believed in Asia that they
retain their luster for a greater length of time. Many of the Persian Gulf
pearls, especially those from sudaifee and zinni shells, have a distinctly
yellow color. Tavernier made a curious explanation of this. He stated:
As for the pearls tending to yellow, the color is due to the fact that the fishermen sell the oysters in
heaps, and the merchants awaiting sometimes up to 14 or 15 days till the shells open of themselves,
in order to extract the pearls, some of these oysters lose their water during this time, decay, and
become putrid, and the pearls become yellow by contact. This is so true that in all oysters which have

retained their water, the pearls are always white. They are allowed to open of themselves, because if
they are opened by force, as we open our oysters in the shell, the pearls may be damaged and broken.
The oysters of the Manar Strait open of themselves, 5 or 6 days sooner than those of the Gulf of
Persia, because the heat is much greater at Manar, which is at the tenth degree of North latitude,
while the island of Bahrein is at about the twenty-seventh. And consequently among the pearls which
come from Manar there are few yellow ones found.[120]
Tavernier was more familiar with the pearls themselves than with the
methods of the fishery. The yellow color is not due to contact with the
putrefactive flesh, and is independent of the manner of opening. In fact, if
putrefaction caused the yellow color, this shade would be far more
prevalent in the Manaar or Ceylon pearls than in those from Bahrein, for
practically all of the Ceylon oysters are permitted to putrefy, whereas only a
portion of those in the Persian Gulf are opened in this manner. Furthermore,
notwithstanding that it is nearer the equator, the heat at Manaar during the
pearling season is not to be compared with that at Bahrein when the season
is at its height, for the Persian Gulf during July and August is notorious as
one of the hottest places on the globe.
While the great bulk of the pearls are either white or yellowish, these
fisheries yield a few pink, bluish, gray, and occasionally even black pearls.
These unusual colors are not especially prized. A curious and remarkably
detailed story has gone the rounds in which the qualities of Persian and
Ceylon pearls are compared, to the disparagement of the latter, and during
the last hundred years few accounts have been published of this fishery
without recording it. We notice it first in Morier’s “Journey through Persia
in 1808 and 1809,”[121] but possibly it antedated that report. The statement is
that the pearls of Ceylon peel off, while those of Persia are as “firm as the
rock on which they grow”; and though they lose in color and luster one per
cent. annually for fifty years, they still lose less than those of Ceylon, and at
the expiration of the fifty years they cease to diminish in appearance.
The pearl output in the Persian Gulf at the present time appears from the
official returns to exceed four million dollars annually at local valuation.
The exports in 1903 were reported at £827,447, and in 1904, £1,077,241. It
is generally understood that all of the pearls are not entered in the official
figures, and the valuations in the markets of Asia and Europe are greatly in
excess of these amounts. The profits of the fishery are divided among a
great number of persons. A large percentage goes to the shrewd bunnias
from India, who finance the fishery operations, and who, by all sorts of
tricks connected with advances of supplies, valuation of the catch, etc.,

manage to make a very good thing out of the business. It is nothing unusual
for the valuation of a lot of pearls to double and even treble after leaving the
hands of the fishermen.
While many of the gulf pearls—and especially of the small seed-pearls—
go to Bagdad, the great bulk of them are sold to representatives of Hindu
and Arab merchants of Bombay for shipment to that city, which to the
Bahrein fisherman is the heart of the outside world. Few of the pearls go
directly into Arabia or Persia, as the certain sale in the larger Bombay
market is preferable to a sometimes higher but less regular price in other
markets. Indeed, pearls may usually be purchased at a less cost in India than
a stranger would be obliged to pay at Bahrein. The Bombay merchants
“sow the earth with Orient pearl,” dealing direct with London, Paris and
Berlin, and with the oriental jewelers. Most of the yellow pearls find
oriental purchasers, with whose dark complexions they harmonize better
than the silvery white ones. They are also more popular because of a belief
existing throughout the East that they are less likely to lose their luster with
the lapse of years.
The shell of the pearl-oysters is not used locally, but large quantities are
exported to Europe for manufacture. Although it is the smallest and
cheapest produced in the gulf, yet, owing to the enormous quantity taken
for their pearls, the shell of the mahar (Margaritifera vulgaris) constitutes
the bulk of the exports. Formerly most of the shipments were made from
the harbor of Lingah, hence it is known in the markets of Europe as “Lingah
shell.” But in the last three or four years, much of it has been transported to
Europe via Bander Abbas and Bushire. A German firm at Bahrein is
extensively employed in exporting this shell, and several Indian merchants
are also engaged in the trade. The total exports in 1906 amounted to 3262
tons, valued at $26,408 according to the port returns, but worth about
$135,000 in Europe. Very large quantities are received in London, and over
2500 tons have been offered at auction in a single year. This shell is very
small, averaging about three inches in diameter and about one and a half
ounces in weight. It is the cheapest of all mother-of-pearl. The best quality
sells in London for ten to twenty shillings per hundredweight, but the
ordinary grade is worth usually less than nine shillings, and sometimes as
low as three shillings per hundredweight. America formerly imported it, but
few lots have been received since the exploitation of the Mississippi shell
about fifteen years ago.

The shell of the larger species of pearl-oysters in the Persian Gulf is
worth considerably more than the “Lingah shell,” selling in Europe for £12
to £60 per ton, yet manufacturers consider it as furnishing only poor
qualities of mother-of-pearl. Several hundred tons are exported annually. It
measures six or seven inches in diameter and is used principally in making
cheap grades of buttons.

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.

Dryden, All for Love, Prologue.

Second in extent to those of Persia only, are the intermittent and
uncertain pearl fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar. This is an arm of the Indian
Ocean, from 65 to 150 miles in width, separating the island of Ceylon from
the southernmost part of India. The pearl-oyster banks—known locally as
paars—are situated off the northwest coast of Ceylon and also in the
vicinity of Tuticorin on the Madras coast of the mainland. The Ceylon
fisheries are under the control of the colonial government of the British
Empire, and those of the mainland are monopolized by the Madras
government. Notwithstanding the fact that they are outside of the three-mile
limit established as the bound of national jurisdiction, exclusive privileges
are exercised over these fisheries by the respective governments,[122] and
poaching vessels are liable to seizure and punishment.
Though possibly not so ancient as those of Persia, the Ceylon pearl
fisheries are of great antiquity. References to them occur in Cingalese
records dating from 550 B.C. Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo, and other ancient
writers speak of their importance.
The “Periplus of the Erythræan”—written about the end of the second
century A.D.—refers to these fisheries, and states that, owing to the dangers
involved, it was customary to employ convicts therein. In the days of the
“Arabian Nights,” under the name “Serendib,” this was the scene of the
pearling adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, and the reputation of the valuable
pearl resources is reflected in those wonderful tales.
The first extensive description we have of the Gulf of Manaar fisheries
was given by the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, who visited the region
about 1294. He wrote:
The pearl fishers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed into the gulf where they stop from
the beginning of April till the middle of May. They go first to a place called Bettelar, and then go 60
miles into the Gulf. Here they cast anchor and shift from their large vessels into small boats. You
must know that the many merchants who go divide into various companies, and each of these must
engage a number of men on wages, hiring them for April and half of May. Of all the produce they

have first to pay the king, as his royalty, the tenth part. And they must also pay those men who charm
the great fishes to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst engaged in seeking pearls under
water, one-twentieth of all that they take. These fish-charmers are termined Abraiaman; and their
charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve the charm so that the fishes can work
mischief at their will. These Abraiaman know also how to charm beasts and birds and every living
thing. When the men have got into the small boats they jump into the water and dive to the bottom,
which may be at a depth of from 4 to 12 fathoms, and there they remain as long as they are able. And
there they find the shells that contain the pearls, and those they put into a net bag tied round the
waist, and mount up to the surface with them, and then dive anew. When they can’t hold their breath
any longer they come up again, and after a little down they go once more, and so they go on all day.
These shells are in fashion like oysters or sea-hoods. And in these shells are found pearls, great and
small, of every kind, sticking in the flesh of the shell-fish. In this manner pearls are fished in great
quantities, for thence in fact come the pearls which are spread all over the world. And I can tell you
the King of that State hath a very great receipt and treasure from his dues upon those pearls.[123]
That quaint old missionary bishop, Friar Jordanus, in his “Mirabilia
Descripta, or the Wonders of the East” (circa 1330), reports that “more than
8000 boats” were sometimes employed for three months continually in
these fisheries, which were then prosecuted under the jurisdiction of the
Cingalese kings of Kandy, and that the quantity of pearls taken was
“astounding and almost incredible.”[124]

THE “PRINCE OF
PEARLS”: THE LATE
RANA OF DHOLPUR IN
HIS PEARL REGALIA

This number of boats seems entirely too large, especially in view of the
fact that Jordanus secured his information at second hand; but it leaves the
impression that the fisheries of that period were of great importance.

When the Portuguese, attracted by the wealth of its resources, obtained
control of this region about 1510, they exacted from the local rulers an
annual tribute in pearls and spices. Later they conducted the fisheries on
their own account, permitting the native fishermen to retain one fourth of
the catch as compensation for their work, and dividing the remainder into
three equal portions, for the king, the church, and the soldiers, respectively.
Linschoten, who visited India about 1590, leaves this interesting account
of the fishery at that time:
“There are also other fishings for pearle, as between the Iland of Seylon, and the Cape de
Comoriin, where great numbers are yearlie found, for that the King of Portingale hath a captaine
there with soldiers that looketh unto it; they have yearlie at the least above 3 or 4 thousand duckers
[divers], yt live onlie by fishing for pearles, and so maintaine themselves.” He describes the methods
of fishing, which appear to be similar to those of the present time, and adds: “When they have made
an end of the day’s fishing, all the fishers with the captaine, soldiers, laborers and watchmen for the
king, goe together, and taking all the pearls [pearl-oysters] that are caught that day they divide them
into certaine heaps, that is, one part for the king, another part for the captaine and soldiers, the third
part for the Jesuits, because they have their Cloyster in that place, and brought the countrie first into
the Christian faith, and the last part for the Fishers, which is done with Justice and Equalitie. This
fishing is done in the Summer tyme, and there passeth not any yeare but that divers Fishers are
drowned by the Cape de Comoriin (which is called the King’s fishing) and manie devoured by fishes,
so that when the fishing is done there is great and pitiful noyse and cry of women and children heard.
Yet the next yeare they must do the same work againe, for that they have no other means to live, as
also for that they are partlie compelled thereunto by the Portingales, but most part because of the
gaine.”[125]
The best description we have seen of the Ceylon fisheries at the time of
the Portuguese occupation, is that of Caesar Frederick, a Venetian trader,
who referred to the period from 1563 to 1581. Frederick reported, according
to Hickocke’s translation in the Hakluyt edition:
The sea that lieth between the coast which descendeth from Cao Comori, to the lowe land of
Chilao, and from Island Zeilan, they call the fishing of Pearles, which fishing they make every yeare,
beginning in March or April, and it lasteth fiftie dayes, but they doe not fishe every yeere in one
place, but one yeere in one place, and another yeere in another place of the same sea. When the time
of this fishing draweth neere, they send very good Divers, that goe to discover where the greatest
heapes of Oisters bee under water, and right agaynst that place where greatest store of Oisters bee,
there they make or plant a village with houses and a Bazaro, which standeth as long as the fishing
time lasteth, and it is furnished with all things necessarie, and nowe and then it is neere unto places
that are inhabited, and other times farre off, according to the place where they fishe. The fishermen
are all Christians of the countrey, and who so will may goe to fishing, paying a certain dutie to the
king of Portugall, and to the Churches of the Friers of Saint Paule, which are in that coast. All the
while that they are fishing, there are three or foure Fustes armed to defend the Fishermen from
Rovers. It was my chance to bee there one time in my passage, and I saw the order that they used in
fishing, which is this. There are three or foure Barkes that make consort together, which are like to
our litle Pilot boates, and a little lesse, there goe seven or eight men in a boate: and I have seene in a
morning a great number of them goe out, and anker in fifteene or eighteene fadome of water, which
is the ordinarie depth of all that coast. When they are at anker, they cast a rope into the sea, and at the

end of the rope, they make fast a great stone, and then there is readie a man that hath his nose and his
eares well stopped, and annointed with oyle, and a basket about his necke, or under his left arme,
then he goeth downe by the rope to the bottome of the Sea, and as fast as he can hee filleth the
basket, and when it is full, he shaketh the rope, and his fellows that are in the Barke hale him up with
the basket: and in such wise they go one by one untill they have laden their barke with oysters, and at
evening they come to the village, and then every company maketh their mountaine or heape of
oysters one distant from another, in such wise that you shall see a great long rowe of mountaines or
heapes of oysters, and they are not touched until such time as the fishing bee ended, and at the ende
of the fishing every companie sitteth round about their mountaine or heape of oysters, and fall to
opening of them, which they may easilie doe because they bee dead, drie and brittle: and if every
oyster had pearles in them, it would be a very good purchase, but there are very many that have no
pearles in them: when the fishing is ended, then they see whether it bee a good gathering or a badde:
there are certaine expert in the pearles whom they call Chitini, which set and make the price of
pearles according to their carracts [carats or weight], beautie, and goodnesse, making foure sorts of
them. The first sort bee the round pearles, and they bee called Aia of Portugale, because the
Portugales doe buy them. The second sorte which are not round, are called Aia of Bengala. The third
sort which are not so good as the second, they call Aia of Canara, that is to say, the kingdome of
Bezeneger. The fourth and last sort, which are the least and worst sort, are called Aia of Cambaia.
Thus the price being set, there are merchants of every countrey which are readie with their money in
their handes, so that in a fewe dayes all is brought up at the prises set according to the goodnesse and
caracts of the pearles.[126]
A remarkable instance of the immutability of custom in the Orient is
found in the fact that, except in a few minor particulars, Frederick’s
account, written more than three centuries ago, could serve as a description
of the methods of the fisheries in recent years. The industry was then very
extensive, as appears from an account shortly afterward (about 1608) by
Pedro Teixeira, who reported[127] that from 400 to 500 boats were employed,
and from 50,000 to 60,000 persons resorted to the fishery.
In 1658, possession of Ceylon and India passed from the Portuguese to
the Dutch, who for a time continued the pearl fisheries after the manner
practised by their predecessors; but owing to contentions as to the details of
management, they soon resorted to leasing them each year to the highest
bidder, or to several bidders, for a definite money payment. The successful
bidders prosecuted the industry in the same manner as the government had
previously done, employing the same native fishermen and compensating
them with one fourth of the oysters secured. Under the Dutch rule the
fisheries were very unprofitable, and particularly so during the last seventy
years of their authority. There was practically no fishing from 1732 to 1746,
and there was also a suspension—but not entirely from lack of oysters or of
pearls—from 1768 until the territory passed into the control of the British in
1796.

The colonial government of the British Empire continued the Dutch
policy of leasing, only restricting the limits of territory and season for
fishing. Many objections were found to this method. It was difficult to
regulate the business properly, and there were no reliable means of
determining its proceeds and conditions. At length in 1835, the government
began to operate the fishery on its own account, as the Portuguese had done
two hundred years before, allowing the fishermen one fourth of the oysters
taken by them and selling the remaining three fourths for the benefit of the
treasury. In this way the full value of the resources was realized without
mystery, deception, or concealment, and the plan worked satisfactorily for
all concerned.
Owing, presumably, to the long period in which they had lain
undisturbed, the Ceylon oyster reefs were in excellent condition at the
beginning of British rule. In 1796 the government derived a revenue of
Rs.1,100,000 therefrom, and in 1797 the revenue was Rs.1,400,000; these
two years were by far the most productive during the first century of British
occupation.
Several very interesting reports on the industry were prepared about that
time. Especially to be noted among these were the accounts by Henry J.
LeBeck in 1798;[128] by Robert Percival in 1803;[129] and by James Cordiner
in 1807,[130] to which reference is made for detailed accounts of the fisheries
of that period.
The Ceylon fishery was prosecuted about every other year from 1799 to
1809, and the annual returns ranged from £15,022 in 1801 to £84,257 in
1808. From 1810 to 1813, inclusive, there was a blank so far as receipts
were concerned. In 1814 the fishery was very good, bringing in a revenue
of £105,187. With the exception of very slight returns in 1815, 1816, and
1820, no oysters were then obtained until 1828. Excepting 1832 and 1834,
the industry was prosecuted each year from 1828 to 1837, the revenue to
the government averaging about £30,000 annually. Then came a long blank
of seventeen years, for there was no fishing from 1838 to 1854, and
likewise from 1864 to 1873. Indeed, so depleted had the beds throughout
the Gulf of Manaar become in 1866, that serious consideration was given to
the possibilities of securing seed oysters from the Persian Gulf for
restocking the reefs; but fortunately this was rendered unnecessary by the

discovery soon afterward of a few oysters on several reefs on both the
Ceylon and the Malabar coasts.
From 1855 to 1863, and also from 1874 to 1881, the returns were only
ordinary, the highest being £51,017 in 1863, and £59,868 in 1881,—the best
year since 1814; and during these two periods fishing was entirely omitted
in nearly one half the seasons. There were five lean years from 1882 to
1886, and the 1887 fishery was only fair, with a yield of £39,609. But the
returns for 1888 were large, amounting to £80,424; and those for 1891 were
even greater, being £96,370, representing a yield of 44,311,441 oysters. No
oysters were caught from 1892 to 1902, inclusive. In 1903, the fishery was
profitable, yielding 41,180,137 oysters, and the share of the government
amounted to £55,303; and in 1904 the yield was almost the same, being
41,039,085 oysters and a revenue of £71,050 to the government.
In 1905 occurred the greatest fishery in the modern history of Ceylon.
The season extended from February 20 until April 21, giving forty-seven
working days, exclusive of Sundays and five days of bad weather, the
longest period in over half a century.[131] The boats employed numbered 318,
with 4991 divers and 4894 attendant manduks. The yield of oysters
exceeded all records, amounting to 81,580,716 in number, or nearly twice
as many as in any previous year within the period of British occupation.
The prices at which these sold ranged from Rs.24 to Rs.124 per thousand,
with an average of Rs.48.89 for the entire season. The government received
Rs.2,510,727 as its share of the revenue, which was twice as much as in any
previous year since the British have been in control, and doubtless the
largest received by any government in the history of the industry. The
oysters falling to the share of the divers must have sold for at least
Rs.1,255,363 (since 1881 the divers have received one third of the catch as
their compensation, instead of one fourth). The profits of the merchants,
who purchased and opened the government oysters as well as those of the
divers, doubtless amounted to fully as much, making a total of
Rs.5,021,453, or nearly $2,000,000 as a low estimate of the local value of
the pearls secured at Ceylon in 1905.
Owing to the great success in 1905, an enormous number of persons
flocked to the camp at the beginning of the season in 1906. Employment
was given to 473 boats, the largest number on record, and over 8600 divers
were engaged, with an equal number of attendants. Owing to unfavorable

weather and the great quantity of oysters removed in 1905, the catch in
1906 was less than in that record year, amounting to 67,150,641 in number,
from the sale of which Rs.1,376,746 was realized. The prices covered a
wide range. For the large Cheval oysters, even Rs.276, Rs.291, and Rs.309
per 1000 were received. The inferior, stunted oysters from the Muttuvaratu
paar ranged from Rs.20 to Rs.41 per 1000, and even at these prices many
buyers sustained losses. On the other hand considerable money was made
by the buyers of those from Cheval, in which some very large and beautiful
pearls were found.
The results of the 1907 fishery were surprisingly good, excellent prices
being obtained. The proceeds from the sale of two thirds of the 21,000,000
oysters amounted to Rs.1,040,000, or just under $350,000. The fishery
lasted thirty-six working days. Only 173 boats were used, as it was
considered that a fleet of this size is fully as large as can be employed
advantageously to the greatest satisfaction of all interested.
According to the compilations of the colonial secretary’s office, the gross
revenue to the government from 1796 to 1907, inclusive, amounted to
£2,098,830. If to this be added the fishermen’s share and the merchants’
compensation, we have a total of about £4,200,000 or $21,000,000 as the
local value of the pearls produced in Ceylon during the period of British
occupation. The value of these in the markets of Asia and Europe was
undoubtedly very much greater.
In many respects the Ceylon pearl fisheries are the most interesting in the
world. Owing to their ready accessibility and thorough organization, they
are far better known than any others. Reliable data exist as to the number of
oysters taken during each season since 1854, and it is possible to estimate
roughly the pearls obtained therefrom. Throughout the 112 years of British
occupation, and previously to some extent under the successive rule of the
Cingalese kings, of the Portuguese, and of the Dutch, for centuries, the reefs
were annually examined by official inspectors, and fishing was permitted
only in those years when they appeared in satisfactory condition.
A noticeable feature of these fisheries is their uncertainty, a prosperous
season being followed by an absence of fishing sometimes extending over
ten years or more. This is not of recent development. Over eight hundred
years ago a total cessation of yield for a considerable period was
recorded[132] by Albyrouni, who served under Mahmud of Ghazni. He stated

that, in the eleventh century, the oysters which formerly existed in the Gulf
of Serendib (Ceylon) disappeared simultaneously with the appearance of a
fishery at Sofala in the country of the Zends, where previously the existence
of pearls had been unknown; hence it was conjectured that the pearl-oysters
of Serendib had migrated to Sofala.
In the 249 years since Ceylon passed from the dominion of the
Portuguese in 1658, there have been only sixty-nine years in which the
pearl fisheries were prosecuted. During the last century there were only
thirty-six regularly authorized fisheries. Enormous quantities of oysters
have appeared on the reefs, giving rise to hopes of great results, only to end
in disappointment, owing to their complete disappearance. In the fall of
1887, for instance, examination of one of the reefs revealed an enormous
quantity of oysters, covering an area five miles in length by one and a half
miles in width, with “600 to 700 oysters to the square yard” in places. It
was estimated by the inspection officials that there were 164,000,000
oysters, which exceeded the total number taken in the preceding sixty years,
and which should have yielded several million dollars’ worth of pearls in
the following season, according to the usual returns. But some months later
not an oyster was to be found on this large reef, the great host presumably
having been destroyed by action of the sea. Numerous reasons are assigned
for the failure of promising reefs. Those most frequently heard are that the
currents sweep the oysters away, that they are devoured by predaceous
enemies, that they are covered by the shifting bottom, or that they
voluntarily move to new grounds.
The oysters are found in well-known and permanently located banks or
paars in the upper end of the Gulf of Manaar, in the wide shallow plateau
off the northwest end of the island and directly south of Adams Bridge. The
hard calcrete bottom is formed mostly of sand combined with organic
remains in a compact mass and with more or less coral and shell deposits.
The density of the water, as determined by Professor Herdman (to whose
important and valuable report[133] we are indebted for much information), is
fairly constant at 1.023, and the temperature has a normal range of from 82°
to 86° F. during the greater part of the year. The charts and records refer to
about twenty paars, but most of these have never yielded extensively, either
to the English or to the Dutch. 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. Especially
is this true of the Periya paar, which is about fifteen miles from the shore,
and runs eleven miles north and south, varying from one to two miles in
width. Frequently this is found covered with young oysters, which almost
invariably disappear before the next inspection, owing, probably, to their
being covered by the shifting bottom caused by the southwest monsoon.
The natives call this the “Mother paar,” under the impression that these
oysters migrate to the other paars.
The Ceylon government has given very careful attention to all matters
affecting the prosperity of the pearl resources. It has maintained a “Pearl
Fishery Establishment,” consisting of a superintendent, an inspector and
numerous divers, attendants, and sailors. The inspector examines the paars,
determines when and to what extent they should be fished, and directs the
operations. The superintendent conducts the work on shore, divides and
sells the oysters, etc. The expense of this establishment has approximated
$40,000 per annum when there has been a fishery, and about $22,500
without fishery expenses.
It has been decided by naturalists that Ceylon oysters less than four years
old produce very few marketable pearls; in the fifth, and again in the sixth
year the value of the yield doubles, and in the seventh it is supposed to
increase fourfold. Beyond that age there appears to be little increase, and
there is the risk of the oysters dying, and of the pearls deteriorating or
becoming lost. Eight years seems to be the natural limit of life. While
experience has shown that the most profitable period for taking the pearl-
oysters is when they are from five to seven years old, the mollusks are
liable to disappear, especially after the fifth year, and the danger of waiting
too long is as great as that of beginning too early. The fishing on any
particular bank is determined by various circumstances and conditions, and
is permitted only after careful examination.
The different beds are inspected from time to time, and no fishing is
permitted until the condition of the pearl-oysters on the particular reef

thrown open seems to warrant the most valuable returns. In the examination
of a bed apparently in suitable condition, several thousand oysters—usually
eight or ten thousand—are taken up and the pearls found therein are
examined and valued. If they average Rs.25 or Rs.30 per thousand oysters,
profitable results may be expected, provided there is a sufficient quantity of
oysters on the bed. This method of determining the fishery is very ancient.
Tavernier wrote, about 1650, “before they fish, they try whether it will turn
to any account by sending seven or eight boats to bring 1000 oysters each,
which they open, and if the oysters per 1000 yield five fanos or above, they
then know the fishing will turn to account.”[134] And much the same method
was described by Ribeiro in 1685.
When it has been decided to hold a fishery, public notice is given by
advertisement, stating which of the many paars or reefs will be open, and
the estimated quantity of oysters to be removed, the number of boats that
will be given employment, and the date for beginning the season and the
length of time it will probably last. This notice is usually given in December
preceding the fishery, and it is the signal for preparation by tens of
thousands of persons in this part of Asia, and especially on the Madras and
the Malabar coasts of India, and on the coast of Arabia. The fishermen, the
merchants, and the multitude of artisans, mechanics, and laborers who
contribute to the industry, set their homes and business in order so that they
may attend. We give the notice issued in 1907, both in Cingalese and in
English.[135]

THE LATE MAHARAJAH
OF PATIALA

Early in February the area to be gleaned is again examined, the limits of
the oysters are charted and buoyed off, the number that may be obtained is
estimated as accurately as possible, and valuation samples are collected.
Several thousand oysters are taken up, the pearls are removed, examined,
and valued by uninterested experts, and the results are published, so that
prospective buyers may have a reliable idea as to their value. Otherwise this
would not be possible until the merchants had washed some of their own
purchases, which ordinarily would not be for a week or ten days after the
opening of the season.
The fishery usually begins late in February or early in March, as the sea
is then relatively calm, the currents least perceptible, and there is less
danger of storms. It is prosecuted from a temporary settlement or camp on
the sandy shore at a place conveniently near the reefs. The important
fisheries of the five years ending in 1907, were centered at the improvised
settlement known as Marichchikadde. Although prosecuted from the coast
of Ceylon, relatively few Cingalese attend compared with the large numbers
who assemble from India, Arabia, and elsewhere.
A week or two before the opening of the season, the boats begin to arrive,
sometimes fifty or more in a single day, laden with men, women and
children, and in many cases with the materials for their huts. In a short time
the erstwhile desolate beach becomes populated with thousands of persons
from all over the Indian littoral, and there is the noisy traffic of congregated
humanity, and a confusion of tongues where before only the sound of the
ocean waves was heard. Beside the eight or ten thousand fishermen, most of
whom are Moormen, Tamils, and Arabs, there are pearl merchants—mainly
Chetties and Moormen, boat repairers and other mechanics, provision
dealers, priests, pawnbrokers, government officials, koddu-counters, clerks,
boat guards, a police force of 200 officials, coolies, domestic servants, with
numbers of women and children. And for the entertainment of these, and to
obtain a share of the wealth from the sea, there are jugglers, fakirs,
gamblers, beggars, female dancers, loose characters, with every allurement
that appeals to the sons of Brahma, Buddha or Mohammed. Natives from
the seaport towns of India are there in thousands; the slender-limbed and
delicate-featured Cingalese with their scant attire and unique head-dress;
energetic Arabs from the Persian Gulf; burly Moormen, sturdy Kandyans,
outcast Veddahs, Chinese, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch, half-castes, the scum of

the East and the riffraff of the Asiatic littoral, the whole making up a
temporary city of forty thousand or more inhabitants.[136]

THE
Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers,
LIMITED.

NOTICE

Is hereby given that a Pearl Fishery will take place at Marichchukkaddi,
in the Island of Ceylon, on or about February 20, 1907.
The Banks to be fished are—
The Karativu, Dutch Moderagam and Alanturai Pars, estimated to
contain 21,000,000 oysters, sufficient to employ 100 boats for twenty-one
days with average loads of 10,000 each per day.
The Northwest and Mid-West Cheval, estimated to contain 2,000,000
oysters, sufficient to employ 100 boats for two days with average loads of
10,000 oysters.
The Muttuvaratu Par, estimated to contain 8,000,000 oysters, sufficient
to employ 100 boats for eight days with average loads as before stated:
each boat being fully manned with divers.
2. It is notified that fishing will begin on the first favourable day after
February 19. Conditions governing the employment of divers will be
issued separately.
3. Marichchukkaddi is on the mainland, eight miles by sea south of
Sillavaturai, and supplies of good water and provisions can be obtained
there.
4. The Fishery will be conducted on account of the Ceylon Company of
Pearl Fishers, Ltd., and the oysters put up to sale in such lots as may be
deemed expedient.

A populous town springs up with well-planned and lighted streets and
vast numbers of temporary abodes of all sorts, according to the means and
the caste of the occupants, some of them just large enough for two or three
persons to creep into. Although made mostly of poles, mats, cajans or
plaited fronds of the cocoanut tree, they furnish ample shelter for the
locality and season, the uncertainty of the fishery from year to year being
sufficient argument against expensive and substantial buildings. Numerous
wells and cisterns yield water for the use of all. Sanitary measures are
strictly enforced, with a liberal use of disinfectants. At a considerable
distance southward from the settlement are constructed the private toddis,
or inclosures, for decomposing the oysters and washing the pearls
therefrom. Nearer the camp or settlement itself are the police court, the jail,
the bank, the post and telegraph offices, the auction room, the hospital and
the cemetery—all to endure through a strenuous six weeks of toil and labor,
of money-getting and gambling, and then the inhabitants “fold their tents
like the Arabs, and silently steal away,” leaving the debris to the shore-birds
and the jackals.
The fishing fleet consists of several hundred boats[137] of various rigs and
sizes. These are interesting on account of their picturesque appearance and
also their remarkable diversity of types in hull and rigging: there is the
broad and roomy Jaffna dhoney, commonly painted black; the lugger-like
Paumben boat; the very narrow and speedy canoes,—not unlike the single

masted bugeyes of the Chesapeake region—from Kilakarai and neighboring
villages, most noticeable owing to their great number and their bright colors
—red, green, or yellow; the clumsy looking, single masted Tuticorin
lighters, sharp sterned and copper bottomed, the largest boats in the fleet,
ranging in capacity from twenty to forty tons each; and, most singular of all,
the three masted great canoes from Adirampatnam and Muttupat on the
Tanjore coast, pale blue in color and with curved prow. In addition to these
standard types, added novelty is imparted by a few boats of design so odd
and fantastic as would be conceived only by the mind of an oriental builder.
Reaching the camp at the beginning of the season, these boats are
examined by the officials as to condition and equipment and, if found
satisfactory, are registered and numbered. When the quantity of oysters to
be removed is small, many more boats may arrive than is necessary or than
can find profitable employment. Formerly when this occurred a lottery was
held to determine those to be employed. More recently the officials have
endeavored to engage all boats passing the inspection, although to do so
might necessitate arranging the fleet into two divisions, each fishing on
alternate days. In 1874, the boats were arranged in three divisions, the red,
blue and green, with fifty boats in each; in 1879, and again in 1881, there
were two divisions, the red and the blue; and likewise in 1880, in 1903 and
in 1906 there were two, the red and the white divisions. Of the 318 boats
employed in the 1905 fishery, 143 were from Kilakarai, seventy-four from
Jaffna, thirty-five from Tuticorin, thirty-four from Paumben, nine from
Manaar, six from Negapatam, five from Colombo, four each from Tondi
and Kayalpatam, and one each from Devipatam, Adrapatam, Ammopatam,
and Koddaipatam.
The number of persons on each boat ranges from about twelve to sixty-
five, with an average for the entire fleet of about thirty-five men per boat.
This includes the sammatti, or master, who represents the owner; the tindal,
or pilot; the todai, or water-bailer, who is very necessary on these leaky
craft, and who also takes charge of the food and drinking water; at times a
government inspector or “boat guard”; and from five to thirty divers, with
an equal number of manducks, or attendants.[138] The sammattis, tindals, and
todais are nearly all from the coast of southern India. The “boat guards” or
inspectors are natives of Ceylon, and are employed by the government to
prevent the fishermen from opening the oysters. Most of the manducks are
from the Indian coast.

Of the 4991 divers employed in 1905, 2649 were Moormen or Lubbais
from Kilakarai, Tondi, etc., on the Madura coast; 923 were Arabs; 424 were
Erukkalampiddi Moormen from Ceylon, and the remaining 995 were
Tamils from Tuticorin, Rameswaram and elsewhere on the Madras coast,
Malayalans from the Malabar coast, with small numbers from other
localities on the Asiatic coasts.
Among the 8600 divers in 1906, were 4090 Arabs, the largest number of
those people employed in recent years. In 1905 there were only 923 Arab
divers, in 1904 only 238, and previously the number was much less. Some
have worked on the Ceylon coast since 1887, but most of them are newly
arrived from Bahrein and Kuweit, where they received their training as
pearl-divers. They are very energetic and skilful fishermen, far surpassing
the Tamils, coming early in the season and staying late, and working on
many days when rough seas deter the Indian divers from venturing out.
The Erukkalampiddi divers of Ceylon are by no means so energetic or
steady in work as the Arabs, and commonly desert the fishery before the
close. The Tamil divers belong to the Parawa and Kadeiyar castes.
The season in the Ceylon fishery is very short, only about six or eight
weeks at the most; and the holidays and storms usually reduce the number
of actual working days to less than thirty. In no other pearl fishery of
importance is the season less than four months in length, and in most of
them it extends through more than half of the year. Owing to this restricted
time, there is greater activity in the Ceylon fishery compared with the value
of the output than in any other pearl fishery in the world.
Although the season is short, it is strenuous. Arising shortly after
midnight, the thousands of fishermen breakfast, perform their devotions and
prepare to get under way so as to reach the reefs about sunrise. There each
boat takes its position on the ground allotted for the day’s work, and which
has been marked in advance by buoys topped with flags; and shortly
afterward, on a signal from the guard vessel, the diving commences. This is
carried on in the same manner as already described for the Persian Gulf,
except that the Indian divers do not use nose-clips, only compressing the
nostrils with the fingers during the descent. Rarely do they descend to a
greater depth than ten fathoms.
The divers work in pairs, each pair using a single diving stone in
common, and descending alternately, precisely as in the Persian Gulf. It is

remarkable what few changes have occurred in the methods of the fishery
in the last six centuries; the description[139] of Marco Polo, who visited the
region about 1294, and of writers somewhat more recent, indicating that, in
the main features, it was then conducted in the same manner as at the
present time.
An exception to the usual mode of diving is practised by the Malayalam
fishermen, who, in some seasons—as in 1903, for instance—attend in large
numbers from Travancore and northward on the Malabar coast. These men
are rather low in skill and physical endurance.[140] They dive head foremost
from a spring-board, and even with this assistance,—or possibly we should
say, handicapped by this method,—they find the average depth of eight
fathoms too great for them to work in with much comfort, rarely remaining
under water longer than forty-five seconds.
The number of oysters secured on each visit to the bottom ranges from
nothing to seventy-five or more, averaging between fifteen and fifty. This
depends not only on the ability of the fishermen, but also on the abundance
of oysters and the ease with which they may be collected. Sometimes they
are held together in loose bunches of five to ten in each, and a diver can
easily gather one hundred in the short length of time he remains submerged.
In other localities they may be somewhat firmly attached individually to the
bottom, so that some force is necessary to release them, thus reducing the
possible quantity. Ordinarily one dive clears a space of several square yards.

Unloading oysters from the vessels into the kottus, at
Marichchikadde, Ceylon

The pearling fleet on the shore at Marichchikadde, Ceylon

Hindu workmen preparing to drill pearls, Marichchikadde,
Ceylon

Since 1904, a steamer has been employed each season by the government
for dredging oysters in connection with experiments in oyster-culture. The
officer in charge of this work concludes that “dredging is economically a
more sound method of fishing than is diving.”[141] This view is disputed by
the superintendent of the fishery, who points out that the average catch by
the steamer when dredging mature oysters only slightly exceeds that of an
ordinary diving boat, and the cost of maintenance and operation is vastly
greater.[142] A remarkable tribute to the skill of the nude divers, brought out
by this discussion, is that, during some days when they were at work, the
sea was too rough for dredging by the steamer, notwithstanding that she
was a typical Grimsby or North Sea trawler of 150 tons measurement, built
in 1896.[143]
A rough comparison of the Ceylon method of catching pearl-oysters with
that practised by the American oyster-growers may not be uninteresting. On

a basis of 400 to the bushel, the total Ceylon catch of 81,580,716 pearl-
oysters in 1905 represents a trifle more than 200,000 bushels, or about the
quantity annually produced by each of the half dozen leading oyster-
growers of this country. Each one of these growers requires only about three
steamers, at a total cost, maybe, of $25,000, and manned by twenty-five
men; instead of one steamer at a cost of $25,000 and 318 diving boats
manned by 10,000 men, which was the equipment in Ceylon. To be sure,
the conditions under which the work is prosecuted are different—however,
not so entirely unlike as might be supposed—and the American season is
about six months long instead of the two months in Ceylon; but the
comparison is presented simply as a suggestion of the possibilities of
dredging on the Ceylon reefs.
Until 1885, one of the most novel features of the fishery was the
employment of shark-charmers or “binders of sharks” (kadal-kotti in the
Tamil language, hai-banda in Hindustani), whose presence was rendered
necessary by the superstition of the Indian divers. The fishermen placed
implicit reliance upon the alleged supernatural powers of these impostors,
resembling in some respects that reposed in the “medicine men” by the
American Indians, and would not dive without their supervision. It is
unknown at what period the influence of these semi-priests developed, but
at the time of Marco Polo’s visit about 1294, they were in the full bloom of
their authority, receiving one twentieth of the total catch of oysters,[144]
which amounted to a very considerable sum. It is probable that the number
of shark-charmers was then quite large, some writers more recently
referring to one for each boat. During the Portuguese occupation the
number was reduced to twelve, and at the beginning of the British
influence, it was further reduced to two.
Interesting descriptions have been given of the methods by which these
men exercised their alleged powers. In 1807, Cordiner stated:
One goes out regularly in the head pilot’s boat. The other performs certain ceremonies on shore.
He is stripped naked, and shut up in a room, where no person sees him from the period of the sailing
of the boats until their return. He has before him a brass basin full of water, containing one male and
one female fish made of silver. If any accident should happen from a shark at sea, it is believed that
one of these fishes is seen to bite the other. The divers likewise believe that, if the conjurer should be
dissatisfied, he has the power of making the sharks attack them, on which account he is sure of
receiving liberal presents from all quarters.[145]
Amusing stories are told of the shrewdness displayed by these fellows in
inventing explanations to redeem their credit when a fisherman became a

victim of the sharks. These accounts are by men who evidently bore no
good-will toward the shark-charmers, and it would be of interest to hear
from the other side; but we have been unable to find any one who has
appeared in print in their defense.
The British government, in its policy of noninterference with the
superstitions or semi-religious customs of the natives, tolerated these
seeming impostors, owing, probably, in a measure, to the fact that the
superstitious belief in their necessity was favorable to the preservation of
the resources, since it restricted poaching on the reefs. However, the
government endeavored to prevent an extravagant misuse of the influence,
and restricted the compensation of the shark-charmers to one oyster per day
from each diver. Later, they were remunerated by the government, and were
not allowed, under any pretense whatever, to demand, exact, or receive
oysters or any other compensation from the boatmen, divers, or any other
persons. And, finally, in 1885, the shark-charmers were done away with
entirely, after having exacted their toll for upward of six centuries at least.
The dangers to which the Ceylon divers are exposed have been greatly
exaggerated, and especially the risks from sharks. Poets tell how “the
Ceylon pearler went all naked to the hungry shark,” and the struggle of the
diver has been a favorite theme with sensational writers. As a matter of fact,
the trouble from this source is very slight, and the occupation is less
dangerous than that of most of the deep-water fisheries, not to be compared,
for instance, with that of the winter haddock-fishery off the New England
coast. Even in 1905, when 4991 divers and an equal number of assistants
were employed in pearling, not a single fatal accident was reported, and
although much rough weather prevailed, not a fishing boat was lost. In the
important fishery of 1904, with 3049 divers, only one fatal accident
occurred, this was an elderly Moorman, whose death at the bottom was
apparently due either to apoplexy or to exhaustion from remaining under
water too long.
The superintendent of the fishery reported that not a single shark was
seen during the 1904 season.[146] According to the statement of Sir William
Twynam, whose Ceylon pearl fishing experience and observation equal
those of any European, he has never known of a diver being carried off by a
shark, and has heard of only one case—“which was a very doubtful
one.”[147] Prof. James Hornell, the inspector of pearl banks, reported in

1904: “During all the months I have spent upon the pearl banks during the
last two years and a half I have never had a glimpse of a shark dangerous to
man. Several times the boatmen have caught basking sharks of considerable
size, but all were of a species that lives almost entirely upon small
crustaceans.”[148] The late Mr. A. M. Ferguson wrote in 1887: “I think it is
pretty certain that in the whole course of the Ceylon fisheries only two
human beings have fallen victims to these fierce fishes.”[149]
The diving continues until a signal is given from the guard vessel about
twelve or one o’clock, this time depending largely on the beginning of the
sea breeze which roughens the water and interferes with the work, and
likewise serves to speed the passage of the sail vessels to the shore.
Occasionally the breeze is unfavorable, and the boatmen are obliged to row
for miles, delaying their return in some instances until nightfall. Then the
shore is lighted up to guide them to the landings, and extra precautions are
maintained to prevent them from getting away with some of the oysters in
the darkness.
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 Auction Reported Value of Yield.
Pumps. Pumps. Rights. 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.

The scaphander, or diving dress, is composed of solid sheet rubber,
covered on both sides with canvas. The head-piece is made of tinned
copper, and is fitted with three glasses, one at the front and one on each
side, so as to afford the diver as wide a view as is consistent with strength
of construction. It has a valve by which he can regulate the pressure of the
atmosphere. The dress has a double collar, the inner portion coming up
around the neck, and the other hermetically fastened to the breastplate. The
breastplate is likewise made of copper. The suit is connected with the air-
pump by means of a stout rubber tube which enters the helmet, and through
which air is supplied to the diver incased therein. This air-tube consists of
three or four lengths—each of fifty feet—of light hose, commonly called
“pipe.” This is buoyant so that it may be easily pulled along, and may not
readily foul among the rocks. However, when working on very rough
bottom with sharp-edged stones, the lower length is of stouter material in
order to resist the chafing on the bottom. Before descending, the air-line is
loosely coiled around the diver’s arm to prevent a sudden strain on it when
it is tightened, and a signal-line is attached to his waist to enable him to
communicate with the men above.
In fishing, if the current is slight, the boat is permitted to drift therewith,
and if there is little or no current, it is propelled by oars as may be required.
The diver—fully dressed in the rubber suit with helmet, etc.,—goes
overboard easily by means of a Jacob’s ladder of five or six rungs on the
port side of the boat, and is lowered by an attendant, who gives close
attention to the lines, the crew having manned the pump in the meantime.
On reaching bottom, the diver walks along, following the course of the
moving boat and swinging his shoulders from side to side to take in a wide
vision in his search for oysters. In clear water he can discover them at a
distance of twenty-five or thirty feet, even when fifteen fathoms below the
surface; but sometimes the water is so clouded that it may be necessary for
him to go almost on hands and knees to see them, and when the seaweeds
are thick and high, he may locate them almost as much by feeling as by
sight. Owing to this difficulty in seeing the oysters, the work is suspended
in rough weather and for many days following. The catch is placed in a sack
or basket of quarter inch rope, which is raised when filled, emptied, and
returned to the bottom by means of a rope.
Finding the shell is by no means an easy matter, and much natural hunter-
craft is necessary. Of a neutral color, it is not at all conspicuous as it lies on

a gray coral bed, itself covered with coral or sponge or hidden in dense
masses of gorgeous seaweeds. Still less visible is the shell on a muddy
bottom, for there it embeds itself and exposes only half an inch or so of the
“lip.” As the boat is impelled by the tide, the diver may have to walk rapidly
in a swinging gait; and if he should stumble or fall while stooping to pick
up the shell, recovery of balance may be difficult. He must be constantly on
the alert and has many dangers to avoid. Sharks are numerous in these clear
tropical waters; but although disaster sometimes results, they are timid, a
stream of air bubbles from the sleeve of the dress sending them away in
fright. More fruitful sources of danger are fouled air-pipes, broken pumps,
falling into holes, and especially paralysis from recklessly deep diving.
When the diver wishes to come up, he closes the escape valve in his
helmet; his dress fills and distends with air, causing a speedy return to the
surface, and the tender hauls him alongside by means of the life-line. After
“blowing” for a few minutes with the helmet removed, and usually enjoying
the indispensable cigarette, he returns to the bottom.
When the Mergui reefs were first exploited by diving apparatus, the bulk
of the shells were secured from depths of ten to twelve fathoms. These
shallow reefs have been exhausted, temporarily, at least, and the divers now
work in deeper water, fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five fathoms, if the
bottom is very uneven and rocky. Many shells are found in the depressions
between the large boulders, which may be twenty or thirty feet deeper than
the surrounding areas.
The oysters are opened by means of the long-bladed working-knife of the
country, known as dah-she. The flesh is thrown into a large basket or
washtub, where it is searched by the proprietor of the boat, who takes each
piece between the hands and squeezes and feels through every part of it.
After the flesh has been carefully examined, the sediment at the bottom of
the tub is washed and panned to obtain those pearls which have fallen
through the flesh tissues. The Mergui pearls are commonly of good color
and luster, and compare favorably with those from the Sulu Archipelago or
the Dutch East Indies.
The sea-green shell of the snail (Turbo marmoratus) is gathered in large
quantities by the nude diving Selangs, who barter it to Chinese traders at the
equivalent of Rs.8 or 10 per 100 in number. The flesh is also dried and

disposed of to these traders under the name of thadecon, at about Rs.3 per
viss of 3.33 pounds. This mollusk yields a few greenish yellow pearls.
In 1895, three pearl reefs were discovered off the Bassein coast in the
district of Irawadi.[165] These proved fairly remunerative for one season and
a portion of another, when they were abandoned.

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF THE RED SEA, GULF OF
ADEN, ETC.
Under the Ptolemies, and even long after—under the Califs—these were islands whose
merchants were princes; but their bustle and glory have since departed from them, and they are
now thinly inhabited by a race of miserable fishermen.
James Bruce (1790).

The Red Sea was one of the most ancient sources of pearls, furnishing
these gems for centuries before the Christian era, and particularly during the
reign of the Ptolemies. These pearls were alluded to by Strabo, Ælianus,
and other classical writers. Although the prominence of the fisheries has
suffered by comparison with those of Persia and Ceylon, the yield has been
more or less extensive from the days of Solomon up to the present time.
Of the several pearl-yielding mollusks in the Red Sea and on the
southeast coast of Arabia, the largest and best known is that called “sadof”
by the Arabs, and which has been identified by Jameson as Margaritifera m.
erythræensis. This is closely related to the large species in the Persian Gulf.
It is commonly four or five inches in diameter, and in exceptional instances
attains a diameter of eight inches and a weight of three pounds or more. In
addition to its size, it is distinguished by a dark green coloring about the
edges, and a more or less greenish tint over the nacreous interior surface;
this color is darker in the vicinity of Jiddah and Suakin than at the southern
end of the sea, or in the Gulf of Aden. This species occurs singly rather than
congregated in beds or reefs. Although it is found in depths of fifteen
fathoms or more, most of the fishing is in less than five fathoms of water.

Persian Gulf and the Red Sea,
the pearling center of the
world

The “sadof” yields pearls only rarely, and is sought principally for the
shells, which afford good qualities of mother-of-pearl, the pearls furnishing
an additional but always looked-for profit to the regular source of income.
As in other regions, there is no constant relation between the value of the
pearls and the quantity of mollusks taken. The oysters of some reefs are
comparatively rich in certain years; while in other seasons or on other reefs
the mollusks may be numerous but yield very few pearls.
The second species of importance in the Red Sea is similar to the Lingah
oyster and is known to the Arabs as “bulbul.” This is much smaller than the
“sadof,” averaging less than three inches in diameter. It is collected for the
pearls exclusively, the shells being too small for industrial use; but only 3 or
4 per cent. of the individuals yield pearls.
It is claimed by writers of authority that it is the red Pinna pearl from this
sea that is referred to in the Scriptures under the name peninim as the most
precious product, and which has been translated as rubies.[166] The shell is
extremely fragile, and the nacreous interior is white tinged with a beautiful
red. It is of little importance in the commercial fisheries of the Red Sea at
the present time.
The “sadof” is more scattered and less numerous than the “bulbul”; and
in order to save much useless diving, it is customary to inspect the bottom
before descending. Therefore, operations are largely restricted to calm
weather, when the water is sufficiently clear to enable the divers to sight the
individual oysters on the bottom. In recent years, water-telescopes have
been used to assist in locating them. The most popular form consists of a tin
can with a sheet of glass inserted in the bottom. The glazed end of the tin is

submerged several inches below the surface, affording a far-reaching and
much clearer vision. In this fishery the divers work from small canoes (uri),
each manned by two men, one of whom rows while the other leans over the
bow and searches for the oysters. When one is sighted, he dives into the
water for it, and then returns to the boat to resume the search.
The pearling season begins commonly in March or April, and continues
until about the end of May; it is renewed in the autumn, continuing through
September and October.[167] The vessels employed are of two varieties:
dhows carrying from twenty to eighty men each, and the much smaller
sambuks or sail-boats without decks, each with from six to twenty-five men,
most of whom are Negro slaves. Many of the large vessels are from the
Persian Gulf. The sambuks are owned principally by Zobeid Bedouins
inhabiting the coast between Jiddah and Yambo, and also the islands near
the southern end of the sea, which are very hot-beds of pearls, shells,
religious frenzy and half famished Arabs and Negro slaves.
The “bulbul” oysters are taken in nearly the same manner as in the
Persian Gulf. When the vessel is located over the reef, each diver descends,
commonly with a short stick of iron or hard wood, with which he releases
the oysters within reach; placing them in a sack, he is pulled up by an
attendant when his breath is nearly exhausted.
The fisheries are prosecuted along both sides of the Red Sea and in the
channels among the islands, from the Gulf of Akabah to Bab-el-Mandeb.
They are especially extensive among the Dahlak Islands on the coast of the
Italian colony Eritrea, where the population is largely supported by them.
This was the center of the industry during the time of the Ptolemies and in
the early Christian era. The fisheries are also important in the vicinity of
Jiddah, the port of entrance for Mecca and Medina, holiest places of Islam.
They likewise exist near Kosseir at the northern end of the sea, and at
Suakin, Massawa, the Farsan Islands, and Loheia, near the lower end. They
are carried on by Arabs, who succeed in evading efforts at control on the
part of the local governments. Even on the African side, the Arab fishermen
predominate, for the native Egyptian has never evinced much fondness for
venturing on the sea.
On the southeast coast of Arabia, pearl fishermen are to be found at the
various harbors from Aden to Muscat. Their fantastic dhows are met with in
the harbor of Makalla, and also in that of Shehr. On the Oman coast, the

ports of Sur and of sun-scorched Muscat do a considerable pearling
business, not only locally but to the Sokotra Islands, and even on the coast
of East Africa and Zanzibar, the trading baggalas adding pearling and illicit
slave-trading to their many sources of income. A number of these traders,
each with an instinct for pearls equal to that of a trained hound for game,
visit the fishing centers at intervals, and exchange needful commodities for
pearls and shells.
The Arab pearl-divers of the Red Sea have been noted for the depths to
which they can descend. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted, of the Indian Navy, who
had unusual facilities for acquaintance with their exploits, reported that in
the Persian Gulf the fishermen rarely descended beyond eleven or twelve
fathoms, and even then they exhibited signs of exhaustion; but that in the
Red Sea they go down twice that depth. Among the most noted of these
divers of the last century was old Serúr, who attracted the notice of many
travelers. Lieutenant Wellsted states that he saw him descend repeatedly to
twenty-five fathoms without the slightest evidence of distress; that he
frequently dived in thirty fathoms, and is reported to have brought up mud
from the bottom at a depth of thirty-five fathoms, which is about the record,
the pressure of the water being nearly 90 pounds to the square inch. His
sons were also remarkably expert; one of them when scarcely thirteen years
of age would descend to a depth of twenty-five fathoms.[168]

CARVED “JERUSALEM
SHELL” FROM THE RED
SEA

In the collection of Dr.
Bashford Dean

An interesting story of an Arab’s diving ability is told by Lieutenant
Wellsted: “In 1827, we were cruising in the sloop Ternate on the pearl
banks. Whilst becalmed and drifting slowly along with the current, several
of the officers and men were looking over the side at our Arab pilot, who
had been amusing himself in diving for oysters. After several attempts, his
search proved unsuccessful. ‘Since I cannot get oysters I will now,’ said he,
‘dive for and catch fish.’ All ridiculed the idea. He went down again, and
great was our astonishment to see him, after a short time, rise to the surface
with a small rock-fish in each hand. His own explanation of the feat was,
that as he seated himself at the bottom, the fish came around and nibbled at
his skin. Watching his opportunity, he seized and secured his prey by
thrusting his thumb and forefinger into their expanded gills.”[169]
Owing to the character of the fishery and the lack of government
supervision, it is extremely difficult to determine accurately the extent of
this industry in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. All over this coast
extends the influence of the Hindu traders, who finance the fisheries and
purchase most of the catch. The pearls are sent mostly to Bombay, and are
not reported in the official returns of the Red Sea ports. The fishermen are
suspicious of outside inquiries, and are far from anxious to impart reliable
information. Probably the best estimates of the catch are to be obtained
from Bombay merchants, from whom A. Perazzoli learned in 1898 that
pearls to the value of 2,000,000 lire ($400,000) were carried from the Red
Sea to Bombay each year.[170] In the last four or five years the output has
been smaller than usual, owing to disturbed political conditions.
The annual product of “Egyptian” and “Bombay” shells in these fisheries
is usually upward of 1000 tons, worth from $100 to $600 per ton, according
to quality. Most of these go to Austria and France, only about 200 tons
reaching London each year. Owing to the dark color and the lack of
thickness in the nacreous layer, they are scarcely suitable for anything else
than button manufacture. Many of them are sent to Bethlehem and
Jerusalem, where they are cut into various shapes for crosses, crucifixes,
wafer-boxes, beads, and nearly every conceivable article in which mother-
of-pearl is manufactured. Many of the choicest shells are incised with
scriptural or allegorical designs for sale to tourists as well as for export. The
best of the engraved shells sell for $10 to $50, and the cheaper ones for less
than $1 each. This industry is of great importance in Bethlehem, giving

employment to a considerable percentage of the eight thousand inhabitants
of the village.
Doubtless in no pearl fishery in the world are greater hardships endured
than in the Red Sea and along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. In practically
every other region, the industry is carried on under government supervision,
and there is little opportunity for ill-treatment of the humbler fishermen.
But the fanatics who control the fishery on the Arabian coast—
untrammeled by authorities and responsible to none—show little
consideration for the poor divers, and particularly for the unfortunate black
slaves brought from the coast of Africa.
These pearl fishermen lead a very eventful life, the divers especially.
They see some wonderful sights down below the surface-plant life and
creeping things and enemies innumerable. Dropping from the sun-scorched
surface down into the deep cool waters, everything shows “a sea change,
into something rich and strange,” just as the eyes of the drowned man in
Ariel’s song are turned into pearls and his bones into coral.
And there are enemies innumerable. The terrible sharks, prowling about
near the bottom, prove a source of perpetual uneasiness, and in the
aggregate many fishermen are eaten by these bloodthirsty tigers of the sea.
There are horrible conflicts with devil-fish equaling that in Hugo’s “Toilers
of the Sea.” The saw-fish is also a source of danger, particularly in the
Arabian Gulf, and instances are reported in which divers have been cut in
two by these animals, which sometimes attain a length of twelve or fifteen
feet, and possess a saw five feet long and three inches broad, armed on each
edge with teeth two inches in length. Another menacing peril is the giant
clam (Tridacna gigas), a monster bivalve, whose shell measures two or
three feet in diameter, and is firmly anchored to the bottom. This mollusk
occurs on many of the Asiatic pearling grounds. Lying with the scalloped
edges a foot or more apart, a foot or a hand of the diver may be accidentally
inserted. When such a fate befalls a fisherman, the only escape is for him to
amputate the member immediately. Once in a while on the pearling shores a
native may be found who has been maimed in this manner, but usually the
unfortunate man does not escape with his life.

CAP OF STATE, FROM
LOOTING OF SUMMER
PALACE, PEKIN, IN 1860

Now in South Kensington
Museum

THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CHINA, JAPAN, SIBERIA,
ETC.
Do churls
Know the worth of Orient pearls?
Give the gem which dims the moon
To the noblest or to none.

Emerson, Friendship.

It appears from ancient Chinese literature, noted in the first chapter of
this book, that pearl fisheries have existed in the rivers of China for several
thousand years. The Chinese also derived pearls from the sea, and
especially from the coast of the province of Che-kiang. Little is known of
the early fisheries, but the fragmentary literature contains so many allusions
to pearls as to lead us to believe that they were of considerable extent and
importance.
It is related that about 200 B.C., a pearl dealer at Shao-hing, an ancient
city between Hang-chau and Ning-po, on the shore of Hang-chau Bay,
furnished to the empress a pearl one inch in diameter, for which he received
five hundred pieces of silver; and to an envious princess the same dealer
sold a “four-inch pearl.” A hundred years later, the reigning emperor sent an
agent to the coast to purchase “moon pearls,” the largest of which were two
thirds of an inch in diameter.
In the tenth century A.D., Mingti, one of the most extravagant of the early
monarchs, used so many pearls—not only in his personal decoration but on
his equipage and retinue,—that after a formal procession the way would be
rich in the jewels which dropped from the gorgeous cortège. About 1000
A.D., an embassy to the emperor brought as tribute an ornament composed
of strings of pearls, and also 105 liang (8¾ lbs.) of the same gems
unmounted.
An interesting story is told of “pearl-scattering” by an embassy to the
Chinese court from a Malayan state about 1060. Following the customs of
their country, the ambassadors knelt at the threshold of the audience
chamber, and then advanced toward the throne, bearing a golden goblet
filled with choice pearls and water-lilies wrought of gold. These they

scattered upon the floor at the feet of the emperor; and the courtiers,
hastening to pick them up, secured ten hang (15 oz.) of pearls.[171]
The Keh Chi King Yuen, a Chinese encyclopedia, describes a pearl
fishery in the southern part of Kwang-tung province, in the department of
Lien-chau and near the city of Hóhpú. Fishing began in the spring, and was
preceded by conciliating the gods through certain sacrifices, in order that
the weather might be propitious and that no disaster might be suffered
through sharks and other agencies. The five sacrificial animals,—horses,
cattle, sheep, swine, and fowls,—were presented; but ordinarily paper
images of these were economically substituted, as equally acceptable to the
Chinese rulers of destiny. In the details of the diving, the fishery resembled
somewhat that prosecuted about the same period in the Gulf of Manaar. The
diver was let down by a rope, and after collecting the mollusks and placing
them in a basket, he was drawn up at a given signal. Much complaint was
made that the divers would open the mollusks, extract the pearls and
conceal them in the mouth before returning to the surface.
The business became so perilous and the loss so great, that about the
beginning of the sixteenth century, according to the same encyclopedia,
dredges were adopted. These at first were simple rakes; later large dredges
were trailed along between two boats, by means of which great quantities of
shells were gathered. So important was the industry that an officer was
designated by the viceroy of Canton to collect a revenue therefrom. It does
not appear that pearls have been collected in considerable numbers on this
part of the Chinese coast for very many years, probably not since the advent
of Europeans.
Pearls are yet found in the river mussels in all parts of eastern Asia, from
Siberia to the Indian Ocean, and from the Himalayas to the Pacific. It is
represented that they are not from the Unio margaritifera, the common
river-mussel of Europe, but from other species, such as Unio mongolicus,
U. dahuricus, Dipsas plicatus, etc. It is quite impossible to obtain a reliable
estimate of the total number of persons employed, or the output of pearls in
China, but these items are certainly very much larger than the average
Occidental believes.
In the vicinity of Canton the Dipsas plicatus has been used for centuries
by the Chinese in the production of artificial pearls, this industry giving
employment to thousands of persons.[172]

The pearl-mussel fishery is of importance in Manchuria, where it has
been carried on for hundreds of years, not only by the citizens, but by the
military department on account of the government, and especially in the
streams which flow into the Songari, a tributary of the Amur. Jacinth relates
that in case of a deficit, the officers and subalterns were punished by a
deduction from their pay, and also by corporal chastisement.[173] Witsen
speaks of the pearls from the River Gan, a tributary of the Amur, and also
from the islands of the Amur, the boundary river of Manchuria. Pearl
fisheries were established at these places by the Russians nearly two
centuries ago.[174]
Pearls become finer and more plentiful the further we penetrate into
Manchuria; and they are numerous in the lake of Heikow or Hing-chou-
men, “Black Lake” or “Gate of Precious Gems,” where they have long been
exploited for the account of the emperor of China.
The occurrence of pearls in many parts of Asiatic Russia was noted by
Von Hessling. In northern Siberia, according to Witsen, writing in 1705,[175]
pearls were found in the waters about the town of Mangasea on the
Turuchan; and Von Middendorf notes that they were found in the Tunguska
River, which flows into the Yenisei. Whether, however, they come from the
Unio margaritifera is considered doubtful by Von Middendorf. Witsen
referred to their occurrence in the rivers and streams of Irkutsk and Onon,
and this is confirmed by several writers of more recent times. Pallas says
that the mussels found there are quite large, and speaks of the Ilim, which
flows into the Angara, as another river where they occur.
Ancient books relating to Japan repeatedly allude to the occurrence of
pearls on the coasts of that country. They are mentioned in the Nihonki, of
the eighth century, the oldest Japanese history.
Tavernier wrote about 1670: “It is possible that of those who have written
before me concerning pearls, none have recorded that some years back a
fishery was discovered in a certain part of the coasts of Japan, and I have
seen some of the pearls which the Dutch brought from thence. They were of
very beautiful water, and some of them of large size, but all baroques. The
Japanese do not esteem pearls. If they cared about them it is possible that by
their means some banks might be discovered where finer ones would be
obtained.”[176]

In 1727, Kaempfer wrote that pearls, called by the Japanese kainotamma
or shell jewels, were found in oysters and other mollusks almost
everywhere about Saikokf. Every person was at liberty to fish for them.
Formerly the natives had little or no value for them, till they learned of their
estimation by the Chinese, who were ready to pay good prices for them,
their women being very proud of wearing necklaces and other ornaments of
pearls. “The largest and finest pearls are found in the small sort of oysters,
called akoja, which is not unlike the Persian pearl-oyster. These are found
only in the seas about Satzuma and in the Gulf of Omura (Kiusiu). Some of
the pearls weigh from four to five candareens[177] and these are sold for a
hundred kobans each.[178] The inhabitants of the Loochoo Islands buy most
of those about Satzuma, since they trade to that province. Those found on
the Gulf of Omura are sold chiefly to the Chinese and Tunquinese, and it is
computed that they buy for about 3000 taels[179] a year. This great profit
occasioned the strict orders, which were made not long ago by the princes
both of Satzuma and Omura, that for the future there should be no more of
these oysters sold in the market with other oysters, as had been done
formerly.”[180]
Kaempfer also noted that the Japanese obtained pearls from the yellow
snail shell and from the taira gai (Placuna) in the Gulf of Arima, and
especially from the awabi or abalone (Haliotis). This mollusk was much
sought after for food, being taken in large quantities by the fishermen’s
wives, “they being the best divers of the country.”[181]
Of the several species of pearl-oysters which occur in the coastal waters
of Japan, the only one of importance at present is the Margaritifera
martensi. While this occurs in very many localities, it is most numerous
among the southern islands, where some fine pearls have been secured. The
fishery for this species was quite extensive thirty or forty years ago, and the
reefs were largely depleted. For nearly a score of years it has been used in
growing culture pearls, an account of which is given on pages 292, 293.
A few pearls are obtained from several other bivalve mollusks in Japan.
Among the collections of the present writers are pearls from Margaritifera
martensi, collected at Bay Agu; from M. panasisæ, about the Liu-kiu
Islands; from Pecten yezocusis, in Sokhaido; from Mytilus crasitesta, in the
Inland Sea, and from North Japan, and from a species of Dipsas found in
Lake Biwa.

While the pearl fisheries of Japan are not of great importance in any
single locality, the distribution of the reefs is so extensive that the aggregate
yield is considerable.
The awabi or ear-shell (Haliotis gigantea), found on the coast of Japan,
Korea, etc., yields many pearly forms. This species is much smaller than the
California abalones. It has a fairly smooth, nacreous surface, but its value is
depreciated by the great size of the marginal perforations, which render
useless for commercial purposes all of the shell external to the line of
perforations. While its opalescent tints make it desirable for manufacturing
into certain styles of buttons and buckles, its principal use is for inlaying
work or marquetry, for which it is especially adapted, owing to its fineness
of texture and beauty of coloring even when reduced to thin sheets.

FISHING FOR THE AWABI (ABALONE) SHELLS AT
WADA-NO-HARA, JAPAN

Probably the most interesting of the abalone fisheries is that on the shores
of Quelpaerd Island, about sixty miles south of the Korean coast, which is
prosecuted largely by the women. Dressed only in a scanty garment, these
women swim out to the fishing grounds, distant several hundred yards in
some cases, carrying with them a stout knife and a small sack suspended
from a gourd. On reaching the reefs, they dive to the bottom—sometimes to
a depth of six or eight fathoms—and by means of the knife, remove the
abalones from the bottom and place them in the sack. They may remain out
an hour, diving repeatedly until the sack is filled, when they swim back to

the shore. Pearls are found only rarely; in one lot of one hundred shells,
only five were found bearing pearls; two with three pearls each, two with
two pearls each, and one with a single pearl. The flesh of this mollusk after
it has been cleaned and dried, is quite popular as an article of diet. Although
white when fresh, the color changes to a dark red. The pieces of dried flesh,
in the form of flat reddish disks four or five inches in diameter, are fastened
on slender sticks—about ten to each stick—and displayed in the grocery
shops in Seul and other cities.
In the Gulf of Siam on the Asiatic coast, pearls are obtained from a small
oyster with a thin shell, presumably a variety of the Lingah oyster. The beds
have not yet been thoroughly exploited, as the Siamese do not especially
value pearls, attributing some superstitious sentiments of ill luck to them.
However, from time to time Chinese traders have bought them from the
Malay divers and sold them at great profit in the Singapore market. The
known beds occur chiefly in the northern part of the gulf, on the west coast,
and extend in a narrow belt for a distance of about one hundred miles. The
fishing is prosecuted by nude divers in shallow water. A recent letter from
Dr. K. Van Dort, a mining engineer of Bangkok, Siam, states that in 1906 in
six weeks, with the aid of half a dozen divers he was able to collect 720
grains’ weight of pearls, mostly small ones, but including one of 20 grains,
one of 14 grains, two of 12 grains each, and seven over 9 grains in weight.
He reports that the total value of the large ones in Bangkok was $1500, but
the small ones could not be sold to any advantage, as they are little prized
by the Siamese. The shells are of no commercial value, as they are too thin
for industrial use other than for inlaid work. Some fine old specimens of
marquetry in which these shells were used exist in the Buddhist temples at
Bangkok. This art of inlaying is almost lost among the Siamese, and there is
said to be only one man in the king’s palace who can lay any claims to
proficiency in working mother-of-pearl shell.

VII

PEARLS FROM THE AFRICAN COASTS

VII
EAST AFRICAN PEARL FISHERIES

The Islanders with fleecy curls,
Whose homes are compass’d by the Arabian waves;
By whom those shells which breed the orient pearls
Are dived and fish’d for in their green sea caves.

Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered.

T
he principal pearl fisheries of the coasts of Africa are those
prosecuted in the Red Sea, between this continent and Asia. These
have already been described in the preceding chapter, among the
Asiatic fisheries; for, although situated between the two
continents, they are prosecuted largely by Arabs rather than by natives of
the western shores of the sea.
Other than those in the Red Sea, the only pearl resources in Africa which
have received attention are on the eastern coast, south of the Gulf of Aden.
Little information exists as to the origin of these fisheries. In a paper
published by the Lisbon Geographical Society, January, 1903, Señor Ivens
Ferranz states that, according to tradition, in remote times the Ibo
Archipelago, on the northeast coast of Portuguese East Africa, was
inhabited by a Semitic colony, which located there to fish for pearls, and
these were carried through the Red Sea to King Solomon. He adds that
there is little doubt that, after the great emigration which started from the
Persian Gulf in 982 and founded Zanzibar, Kilwa, and Sofala on this coast,
some Arabs engaged in fishing for pearls about the islands near Sofala.
In 1609 Joao dos Santos wrote that on the sandy sea bottom about the
Bazaruto Islands, which are about 150 miles south of Sofala, there were
many large oysters which bore pearls, and the natives fished for them by
diving in practically the same manner as in the Persian Gulf.[182]

In a personal memorandum, Sir Robert Edgcumbe states that in the very
early times of Portuguese exploitation on the eastern coast of Africa, pearl
fishing was carried on in these waters. For a long period the tenure of power
exerted by the Portuguese was of a feeble character; they practically
occupied no position of importance on the mainland, but seized upon
stations on the islands which offered decent harbors. Thus their chief
settlements, such as Mozambique and Ibo, were on islands lying off the
coast, and until recent years they made no serious attempt to occupy the
mainland.
Arabs and Banyans carried on the commercial traffic of the country, as
they still do, and they were more truly the masters of this coast than were
the Portuguese, who were little more than nominal rulers. Trading to and
from India in their small dhows, the Arabs and Banyans had full knowledge
of the value of pearls, and undoubtedly secured all that were obtainable. But
they observed no restrictions, and without doubt—for a time, at any rate—
greatly impaired the productive power of the fisheries.
The principal pearl reefs of East Africa, so far as known at present,
extend along the coast of the German East African territory from the
Province of Uzaramo to the Rovuma River, the southern limit of that
territory, and also into Portuguese East Africa as far south as Pemba Bay, a
total distance of about 300 miles. Along much of this coast, there are islands
lying from one to two miles off shore, and between these islands are
barriers of reefs, which create a series of lagoons. In these lagoons,
protected by the islands and the reefs from the influence of the surf formed
by the Indian monsoons, there are large patches of coral rock and groups of
living coral, which form excellent attachments for the pearl-oysters.
It is only recently that serious attention has been paid to these pearl
resources, although year by year a considerable number of pearls have been
collected by the natives and sold to Arabs and Banyans, who have sent them
chiefly to India by way of Zanzibar. The natives of these parts are not very
expert in diving, and they collect the oysters principally by wading out as
far as they can at low tide. They do not wait for the mollusks to attain a
proper age, and as a result they find few pearls of large size. Many parcels
of pearls fished in this very elementary way pass through the custom-house,
where they are subject to a small duty for export, and others are smuggled
out of the country. Quantities of seed-pearls are sent to India, where they

are used principally as a medicine and in cosmetics; and occasionally there
are rumors that some choice pearls have been discovered.
In the German territory a concession of the fisheries was granted a few
years ago to Dr. Aurel Schulz; and, although we are not in position to say
what success he has met with, it is reported that he has secured a
considerable number of pearls under four grains in weight, of fair shape and
quality and of good marketable value.
A concession of the pearl fishery on the Portuguese coast north of Ibo has
been granted to the East African Pearl Company. For this company an
examination of the resources is now being made by Mr. James J. Simpson,
acting under direction of Prof. W. A. Herdman, of the Liverpool University,
the technical advisor of the Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers.
At least four species of pearl-bearing mollusks exist here; these are
Margaritifera vulgaris, M. margaritifera, Pinna nobilis, and a species of
Perna, named in the order of their importance. A preliminary report of Mr.
Simpson (supplied through the courtesy of Sir Robert Edgcumbe), states
that among the Ibo Islands about one half of the bottom is sandy and the
other half is covered with detached pieces of coral rock, groups of living
corals, masses of nullipore, and expanses of fixed seaweed. On all of these
in the shoal waters, there is such an abundance of pearl-oysters (M.
vulgaris) that a single diver, by simply descending and bringing up a few in
his hands each time, can secure about 200 in fifteen minutes. Oysters also
occur singly on the sandy bottom, but not so abundantly. Within the three-
year-old oysters there are many seed-pearls. It is evident that there has been
an extensive removal of large oysters in recent years and that large pearls
were then found; but the depredations of the natives now prevent the
mollusks from attaining an age and size which render them useful as pearl-
bearers.
Said Mr. Simpson in his report: “The women here play great havoc on
the reefs by going out daily and collecting the pearl-oysters at low tide. All
along the coast from Muliga Point to Arimba the shores are covered with
shells. At one place we came across a heap of freshly-opened oysters which
consisted of thirty or forty thousand at the lowest estimate; while an older
heap contained between forty to sixty millions. Four women who were
fishing on the reefs while we were there had over two thousand oysters in
their baskets. Thus it is evident that immense quantities are annually

destroyed. And the worst feature is that out of those destroyed, not one per
cent. were over two years old.”
It is the intention of the East African Pearl Company, as soon as the
investigation of the resources is completed, to police the fishing grounds so
as to put an end to the removal of immature oysters, which yield only seed-
pearls, and to permit them to attain maturity. In addition to this, it is their
purpose to utilize the extensive beds of oysters lying in comparatively deep
water, which are now inaccessible to the natives owing to their lack of
diving skill.
Sir Robert Edgcumbe writes that it is impossible to say more at present
than that these fisheries at one time bore a high repute, and that the oysters
have continued to exist in multitudes though fished by the natives in the
immature state; and there is every indication that if properly policed and
worked in a scientific way these fisheries should once again become of
much importance. The fact that the pearl-bearing oysters are found there in
large quantities, notwithstanding that they have been poached without
restriction by the natives, indicates that only proper management and
policing are necessary to make them valuable and productive.
On the lower coast of Portuguese East Africa, pearl fishing has been of
some local importance. The reefs are most extensive about the Bazaruto
Islands, previously referred to as about 150 miles south of Sofala. In 1888,
when famine prevailed on this coast, the inhabitants of this archipelago, of
both sexes and of all ages, fished for the large pearl-oysters (known locally
as mapalo), selling their catch at Chiloane to Asiatic traders, who gave them
a handful of rice for a large basket of the mollusks. It was estimated that
during two months of that year, pearls to the value of eighty contos
($83,500) were taken.[183] In 1889 three British subjects attempted to renew
the fishery by using dredges, but without success, owing, it is said, to the
great weight of the implements.
The Kafirs of Bazaruto continue to fish irregularly, but their catch is not
of importance. These pearls are carried by traders to Zanzibar, Muscat, and
Bombay. The American consul writes that some years ago the Portuguese
government granted a concession to a company of American fishermen to
exploit the Bazaruto reefs, but the attempt to work the concession failed
through “bad management, lack of funds, heavy expenses, and political

difficulties,” a combination apparently sufficient to wreck a similar attempt
in the most favorable locality.
The American consul at Tamatave states that in 1907 the government of
Madagascar awarded two grants for pearl fisheries, covering the entire
western coast, a distance of one thousand miles, excepting two hundred
miles, for which two grants were given in 1906. Apparently no effort was
made to develop the earlier grants; the later ones may be operated, perhaps
jointly. These concessions are personal, and may not be sold or transferred
without the governor-general’s consent. The use of divers, machinery,
dredges, and other apparatus, and the building of necessary stations are
allowed, if there be no interference with navigation, fishing, or coast travel.
An annual tax is to be paid, with a stated increase each year, and revised
according to the success of the enterprise. A report must be sent yearly to
the governor-general. The grants may be revoked if work is not begun
within a stated period; if the work is needlessly abandoned during one year,
or if the tax is not paid. Whenever the interests of the colony or of the
public service require it, the privilege may be withdrawn without indemnity.

VIII

EUROPEAN PEARL FISHERIES

THE BRITISH ISLES, THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE

VIII
PEARL FISHERIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES

And Britain’s ancient shores great pearls produce.

Marbodus (circa 1070).

T
he occurrence of pearls in the British Isles was known two
thousand years ago, and frequent references to them were made in
Roman writings of the first and second centuries of the Christian
era.
In his “Lives of the Cæsars,” the biographer Suetonius, after speaking of
the admiration which Julius Cæsar had for pearls, states that their
occurrence in Britain was an important factor in inducing the first Roman
invasion of that country in 55 B.C.[184] If this be true, the English-speaking
people owe a vast debt of gratitude to these pearls in bringing their Briton
ancestors in contact with Roman civilization; and the influence which they
have thus exercised on the world’s history has been greater than that of the
pearls from all other regions or, we might add, than all other jewels.
The naturalist Pliny (23–79) stated: “In Brittaine it is certain that some do
grow; but they bee small, dim of colour, and nothing orient. For Julius
Cæsar (late Emperor of famous memorie) doth not dissimble, that the
cuirace or breastplate which he dedicated to Venus mother within her
temple was made of English pearles.”[185]
This decoration of pearls was a very proper offering to the goddess who
arose from the sea.
The historian Tacitus noted in “Vita Agricolæ” that the pearls from
Britain were dusky or brownish (subfusca ac liventia).[186] In his
commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen (185–253), one of the
Greek fathers of the church, described the British pearls as next in value to

the Indian. Their surface, he stated, was of a golden color, but they were
cloudy and less transparent than those from India.
We have no certain information whether the pearls secured by the
Romans were from the edible mussel (Mytilus edulis) of the sea-coast or
from the Unios of the fresh-water streams. Tacitus’s statement that they
were collected “as the sea throws them up,” seems to locate them on the
sea-coast; but conditions in modern times make it appear more probable
that they were from the fresh waters.
Some of the very early coins of the country indicate that pearls were used
to ornament the imperial diadem of the sovereigns of ancient Britain. In
“Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,” the celebrated English monk,
Bede (673–735) surnamed “The Venerable,” enumerated among other
things for which Britain was famous in his day, “many sorts of shell-fish,
among which are mussels, in which are often found excellent pearls of all
colours; red, purple, violet and green, but mostly white.”[187] And Marbodus,
Bishop of Rennes, in his lapidarium, written about 1070, refers to the
British pearls as equaling those of Persia and India. About 1094 a present of
an Irish pearl was made to Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, by Gilbert,
Bishop of Limerick.[188]
In the twelfth century there was a market for Scotch pearls in Europe, but
they were less valued than those from the Orient.[189] An ordinance of John
II, King of France, in August, 1355, which confirmed the old statutes and
privileges of goldsmiths and jewelers, expressly forbade mounting Scotch
and oriental pearls together in the same article, except in ecclesiastical
jewelry (Orfèvre ne peut mettre en œuvre d’or ne argent parles d’Ecosse
avec parles d’orient se ce n’est en grands joyaulx d’église).[190]
Writing in the sixteenth century, the historian William Camden (1551–
1623) stated in his “Britannia”:

OLD PRINT SHOWING FOUR METHODS OF
CATCHING PEARL-BEARING MOLLUSKS

Reproduced from “Margaritologia, sive Dissertatio de
Margaritis,” by Malachias Geiger, Monachii, 1637

The British and Irish Pearls are found in a large black Muscle.... They are peculiar to rapid and
stony rivers; and are common in Wales, and in the North of England, and in Scotland, and some parts
of Ireland. In this country they are called by the vulgar Kregin Diliw, i.e. Deluge shells; as if Nature
had not intended the shells for the rivers; but being brought thither by the Universal Deluge, they had
continued there, and so propagated their kind ever since. Those who fish here for Pearls, know partly
by the outside of these Muscles, whether they contain any; for generally such as have them are a little
contracted or distorted from their usual shape. A curious and accomplished Gentleman, lately of these
parts, showed me a valuable Collection of the Pearls of the Conway River in Wales; amongst which I
noted a stool-pearl [button-pearl], weighing seventeen grains, and distinguished on the convex side
with a fair round spot of a Cornelian colour, exactly in the center.[191]
In 1560 “large handsome pearls” were sent from Scotland to Antwerp.[192]
In 1620 a great pearl was found in the Kellie Burn, in Aberdeenshire. This
was carried to King James by the provost, who was rewarded with “twelve
to fourdeen chalder of victuals about Dunfermline, and the Customs of
Merchants’ goods in Aberdeen during his life.” No record appears of the
reward paid to the finder; possibly it was not worth recording.
In 1621 the Privy Council of Scotland issued a proclamation that pearls
found within the realm belonged to the Crown; and conservators of the
pearl fisheries were appointed in several of the counties, including
Aberdeen, Ross, and Sutherland. It was the duty of the conservators, among

other things, to nominate experts to fish for pearls during July and August,
“when they are at chief perfection.” The conservators and fishermen were
compensated by selling those pearls of ordinary quality, but “the best for
bignesse and colour” were to be remitted to the king. It was reported to the
Privy Council that the conservator in Aberdeenshire did very well in the
first year. “He hath not only taken divers pearls of good value, but hath
found some in waters where none were expected.” The first parliament of
Charles I abolished these privileges.
Robert Sibbald, physician to Charles II, wrote that he had seen a necklace
of Scotch pearls which was valued at two thousand crowns; they were
“larger than peas, perfectly round, and of a brilliant whiteness.”[193]
It is said that Sir Richard Wynne of Gwydir presented to Catherine of
Braganza, queen of Charles II of England, a pearl from the Conway in
Wales, which is said to be even yet retained in the royal crown. In his
“Faerie Queene” (1590), Spenser speaks of the
Conway, which out of his streame doth send
Plenty of pearles to deck his dames withal.

The White Cart River in Scotland, on which the city of Paisley is
situated, was distinguished, according to Camden, “for the largeness and the
fineness of the Pearls that are frequently found hereabouts and three miles
above.”[194] And the pearls from Irton in Cumberland, England, were so
noted at that time that “fair as Irton pearls” became a byword in the north
country. In their history of Westmoreland and Cumberland,[195] Nicolson and
Burn state that “Mr. Thomas Patrickson, late of How of this county
(Cumberland), having employed divers poor inhabitants to gather these
pearls, obtained such a quantity as he sold to the jewellers in London for
above £800.” But in 1794 Hutchinson[196] stated that none had been seen for
many years past.
Pearl fishing in Ireland was of some consequence in the seventeenth
century. Speaking of the Slaney River, Solomon Richards, in a description
of Wexford about the year 1656, said: “It ought to precede all the rivers in
Ireland for its pearle fishing, which though not abundant are yet excellent,
for muscles are daily taken out of it about fowre, five and six inches long, in
which are often found pearles, for lustre, magnitude and rotundity not
inferior to oriental or any other in the world.”[197] In 1693 Sir Robert

Redding wrote that there were four rivers in the county of Tyrone in
northern Ireland which abounded in pearl-mussels, all four emptying into
Lough Foyle and thence into the sea. They were also to be found in several
rivers in the adjacent Donegal County. Redding gave an interesting
description of the fishery:
In the warm months before harvest is ripe, whilst the rivers are low and clear, the poor people go
into the water and take them up, some with their toes, some with wooden tongs, and some by putting
a sharpened stick into the opening of the shell; and although by common estimate not above one shell
in a hundred may have a pearl, and of these pearls not above one in a hundred be tolerably clear, yet a
vast number of fair merchantable pearls, and too good for the apothecary, are offered to sale by those
people every summer assize. Some gentlemen of the country make good advantage thereof, and I
myself, whilst there, saw a pearl bought for £2, 10s. that weighed 36 carats, and was valued at £40,
and had it been as clear as some others produced therewith it would certainly have been very
valuable. Everybody abounds with stories of the good pennyworths of the country, but I will add but
one more. A miller took a pearl, which he sold for £4, 10s. to a man that sold it for £10 to another,
who sold it to the late Lady Glenanly for £30, with whom I saw it in a necklace; she refused £80 for
it from the late Duchess of Ormond.
The young muscles never have any pearl in them. The shells that have the best pearls are wrinkled,
twisted, or bunched, and not smooth and equal, as those that have none. And the crafty fellows will
guess so well by the shell, that though you watch them never so carefully, they will open such shells
under the water, and put the pearls in their mouths, or otherwise conceal them. Yet sometimes when
they have been taking up shells, and believing by such signs as I have mentioned, that they were sure
of good purchase, and refused good sums for their shares, they found no pearl at all in them. Upon
discourse with an old man that had been long at this trade, he advised me to seek not only when the
waters were low, but on a dusky, gloomy day also, lest, said he, the fish see you, for then he will shed
his pearl in the sand; of which I believe no more than that some muscles have voided their pearls, and
such are often found in the sands.[198]

MADAME DUCHESSE DAUGHTER OF
NORISCHKINE ELIZABETH GENERAL
NÉE (CONSTANTIN) SOBELIEFF
STRAUDMAN FIRST
COUNTESS
BEAUHARNAIS

For several years following 1760, the Scotch pearl fisheries were of
considerable local value. The zoölogist, Thomas Pennant, wrote of them
several times in his “Tour of Scotland.” Referring to the Tay and Isla rivers,
then as now the center of the Scotch pearling, he states: “There has been in
these parts a very great fishery of pearl, got out of the fresh-water muscles.
From the year 1761 to 1764, £10,000 worth were sent to London, and sold
from 10s. to £1 6s. per ounce. I was told that a pearl had been taken there
that weighed 33 grains. But this fishery is at present exhausted, from the
avarice of the undertakers. It once extended as far as Loch Tay.”[199] And he
adds later that, some years preceding, a pearl fishery was prosecuted in
Loch Dochart with great success and the pearls were esteemed the fairest
and largest of any.
From 1770 to 1860 the pearl resources of Scotland remained almost
dormant, and Scotch pearls were rarely met with in the markets. In 1861 a
German merchant, who was acquainted with the beauty of these gems,
traveled through the districts of Tay, Doon and Don, obtaining a great
number which the poor people kept for their own pleasure, not esteeming
them of any market value, and interested the fishermen in searching for the
mussels. The seemingly high prices which he paid and the abundance of the
pearls sent hundreds of persons to the rivers and small brooks. Those who

were otherwise employed during the day devoted hours of the long summer
nights to diligent search after the coveted shells; while boys and old
persons, who were without regular avocations, waded day after day where
there was a probability of reward. In the course of a short time pearls, good,
bad and indifferent, reached the originator of the movement at Edinburgh,
from Ayrshire, from Perthshire, and from the Highland regions far beyond
the Grampians. He was soon the possessor of a collection which, for
richness and variety, had seldom been surpassed. A trade in these gems was
developed, the patronage of royalty was obtained, and once more Scotch
pearls became fashionable, and their vogue was enhanced by the fondness
which Queen Victoria entertained for them.
In addition to the rivers named, pearls were found in the Forth, the Teith,
the Ythan, and the Spey in eastern Scotland. The summer of 1862 was most
favorable for pearling, owing to the dryness of the season and the low
water, and unusually large quantities of pearls were found, the prices
ranging ordinarily from 10s. to £2 6s. Queen Victoria is said to have
purchased one for forty guineas; others were bought by Empress Eugénie
and by the Duchess of Hamilton. A necklace of them was sold for £350 in
1863.[200] The value of the entire catch in Scotland in 1864 was estimated at
£12,000 to the fishermen, the yield being unusually large in that season
owing to the unprecedented drought which permitted access to the deep
beds of the rivers. In some of the streams the resources were quickly
depleted, but in others the fisheries yielded profitable returns for many
years. While most of the pearls were small, some of them were choice and
of considerable individual value, ranging from £5 to £150, and £500 is said
to have been paid for one fine specimen.
The pearl-mussel of the British Isles (Unio margaritifera) has a thick,
coarse and unsightly shell, from 3 to 7 inches in width and 1½ to 2½ inches
in length from the umbo to the lip. The rough exterior is dark brown, and it
is sometimes twisted, distorted and barnacled.
It generally lies scattered and detached over the pebbly bottoms, but it
also exists in reefs or beds which are sometimes of considerable extent.
These occur usually where a stretch of water is still and deep, and
oftentimes where the depth places the mussels beyond the reach of the
fishermen. Apart from the pearls it contains, the mussel is of no economic

value except that in some localities the mollusk is used for bait in cod-
fishing.
In recent years the pearl-mussel has been numerous in several of the
rivers of Scotland, such as the Tay, Earn, and Teith in Perthshire; the Dee,
the Don, and the Ythan in Aberdeenshire; the Spey and Findhorn in
Inverness-shire, and also the classic Doon of Burns, the Nith, the Annan and
others in southern Scotland; however, it is rare in the Clyde and the Tweed.
The Teith has long been famed for pearl-bearing, though like other rivers
it has become nearly fished out. The Tay produces many pearls, yet as a rule
they are not of the best class. Some of its tributaries, as the Tummel and the
Isla, also bear pearls; those in the Isla are usually fine and rank higher than
those from the Tay. The Earn is also famous for the fine quality of its pearls,
but the whole river was robbed of its wealth some years ago by a body of
professional fishermen, and it has not yet recovered from the raid; few
pearls now exist there save in the deeper pools, where doubtless may still be
hid “full many a gem of purest ray serene.”
In Ireland pearls have been found principally in the rivers of counties
Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone, Antrum, etc. In an article in “The Field,”
December 10, 1864, Mr. F. T. Buckland stated that they abound near
Oughterard, and that a man called “Jemmy the Pearl-catcher,” who lived
there, told him that he knew when a mussel had a pearl in it even without
opening the shell, because “she [the mussel] sits upright with her mouth in
the mud, and her back is crooked,” that is, corrugated like a ram’s horn.
Pearls are yet found in several localities in the Emerald Isle, notably in the
river Bann in the northeastern part and in the beautiful Connemara district
in western Ireland. In 1892 the Bann yielded one of the choicest pearls that
ever came from Ireland. Within the last twelve months Lady Dudley, wife
of the Viceroy of Ireland, presented to Queen Alexandra a number of pearls
from the Connemara. These were mounted in a green enameled brooch, and
excited so much admiration that an active demand for similar gems quickly
developed in County Galway.
Mr. D. MacGregor, a well-known jeweler of Perth, to whom we are
indebted for much information relative to pearls in Scotland, states that no
attention whatever is given to conserving the mussel; on the contrary, the
waters are unscrupulously despoiled by the greedy pearl fisherman who
destroys all that he finds, since, by chance, they may yield the coveted gem.

Immense numbers are thus wantonly destroyed, which if allowed to grow
and propagate would be more likely to contribute to the pearl yield, as it is
well known that it is the aged mussels in which a pearl is most likely to be
found. There is no close time, and so extensive have been the raids upon the
mussels in recent years that they have been rapidly exterminated in places
accessible to the fishermen; and should the spoliation continue and extend
to the deep waters, the pearl-mussel may soon become extinct.
Pearl fishing is not prosecuted throughout the year, as it can be carried on
only in the dry season when the waters are low. There are a number of
professional fishermen who search in their favorite streams, and sometimes
very profitably, as much as £200 having been gained in a single season by
one fisherman. One of the most noted of these was “Pearl Johnnie,” who a
few years ago hailed from Compar-Angus, in Perthshire, and who styled
himself “Pearl Fisher to the Prince of Wales,” by reason of some dealings
he once had with his Royal Highness. He was very successful in his
experience of more than thirty years. There is little mystery in the search;
skill does not always avail, and men, women and children are rewarded or
disappointed indiscriminately. The bed of the stream is searched until the
patches of mussels are discovered, and this is usually the most tedious part
of the work. These may be in very shoal water, where a small boy has only
to wade with water above his knees and pick up the mussels by stooping;
but more frequently the water covers a man’s hips, and at times he is
immersed almost to the shoulders.
The equipment of a pearl fisherman is simple. If he wades, he commonly
wears long boots with tops reaching to his breast. Provided with a pole five
or six feet long having a cleft at the lower end, and with a tube several
inches in diameter with the lower end closed by a glass, he invades the
home of the pearl-mussel. Thrusting the tube or water glass beneath the
surface, he scans the bed of the stream, and when a mussel is sighted, the
cleft pole is brought into use and it is picked up by means of these primitive
tongs. Owing to the close resemblance which the pearl-mussel bears to the
stones in the riverbed, good eyesight is required to avoid overlooking it. A
bag by the fisher’s side receives the catch; and when this is well filled, he
goes to the bank of the stream and opens his lottery, in the great majority of
cases to find that he has drawn a blank.

A boat is seldom used, simply because it is not available, but in the tidal
waters it is indispensable. The “box” is a risky device for fishing in the
deeper waters. It is a small contrivance, somewhat like the ancient British
coracle, in which the fisherman sits or lies over on his chest; venturing out
in the deeper parts which can not be waded, he carefully peers through the
tube and draws up his find with the long cleft stick. This is a tiresome
method, but some places can not be readily fished in any other manner.
In Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, etc., there are a few men who regularly
spend the season “at the pearls.” The knowing ones dispose of their best
finds to wealthy residents or to strangers and tourists who frequent the
vicinity. In addition to these experienced fishermen, many of the idlers and
unemployed about the riverside towns, and also the farm servants in the
country, search the waters in their neighborhood in the hope of picking up
some gems. But very often it is severe and disappointing labor, for the
pearl-seeker may travel far and endure privation and hardships for days, and
yet, after destroying hundreds and even thousands of mussels, he may be
rewarded with only a little almost worthless dross; but again and again he
returns to the elusive game, inspired by the “hope which springs eternal in
the human breast.”

The Valley of the Tay

The River Earn

Photographs by The Raeburn Portrait Studio, Perth, Scotland

SCOTCH PEARL RIVERS

The British pearls are in great variety of colors, but most of them are
practically valueless on account of the absence of orient or luster; for one
possessing the white pearly luster, fifty may be found of a dull color and
devoid of value. Many of these opaque pearls are dark, lusterless brown,
and handfuls of them sell for only a few shillings. A large percentage are of
a grayish or milky color, or of a bluish white tinge; these seldom attain
much value unless aided by excellence of shape and purity of skin. A few
are of a dark, fiery tint and of great luster. Sometimes the pearl is of a
beautiful pink tint, sometimes of a light violet, or other exquisite shade. The
fine pink ones are very rare and are highly prized. The best are those having
the sweet, pure white light which constitutes the inimitable loveliness of a
pearl; but few of them are found even in the most favorable seasons, and
usually these are from the streams in the northeastern counties and some of
the streams in the southwest. Very few combine the qualities of perfection
in shape and luster; and the product of many seasons might be examined in
vain to furnish enough pearls to make a well-matched necklace of gems
weighing from five to ten grains each. But occasionally beautiful specimens
are discovered, weighing fifteen or twenty grains or more. One found in
Aberdeenshire a few years ago, perfect in shape and luster, weighed twenty-

five grains, and sold at first hand for £50. Another one, found at the
confluence of the Almond and the Tay in 1865, weighed thirty grains.
While most of these pearls are sold to jewelers in Edinburgh, Aberdeen,
Inverness, Perth, and other towns, many of the finest specimens have gone
into the possession of prominent Scotch and English families, who have a
fancy for collecting them. Queen Victoria possessed a fine collection of
Scotch pearls, choice specimens of many years’ search, obtained almost
exclusively from the Aberdeenshire waters which murmur round her
beautiful Highland home. In 1907, a Scotch pearl was sold in Perth for the
sum of £80; this was of a good luster with a bluish tint, it was spherical,
measured seven sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and weighed twenty-one
grains.
The falling off in the yield of pearls in some streams is credited to a
certain extent to the building of bridges and the consequent abandonment of
fords. This is based on the theory that injury to the mollusk has something
to do with the production of pearls, and that they are to be found more
plentiful about fords and places where cattle drink. The theory is beautifully
stated by the lamented Hugh Miller: “I found occasion to conclude that the
Unio of our river-fords secretes pearls so much more frequently than the
Unionidae and Anadonta of our still pools and lakes, not from any specific
peculiarity in the constitution of the creature, but from the effects of the
habitat which it chooses. It receives in the fords and shallows of a rapid
river many a rough blow from the sticks and pebbles carried down in time
of flood, and occasionally from the feet of men and animals that cross the
stream during droughts, and the blows induce the morbid secretions, of
which pearls are the result. There seems to exist no inherent cause why
Anadon cygnea, with its beautiful silvery nacre—as bright often, and
always more delicate, than that of Unio margaritiferus—should not be
equally productive of pearls; but secure from violence in its still pools and
lakes, and unexposed to the circumstances that provoke abnormal
secretions, it does not produce a single pearl for every hundred that are
ripened into value and beauty by the exposed, current-tossed Unionidae of
our rapid mountain rivers. Would that hardship and suffering bore always in
a creature of a greatly higher family similar results, and that the hard buffets
dealt him by fortune in the rough stream of life could be transmitted, by
some blessed internal pre-disposition of his nature, into pearls of great
price.”[201]

The small blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) of the British seas yields opaque
pearls of a deep blue color, but most of them are more or less white in some
part. Sometimes a shell is found in which a blue pearl will be adhering to
the blue lip of the shell while a dull white one adheres to the white portion
of the shell. These pearls are commonly flattened on one side, doubtless
where they have been adjacent to the shell. None of them is of more than
very slight value.
Probably the principal fishery for the salt-water mussel pearls is that in
the estuary of the Conway in Wales. These are mostly quite small and well
answer the designation of seed-pearls, although a few are of fair size. In
color most of them range from dirty white to the dusky or brownish tint
noted by Tacitus eighteen centuries ago, but a few are of a pure silvery tint.
In some seasons London dealers have agents at Conway for purchasing
these pearls. The price is usually from eight to thirty shillings per ounce.

THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE
Après l’esprit de discernement, ce qu’il y a au monde de plus rare, ce sont les diamants et les
perles.
La Bruyère, Les caractères.

Pearls occur in species of mussels found in the streams and lakes of
Europe, in some of which the fisheries have been of considerable local
interest. It appears that these resources were exploited by the Romans, then
by the Goths and the Lombards, and later the natives continued to draw
forth the treasures which lay hidden about their homes. These pearls have
attracted attention up to the present time; and while they do not compare
with those of the seas, either in quality or in aggregate value, yet they are
prized on account of their intrinsic worth as well as because they are a
product of the fatherland. In the densely populated valleys, the rivers are so
polluted by refuse and sewage that the mollusks have been greatly depleted;
but in the streams of clear, cool water, draining the mountain regions of
France, Germany, Austria, and also in the rivers of Norway, Sweden,
Russia, etc., the fisheries are not unimportant.
The most celebrated of the pearl fisheries in France are those of the
Vologne, a small river in the extreme eastern part of the country, in the
department of Vosges. Its sources are in Lake Longmere in the Vosges
mountains on the Alsace frontier, and it flows into the Moselle at Jarmenil,
between Remiremont and Épinal. While the pearl-mussel occurs to some
extent in nearly the whole length of this river, and, indeed, is to be met with
in the wild brooks and forest streams of nearly all the mountainous parts of
France, it is most abundant in the vicinity of Bruyères, where the Vologne
receives the waters of the Neuré. These resources were described in 1845
by Ernest Puton,[202] and in 1869 by D. A. Godron;[203] to whom—and
especially to Godron—we are indebted for much of our information.
The fisheries of the Vologne have been celebrated for nearly four
centuries. Writing in 1530, Volcyr stated: “In the river Vologne between
Arche and Bruyères, near the ancient castle of Perle, beautiful pearls are
found. In the opinion of jewelers and artists they closely resemble the
oriental.”[204] A few years later Francis Reues wrote: “There is near the

Vosges mountains in Lorraine a river fertile in pearls, yet they are not very
brilliant. The strange thing is that the quality which they lack by nature is
supplied by the aid of pigeons, which swallow them and restore them purer
than before.”[205] In a publication of 1609, this little river is represented in
the frontispiece by the figure of a nymph bearing many pearls, while
beneath is the emblem: Vologna margaritifera suas margaritas ostentat.[206]
In his paper above noted, Godron recites several orders issued from 1616
to 1619 by the Duke of Lorraine, who then had jurisdiction over the present
department of Vosges, showing that a high value was attached to these
pearls and that the resources were well looked after. Writing in 1699, Dr.
Martin Lister alluded to the many pearls taken from the rivers about
Lorraine and Sedan. A Paris merchant showed him a fresh-water pearl of 23
grains, valued at £400, and assured him that he had seen some weighing 60
grains each.[207]
In 1779 Durival gave an extensive account[208] of the Vologne fishery. He
records that for sixty years pearls had been abundant, but at the time he
wrote they were very scarce.
Puton states that, in 1806, when taking the baths at Plombières in the
Vosges, Empress Josephine formed a great liking for the Vologne pearls,
and at her request some of the mussels were sent to stock the ponds at
Malmaison. It does not appear that any favorable result followed this
transplanting.
Owing to the extensive fisheries, the mussels became so scarce that in
1826, when the Duchesse d’Angoulême was visiting in the Vosges, it was
impossible to secure enough pearls to form a bracelet for her. This scarcity
has continued up to the present time; and yet in the aggregate many pearls
have been secured, so that there are few prominent families in the
neighborhood who do not possess some of them. They are especially prized
as bridal presents to Vosges maidens.
While the Vologne pearls are of good form and of much beauty, they do
not equal oriental pearls in luster. The color is commonly milky white, but
some of them have a pink, yellow, red, or greenish tint. In size they rarely
exceed 4 grains. The Nancy museum of natural history possesses one which
weighs 5¼ grains and measures 6½ mm. in diameter.
In western France, according to Bonnemere,[209] the pearl-mussel is
widely diffused, and in the aggregate many pearls are secured therefrom.

They are somewhat numerous in the river Ille near its union with the
Vilaine at Rennes; though small, these are commonly of good color and
luster. In the department of Morbihan and that of Finistère, many pearls
have been secured, especially in the Steir, the Odet, and in the Stang-Alla
near Quimper. Small pearls, frequently of some value, are found in the
Menech near the town of Lesneven, a few miles northeast of Brest, the great
naval port of France.

GREAT CAMEO PEARL,
ACTUAL SIZE 22 INCHES

Sold at auction in Amsterdam
in 1776 for 180,000 florins.
Note great baroque pearl
forming body of the swan at
the base, diameter 1.37 inches

The Unio sinuatus (pictorum), the mulette of the artists, which has a
shorter and smaller shell than the pearl-mussel, has also yielded many small
pearls of good quality, as well as shells for manufacturing purposes. This
species has been regularly exploited in the Adour, in the Charente, in the
Gironde and its tributaries—the Garonne and the Dordogne and their
affluents, and in some other streams in western France.
There is a pearl fishery in the Charente River near the western coast of
France, and likewise in the Seugne, a small tributary entering it from the
south. The mussel is known locally under the name of palourde. In an
account of this fishery,[210] Daniel Bellet states that in the Seugne, where the
water is shallow and clear, the mussel is secured by entering the pointed end
of a wooden staff or stick between the valves of the open shell as the

mollusk lies feeding on the bottom; as the shell is immediately closed
tightly upon the intruding stick, it is easily removed from the water.
In the deeper waters of the Charente, the fishery is prosecuted on a larger
scale. Until recently, the palourdes were caught by means of a dredge towed
by a small boat, which was raised from time to time and the catch removed.
Ten or fifteen years ago the scaphander or diving apparatus was introduced,
requiring seven men for its operation, and by its use large catches have been
made. The mussels are taken to the bank and there boiled for a time to cause
the shells to open, so that the contents may be easily removed.
The shells are examined one by one to find any pearls that may adhere
thereto, and then the flesh of the mollusk is crushed between the fingers to
locate pearls contained in the mass; this is done largely by children,
working under competent supervision. Many pearls of fairly good size and
luster are obtained. The flesh of this mollusk is edible and well-liked in
southwestern France; and the shells are also of value in the manufacture of
buttons and similar objects.
In Germany the pearl fisheries are most important in streams of the
southern districts, in Bavaria, Saxony, and Silesia. The pearl-mussel in these
waters is not so abundant as formerly; yet, owing to the care which has been
given to these resources, it is probably as numerous here as in any other part
of the continent. The mussel rarely occurs singly, generally in small beds or
banks contiguous to each other, and in some favorable regions these are
extensive.
The pearl fisheries of Bavaria have been prominent since the sixteenth
century. They exist principally in the districts of Upper Franconia
(Oberfranken) and Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz), the several tributaries of
the Danube between Ratisbon and Passau, and in those tributaries of the
Main and the Saale which rise in the Bavarian mountains, such as the
Oelsnitz, the Lamnitz, Schwesnitz, Grünebach, Vils, and the Perlbach; also
in the district of Lower Bavaria, where in nine districts alone there are one
hundred pearl-bearing streams and lakes, of which the most important are
the Regen, the Isar, and the Ilz.[211]
Early in the sixteenth century, the river Ilz had the reputation of yielding
the choicest pearls in Lower Bavaria. The right to them was reserved to the
bishop of Passau, and a decree was made in 1579 that persons convicted of
poaching on these reserves should be hanged.[212] Since that time there have

been few decades in which the gems have not been found in the woodland
brooks and mountain streams that flow through the ravines and past quaint,
interesting castles of the wonderful Bavarian highlands. Most of the
prominent families in this beautiful region have collections of native pearls,
and there is still some trade in them in picturesque Passau, at the junction of
the Danube, the Ilz and the Inn.
Tavernier wrote about 1670: “As for the pearls of Scotland, and those
which are found in the rivers of Bavaria, although necklaces are made of
them which are worth up to 1000 écus (£225) and beyond, they cannot enter
into comparison with those of the East and West Indies.”[213]
The official returns for the Bavarian fisheries, dating from the latter part
of the sixteenth century, were examined by Von Hessling in 1858. He noted
many gaps in the statements of the yearly returns, partly on account of the
loss of the records and partly because the pearls were delivered directly into
the hands of the princes. The results of the first fisheries are recorded in the
district of Hals for the years 1581–99, in Viechtach for 1581–83 and 1590–
93, and in Weissenstadt and Zwiesel for 1583. The range of the fisheries
was enlarged through the discovery of new areas during the first half of the
seventeenth century; but this was offset by the bad seasons and by disturbed
conditions during the Thirty Years’ War. From 1650 to 1783 the pearls in
the forest lands of the Palatinate were exploited regularly and
uninterruptedly, with the exception of the district of Wetterfeld and that of
Neunburg vor dem Wald, where they were prosecuted for a few years only.
From 1783 to 1814, they were almost entirely neglected, and the take was
confined to a few streams in Upper Palatinate and in the Bavarian forests.
In the former episcopal principality of Passau, where, according to general
accounts, the waters were rich in pearls, the records were scanty previous to
1786; this was probably owing to the fact that the head gamekeeper was
obliged to transmit the catch of pearls directly to the prince-bishop. The
records for the fisheries in the districts of Rehau and Kulmbach began with
the year 1733.
From these fragmentary returns—making no estimate for the years for
which there were no figures available—Von Hessling found that from 1600
to 1857 there were taken 15,326 pearls of the first class, which were clear
white in color and of good luster; 27,662 pearls of the second class, which
were somewhat deficient in luster, and 251,778 pearls of the third or poorest

class, or “Sandperlen,” which, though of poor quality, had sufficient
whiteness and luster to be used as ornaments. Had the records been
complete, these figures would probably have been at least fifty per cent.
greater, or a total of about 445,000 pearls in the 257 years. In the last forty-
three years of this period, for which the records are fairly complete, the
annual average was 208 pearls of the first, 395 of the second, and 3091 of
the third class, a total each year of 3694 pearls of all grades. This was
divided among the districts as follows:

ANNUAL AVERAGE

District First class Second class Third class Total
Upper Franconia 13 34 52 99
Upper Palatinate 38 77 207 322
Lower Bavaria 157 284 2832 3273

Total 208 395 3091 3694

Probably the most interesting of the pearl fisheries in Germany are those
prosecuted in the extreme southwestern part of the kingdom of Saxony, in
the picturesque region known as Vogtland. This is not on account of their
extent, for the output rarely exceeds $2000 in value in any season; but
because for nearly three hundred years they have been conducted with the
utmost care and regard for the preservation of the resources. Indeed, a
record exists of practically every pearl obtained for nearly two centuries.
The waters in which the Saxon Vogtland fisheries are prosecuted are the
Elster River, from the health resort of that name to a short distance below
Elsterberg; its tributaries, the Mülhaüser, Freiberger, and Marieneyer
brooks; the Hartmannsgrüner and the Triebel brooks, the Trieb, the
Meschelsgrüner, the Teil, and Loch brooks, and twenty-five or more small
ponds.
For most of the data relative to these fisheries, we are indebted to J. G.
Jahn’s “Die Perlenfischerei im Voigtlande,” Oelsnitz, 1854; to Hinrich
Nitsche’s “Süsswasserperlen, Internationale Fischerei-Ausstellung zu
Berlin,” 1880, and to O. Wohlberedt’s “Nachtrag zur Molluskenfauna des
Königreiches Sachsen,” “Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen
Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft,” Frankfurt-am-Main, 1899, pp. 97–104.

In the year 1621, the electoral prince, Johann Georg I, reserved the pearl
fishery of the Vogtland in Saxony as a royal privilege, and appointed Moritz
Schmerler as superintendent and fisherman. From that time until the
present, this fishery has remained a royal prerogative; and, remarkable to
state, except at the close of the seventeenth century when the father-in-law
of a Schmerler enjoyed the privilege, all the superintendents of the fishery
—twenty-four persons in number—have been direct descendants of the
second pearler, Abraham Schmerler, who, in 1643, succeeded his brother
Moritz. The present superintendent Julius Schmerler has been in charge
since 1889.
This fishery is conducted in accordance with regulations of the chief
inspector of forests for the district of Auerbach. The present regulations date
from June 15, 1827. In compliance therewith an inspection is made of the
waters each spring to remove all obstructions and debris that would injure
the resources; and, if necessary, entire beds of mussels are removed from
one locality to another which appears more favorable. No mussels are
opened at that time, for the real search for pearls does not begin until the
season is far advanced and the fishermen can wade up to the waist in the
water without discomfort.
Dr. Nitsche states that the whole pearling district is not searched over
every year, but is divided into 313 sections, each one constituting a day’s
work for three fishermen, and rarely are more than twenty or thirty of these
fished in any one year. Thus each section or district is permitted to rest and
recuperate for ten or fifteen years before it is again invaded. Every mussel
is opened carefully by hand, with the aid of a peculiarly constructed iron
instrument. By inserting the edge of this between the nibs of the shell and
turning it at right angles, the valves are opened sufficiently to determine
whether a pearl is contained therein. If none is observed, the instrument is
released and the mussel returned uninjured to the water; but if a pearl is
found within, the shell is forced open and the find removed. In case small
pearls are observed which give promise of growing larger in time, they are
not removed, but the year is marked upon the shell with the opening
implement and the mussel returned to the water. It often happens that good
pearls are later removed from shells marked in this manner.
Complete records exist of the yield of this fishery during each year since
1719, when the Vogtland passed to the electorate of Saxony. The following

is a summary of these records arranged in series of twenty years each.

DOWAGER CZARINA OF GRAND DUCHESS GRAND DUCHESS MARIE
RUSSIA VLADIMIR PAVLOVNA

Years Clear Half clear Sand Damaged Average per
pearls pearls pearls pearls Total year
No. No. No. No. No. No.
1720–1739 1,809 727 1,201 552 4,289 214
1740–1759 1,412 578 484 281 2,755 138
1760–1779 1,042 272 427 219 1,960 98
1780–1799 1,261 243 357 179 2,040 102
1800–1819 1,603 261 325 203 2,392 120
1820–1839 1,659 340 326 326 2,651 133
1840–1859 1,884 610 387 505 3,386 169
1860–1879 1,618 682 450 514 3,264 163
1880–1899 471 394 86 373 1,324 66
1900–1905 79 161 22 86 348 58

Total in 186
years 12,838 4,268 4,065 3,238 24,409
Average per
year 69 23 22 17 131

In recent years the development of manufacturing industries in Saxony
and the resultant pollution of the water has greatly reduced the abundance
of the mollusks and consequently the output has been much restricted. The
average annual yield in the twenty years ending in 1879 was 163 pearls; in
the twenty years ending in 1899 it was 66 pearls, and in the six years ending

in 1905 the annual average was 58 pearls. Owing to high water, there was
no fishing in 1888; and with a view to permitting the resources to
recuperate, the fishery was suspended from 1896 to 1899, inclusive.
Omitting these five years, the average yield during each season in the two
decades ending 1899 was 88 pearls.
At the end of each season, the pearls secured are turned over to the
director of forestry for the district of Auerbach; by him they were formerly
sent to the royal cabinet of natural history, or to the royal collection at
Dresden, but since 1830 they have been sent to the royal minister of
finance, by whom they are sold each year. The total proceeds from these
sales now amount to about 55,000 marks.
In former times, according to Dr. Nitsche, it was customary to use these
pearls in making royal ornaments. This was the origin of the famous Elster
necklace, consisting of 177 pearls, now in the art collection in the Grüne
Gewölbe in the palace at Dresden. Another assortment in that collection
consists of nine choice, well-matched pearls, weighing 140 grains. For a
necklace of Saxon pearls, the property of a duchess of Sachsen-Zeitz, the
sum of 40,000 thalers ($28,400) is said to have been refused.
In Prussian Silesia the pearl-mussel is found in the upper tributaries of
the Oder, especially in Bober River from Löwenberg to the sources among
the foot-hills of the beautiful Riesengebirge, in the Lusatian Neisse to
Görlitz, the Queiss above Marklissa, and in the Juppel as far as Weidenau.
The Queiss has been famous for its pearls since the sixteenth century, and
even yet specimens of great beauty are obtained therefrom. As long ago as
1690, Ledel complained of the diminution of the number of mollusks owing
to their wilful destruction by children; and in 1729 the government issued a
rescript in Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) recommending the care of the young
mollusks.[214]
Pearls are also found in the White Main a short distance from its source,
in the head waters of the Saale, and in numerous other mountain-draining
streams of middle Germany. Indeed, references could be made to the
discovery of pearls in nearly every stream of Germany at some time during
the last three or four centuries.
The records of pearl fisheries in the province of Hanover were traced by
Von Hessling as far back as the sixteenth century, when they were
prosecuted in the Aller, Ovia or Om, Lua or Low, and in the Seva in the

district of Lüneburg. During the reign of Christian Ludwig (1641–65) and
in that of George William (1666–1705), pearl fishing was carried on by the
state, and old records of the former district of Bodenteich note the customs
and practices of that period and of earlier times, and the implements
employed. In 1706, for instance, 265 clear and 292 imperfect pearls were
taken by three official fishermen from the Gerdauerbach. Gradually,
however, owing to indifferent management, the brooks yielded less and
less; the government seems to have entirely abandoned supervision of them,
so that, according to Taube’s “Communication,”[215] slight results were
obtained in 1766; indeed, only a few pearls could be shown as curiosities.
[216]

Regarding the condition of the Hanoverian pearl-brooks, especially of
those in the vicinity of Uelzen, Möbius wrote: “Uelzen lies at the
confluence of eleven small rivulets, three of which, the Wipperau, the
Gerdau and the Barnbeck, contain pearl-mussels. Fishing has been pursued
here for centuries, and there exists an old regulation of the sixteenth century
in regard to the pearl fisheries in the Ilmenau. Even at the present day,
hundreds of pearls are found here which command a good price when they
are bright and of good form. These either have a silvery sheen or they are of
a reddish color. The season for fishing is during the months of July and
August. The pearls are usually found in deformed shells. Their shape varies
greatly; most of them are flat on one side. Naturally those which are
spherical are the best, but the pear shapes are highly prized.” Möbius
frequently failed to find one pearl in a hundred shells, but at other times he
came across six or eight in this quantity. Most of the mussels are found in
the deepest places, especially near the banks of the streams. One end of the
shell usually projects out of the sand. The fisherman is represented as
feeling about the bottom with his feet, and when he finds a shell, he seizes it
between his toes, picks it out, and then places it in the basket suspended
from his neck.[217]

MITER OF PATRIARCH
NIKON

Presented by the Czar Alexis
Mikhailovitch and the Czarina
Marie Illiinichna. Decorated
largely with European fresh-
water pearls. Now in the
treasury of the Patriarchs,
Moscow.

In Baden and in Hesse are small pearl fisheries. In 1760, Elector
Maximilian III sent to Mannheim, then in the Palatinate, eight hundred
living pearl-mussels from the Bavarian forests, and again in 1769, he sent
four hundred mussels from Deggendorf on the Danube, so that they might
be established in the Palatinate. The mussels were placed in the Steinbach
not far from Heidelberg, where they thrived so well that fishing was
instituted in 1783. Soon, however, most of the mussels became buried in the
sand, and the remainder were transplanted into a quieter portion of the
Steinbach, between Kreutzsteinach and Schönau, about five miles northeast
of Heidelberg. Here they seem to have been forgotten, and were left
undisturbed until, about 1820, a fine pearl valued at two louis d’or was
found near Schönau. This discovery soon led to such reckless exploitation
that the government reserved the fishery as a state monopoly. The mussels
were examined and sorted, and a portion of the brook was specially

prepared for their reception. However, the cost of supervision was greater
than the proceeds of the fishery, and the business was rented to private
parties for a very small amount. This was paid as late as 1840 by the
Natural History Society of Mannheim, the annual rate then being ten
florins.
An effort was made nearly two hundred years ago to develop the pearl
fisheries in Hesse. In 1717, Landgrave Prince William requested his cousin,
Duke Moritz of Saxony, to send a pearl fisherman “to examine some
streams in his territory where mussels have been found and to determine
whether they are fitted for pearl fishing and whether fisheries can be
established.”[218] In the following year, a member of the famous Schmerler
family from the Saxon fisheries was sent to Cassel, but with what result is
unknown.
When the pearling excitement developed at Schönau about 1820,
Landrath Welker, of Hirschhorn on the Neckar, requested the grand duke of
Hesse to place him in charge of the fishery, and when the proposition was
declined, he formed a small company for pearl-culture. In 1828 his
company had 558 mussels, 88 of which showed pearl formations; in 1833,
out of 651, 98 contained such objects, and in 1851, 117 mussels were found
with pearl formations out of 867 examined.[219] Owing to the policy of the
company in selling the pearls only among the members thereof, the profits
were altogether insufficient to cover the expenses, and gradually the fishery
dwindled down until it was prosecuted only as a pastime.
Pearls are found in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, which formerly
belonged to Denmark, but since 1866 has been a part of the kingdom of
Prussia. Möbius relates that the Bavarian soldiers in 1864 collected large
quantities of pearls from the streams of this province and sold many of them
to jewelers in Hamburg.[220] Most of them were of good form and luster;
milky white was the prevailing tint, but some were pink and others were
rose-tinted.
In Austria, pearl fisheries are most important in the province of Bohemia,
where they are prosecuted in the headwaters of the Moldau from Krumau, a
few miles above Budweis, to below Turenberg, and to a much less extent in
its tributary, the Wottawa, on the northeastern slopes of the Böhmer Wald or
Bohemian Forest mountains. From very early times the right of fishery
belonged to those domains and estates through which the streams flow, as

for example, the cloister of Hohenfurth, the domain of Rosenberg, of
Krumau, etc. The Schwarzenberg family formerly drew a considerable
revenue therefrom. Over a hundred years ago the fishery was actively
prosecuted by Count Adolph Schwarzenberg, who exhibited at the
Bohemian Exposition, held in Prague in 1791, an interesting collection of
shells, apparatus employed in the fishery, and many beautiful pearls
obtained from his domains. The fisheries of the Wottawa were noted in
1560 by the Swiss naturalist Konrad von Gesner,[221] and again in 1582 by
the district treasurer, Wolf Huber von Purgstall. In 1679, Balbinus referred
to the excellent qualities of the pearls, estimating the value of many of them
at twenty, thirty, and even one hundred golden florins each. He described
the methods by which they were taken, and also complained of the
destruction of the reefs by depredations of poachers.[222]
The Wottawa or Otawa River has long had linked with its name the
epithet “the gold- and pearl-bearing brook.” Formerly, along its shores gold
washing was more or less carried on, as well as the fresh-water pearl-
mussel industry. At the present time, every third or fourth year, these
mussels are gathered, by means of small, fine-woven nets, from the bed of
the river, and a goodly number of pearls are collected.
The reefs in the Moldau from Hohenfurth to Krumau were almost
entirely ruined in 1620 by the troops who were cantoned there when the
Bohemian Protestants were overthrown near the beginning of the Thirty
Years’ War, and they never regained the reputation they formerly enjoyed.
According to the Vienna “Handels- und Börsenzeitung,” the output of the
pearls fifty years ago in the upper Moldau, in the Wottawa, and in the
Chrudimka—a tributary of the Elbe—reached in some years the sum of one
million florins in value, and as much as eighty and sometimes even one
hundred and twenty florins were paid for an individual specimen.[223] These
pearls closely resemble those from Passau in Bavaria, and some approach
the oriental gems in luster.
In the archduchy of Austria, pearls occur in several of the tributaries of
the “beautiful blue Danube.” They are especially important in streams
within the former district of Schärding, such as the Ludhammerbach, the
Ranzenbergerbach, the Glatzbachenbach, the Brambach, the
Schwarzbergerbach, the Mosenbach, and the Hollenbach; those in the
former district of Waizkirchen, including the Pirningerbach, the Kesselbach,

and many of their tributary brooks, and the Michel, the Taglinsbach, the
Fixelbach, and the Haarbach, in the domain of Marbach.[224] Fishing in the
Pirningerbach and the Kesselbach was prosperous about 1765, and Empress
Maria Theresa received a beautiful necklace and bracelets of the pearls
therefrom. In the district of Marbach, the fishing was prosecuted as long
ago as 1685 for the account of the archbishop of Passau.
In Hungary from time immemorial, the native pearls have been popular
with the Magyar women, and very many yet exist in the old Hungarian
jewelry worn with the national costume. A century ago there was scarcely a
family of local prominence which did not possess a necklace of pearls,
although these were frequently not of choice quality or of considerable size.
With a falling off in the output of the native streams there has been a great
increase in the quantity of choice oriental pearls purchased by the wealthy
families, and some of the most costly necklaces in Europe are now owned
here.
In the kingdom of Denmark no pearl fisheries are now prosecuted, but
three centuries ago the gems were taken in the Kolding Fjord in the
province of Veile, Jutland. The great Holberg, who ranks first in Danish
literature, wrote that the governor of the castle at Kolding employed as a
pearl fisherman a Greenlander who had come to Denmark in 1605 or 1606,
and who “had given the governor to understand that in his native land he
was accustomed to fish for pearls.” Being required to work continuously,
both winter and summer, he fell ill and died, and as no one else wished to
pursue the occupation, the fishery ceased.[225]
In many of the Norwegian brooks, pearl fishing has been carried on for
two or three centuries, and often with satisfactory results. It appears from
ordinances dated November 10, 1691, May 14, 1707, and May 28, 1718,
that the fisheries were under special supervision as a royal prerogative of
the queen of Denmark.[226] Jahn notes that in 1719 and in 1722, Saxon pearl
fishermen were sent for. In 1734 Charles VI of Denmark requested the
elector of Saxony to send one of the pearl fishermen of Vogtland to examine
the brooks of Norway in reference to the pearl resources, and to determine
the practicability of establishing fisheries there. In response to this request,
C. H. Schmerler was sent to Copenhagen and thence to Christiania, where
he began an investigation of the Norwegian waters, the governor himself
attending at the beginning of the work. So great was the estimation of its

importance, that Schmerler was soon afterward received in audience by the
king and queen of united Denmark and Norway at Frederiksborg palace
near Copenhagen, and was awarded a gift of one hundred ducats and a life-
pension.[227]
In 1751, according to Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, the Norwegian
pearl fisheries were placed under the jurisdiction of the diocese of
Christiansand. Among the principal pearling regions at that time were the
Gon, Närim and Quasim rivers in the Stavanger district or amt; the Undol,
Rosseland and other brooks in the Lister and Mandal province; and several
streams in the district of Nadenäs.[228]
The returns from the Norwegian fisheries gradually decreased. After
1768 the rights were leased, and the revenue therefrom was paid into the
royal treasury. Owing to small returns, this source of revenue received less
and less attention, and about a century ago it was altogether neglected,
although from time to time choice finds were made. Due to unusually low
water in 1841, a number of valuable pearls were found near Jedderen in the
province of Christiansand, some selling as high as $300 each; several of
these were shown at the London Industrial Exhibition by the diocese of
Christiania.

PANAGIA OR ORNAMENT
WORN ON THE BREAST
OF A BISHOP IN RUSSIA

The pearl fisheries of Sweden were noted, nearly four centuries ago, by
Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala.[229] The gems were sought for by
expert fishermen in the interior districts, and were brought in large
quantities to the coasts for sale, the women and girls of all classes, rich and
poor, using them extensively in personal decoration.
The celebrated Linnæus left a detailed account of the method by which
mussels were caught in Sweden nearly two centuries ago. He wrote: “In the
summer season, if the water is shallow, the fishermen wade in the stream
and gather the mussels with their hands. Should the water be deeper, they
dive for the mussels and place such as they find in a vessel made of birch
bark, which they carry with them. Sunny days are selected, because then
they can see deeper into the water. But, should this not suffice, they traverse
the river on rafts which are painted white beneath so that the bed of the
stream may be illumined by the reflected light. The men lie prone on the
rafts and look down into the depths so that they may immediately seize with
wooden tongs the mussels which they discover. Or else, hanging by their
hands to the rafts, they seize them in the water with their toes. If the water
is too deep even for this, they dive and feel around on the bottom with their
hands until it becomes necessary to rise again to the surface in order to
breathe. However, out of a hundred mussels, scarcely one contains a good
pearl; but sometimes as many as twenty pearls of the size of a grain of sand
are found in one shell. Many of the larger pearls are reddish or dark, but
occasionally a beautiful white pearl is hidden under such a covering;
although, naturally, it is rare that this is altogether perfect. It has been noted
that mussels seven years old contain pearls; and in each of two mussels
eighteen years old, a pearl was found attached to the shell.”[230]
The list of streams in Sweden from which pearls were taken, as noted by
Olaf Maimer, J. Fischerstein, and Gissler[231] a century and a half ago, seems
to cover nearly all the rivers and brooks which flow from the mountains of
this beautiful country.
In Russia the love for the pearl has been almost as great as in Persia and
India. During the Middle Ages, pearls were worn upon the clothes of nearly
all well-to-do Russians. The great head-dresses of the women were
ornamented with them; and they were used in decorating the stoles,
vestments, crosses, and the priceless relics in the churches.

The pearl-mussel is found in very many of the Russian streams. It occurs
throughout Archangel, in most of the rivers which flow into the White Sea,
into Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega, and the Baltic Sea; and likewise in the
Volga watershed. Von Hessling states that east of the Volga its southern
boundary extends to Lat. 56°, while on the west it extends further
southward, so that in the region of the Dnieper it reaches Lat. 51°. The
extreme southern limit is near the mouth of the Don, about 47° north
latitude.[232]
In northern Russia pearls are secured in the provinces of Livonia.
Esthonia, and Olonetz, and in the grand duchy of Finland, where they have
been sought after for three centuries or more. Most of them are bluish gray
in color and they attain a maximum weight of about twelve grains.
Although not equaling the oriental gems, these pearls are of good quality
and are highly esteemed, not only by the peasants but by the nobility and by
the royal family of Russia. For reference to most of the historical data
relative to the fishery in Livonia, we are indebted to an account written by
H. Kawall.[233]
So long ago as 1612, Dionysius Fabricius compared the pearls of Livonia
with those of India. Said he: “Nor should I omit to mention that there are
rivers in Livonia wherein large pearls are produced in shells; and I myself
have seen some as large as the oriental, especially when they are well
grown. But because the peasants of this region are too ignorant to determine
with certainty when they mature, they are unable to collect them properly,
and therefore the pearls have become rarer.”[234]
According to Mylius,[235] in the seventeenth century, when Livonia
belonged to Sweden, the pearl resources received attention from the
government. Charles IX of Sweden decreed October 22, 1694, that the
pearls therefrom should not be exported but should be sold to officers of the
crown at a definite price. In 1700, an inspector of the fishery in Livonia,
whose name was Krey, reported that the peasants collected pearls secretly
from the small rivers and brooks, and forwarded them to Moscow for sale.
As the peasants objected to selling them to the king’s commissioners at the
prices fixed, the fishery soon dwindled in extent. However, on the
annexation of Livonia to Russia in 1712, and the removal of these
restrictions, it revived and became of local importance during the last years
of the reign of Peter the Great.

In 1742 the Livonian fishery was reorganized at the suggestion of a
Swede named Hedenberg. Furnished by the government with funds and an
escort, he began an exploration of the pearl-bearing waters, commencing
with Lake Kolk, where he secured many pearls of value, some of which
were presented to Empress Elizabeth.[236]
The fishery then came into great favor. To the nobility of Livonia, in
whose domains the brooks were situated, the crown accorded sixty rubles
for each half ounce of choice pearls secured, and for every half ounce of the
second class, thirty rubles; but the nobles were obliged to renounce their
rights to the fisheries and to permit the lakes and brooks to be guarded by
imperial soldiers. Owing to the very great destruction of mussels which
yielded no pearls, a reward was offered to any one who would discover a
method of determining from external characteristics those individual shells
which contain gems of value.
In 1746, when the Empress Elizabeth passed the summer in Livonia,
large quantities of pearls from the neighboring brooks were presented to
her. But, owing to the cost of supervision, the expenditures soon exceeded
the revenues and the government abandoned the guard and dismissed the
fishermen. Little by little the search decreased, and by 1774 relatively few
pearls were found.[237]
According to Hupel, the Schwarzbach River, near Werro, was celebrated
for its pearls, which were noted for their size and beauty; one of the
tributaries of this river is named Perlenbach (Pearl Brook). The Ammat and
Tirse streams, and forty other brooks and lakes also yielded them. Pearls of
slight value were likewise produced in the Palze and the Rause, near
Palzmar; the Paddez, a tributary of the Evest which empties into the Düna,
and the Voidau and the Petribach, each of which flows into the
Schwarzbach. Near the Tirse was a very old road house, patronized by the
peasants, which from time immemorial had borne the name Pehrlu-kroghs
(Pearl Tavern).
Formerly some of the brooks of Esthonia on the Gulf of Finland, and
principally those near Kolk and the adjacent lakes, furnished beautiful
pearls. From these waters came the beautiful necklace which is yet an
heirloom in the Kolk family. The choicest of these weighed from five to ten
grains, and the color was grayish blue. The Emperor Alexander I is said to
have received a present of pearls collected in the vicinity of Tammerfors, in

the government of Tavastehus, in the grand duchy of Finland. The
development of manufacturing in that region, however, has destroyed most
of the mussels.
Von Hessling notes that in the province of Olonetz, pearls are found in
the Poventshanka, in the Ostjor, and in the Kums, where they are secured by
the neighboring peasants who sometimes make valuable finds.[238] When the
brooks dry up, the mussels are easily secured; old inhabitants note that on
one occasion of this kind many superb pearls were found in the
Poventshanka, and a necklace of them was presented to the Empress
Catherine Alexievna. These pearls rarely leave the province in which they
are collected, as the inhabitants are fond of using them for personal
decoration. 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. The fisheries have been
conducted exclusively by the shore Laplanders; but they have been
neglected in recent years owing to the small returns. Von Hessling notes
that the pearls are dull in color; in the opinion of the fishermen this is
caused by the mysterious influence of the copper money which they carry
with them. The Tuloma was formerly a productive river; its pearls were sold
in Kola, whence they were carried to Archangel, 335 miles distant, where
they were pierced by expert workmen. The Tjura also yielded many pearls;
but since a Laplander was drowned while fishing for them, a legend has
spread that the spirit of the river guards the pearls, and the natives hesitate
about seeking them.
Probably the occurrence of so many in the home streams had much to do
with developing in Russia that great love for the pearl which has made it the
national ornament, all classes finding pleasure in its possession. While the
superb gems treasured by the nobility are mostly from oriental seas, a
considerable percentage of those worn by the peasantry are from the native
waters. An interesting account of this fondness among a certain class of

Russian women—the Jewesses of Little Russia—was given sixty years ago
by the German traveler Kohl.

RUSSIAN BOYARD
LADIES OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,
SHOWING CAPS AND
OTHER ORNAMENTS OF
PEARLS

In Alexandria, a small city in the government of Kherson in South Russia, a Jew kept a café, and
his charming daughter served us with coffee. We paid her compliments on her beautiful eyes and
teeth. But she seemed to be much less vain of these natural ornaments than of the acquired ones in
the magnificent glittering pearl-cap which she wore upon her head. For all the women through South
and Little Russia even as far as Galicia wear a certain stiff, baggy cap which is very disfiguring, and
is covered all over with a great number of pearls, upon a foundation of black velvet. It is called a
“mushka.” This cap, with very unimportant modifications, has almost always the same form; the only
difference is that, in the case of the wealthy, the pearls are larger, and sometimes a number of small
pearls and precious stones are suspended here and there, set in the same way as the earrings of our
ladies. It is common for them to wear half their fortune on their heads in this way. For these caps
generally cost from five hundred to one thousand roubles, and many are worth five or six thousand
and even more; they wear them every day, holidays as well as ordinary days, and strut around the
kitchens and cellars with their “mushka.” They spend their last penny in order to secure such a pearl-
cap, and even when they are clad in rags their head is covered with pearls. In order to furnish the
requisite material for this wide-spread fashion, the commerce in pearls of Odessa, Taganrog and
some other places in southern Russia is not unimportant. There may live in the region where the
pearl-caps of which I speak are worn at least 2,000,000 Jewesses. Let us estimate that among them
there are but 300,000 adults, and that only half of these, 150,000, wear pearl-caps (only the most
indigent and the most aristocratic do not wear the “mushka”); let us then estimate the average value
of such a cap at only five hundred roubles—these are the lowest minima and fall far short of the real
figures—and we have a total capital of 76,000,000 roubles, which the Jewesses of this region wear
upon their heads. Naturally the annual diminution of this capital is small, since these pearls are
transmitted from the mothers to their daughters and granddaughters. Still, if we estimate that they last
for a century, the necessary yearly contribution amounts to nearly one million. It is, however,

probable that a much larger capital is employed in the commerce of pearls. They are, for the most
part, oriental and come by way of Turkey and Odessa or else by way of Armenia and Tiflis. We
inquired of our beautiful Jewess whether she was not in perpetual dread on account of her pearl-cap,
and how she protected it from thieves. She answered that she wore it on her head all day and at night
placed it in a casket which rested under her pillow. So that the whole short life of these Jewesses of
the steppes revolves around their pearl-cap as the earth does around the sun.[240]
Several species of marine mollusks on the coasts of Europe yield pearly
formations, but none of much ornamental or commercial value. Probably
the most interesting of these are from the Pinna on the Mediterranean
coasts, and especially on the coast of Sardinia and the shores of the
Adriatic. An interesting collection of these Pinna pearls was furnished to the
writers by Alexandro Castellani of Rome.

IX

ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS, AUSTRALIAN COASTS, MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

IX
PEARL FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS

Sea-girt isles,
That, like to rich and various gems, inlay
The unadorned bosom of the deep.

Milton.

G
athering pearl shells and pearls is the principal industry of the
semi-amphibious natives of the hundreds of palm-crowned and
foam-girdled islands of the southern Pacific, commonly known
as the South Sea Islands. Among these the most prominent for
pearl fishing are the Tuamotu Islands or Low Archipelago, the Society
Islands, the Marquesas, the Fiji Islands, Penrhyn or Tongareva, and New
Caledonia. These are under the protection of the French government, except
Fiji and Penrhyn, which belong to Great Britain.
Almost ever since the South Sea Islands have been known to civilization
they have contributed pearls; and the fishery has been one of the principal
industries, not only for the natives, but also for the not inconsiderable
number of sailors who, preferring the lotus on shore to the salt pork and
monotony of ship life, have yielded to the insular attractions and formed
domestic ties. The industry has been especially extensive during the last
seventy years, when there has been a profitable market for the shells. Most
of the natives—men, women, and children—follow it for a living. Domestic
duties rest very lightly upon the women, and many of these, and even young
girls, find employment in diving, in which at moderate depths these dusky
mermaids are nearly, if not quite as expert as the men and boys.
Tahiti, the largest of the eleven Society Islands, is the center of the
pearling industry of French Oceanica. It is situated in about Lat. 17° S. and
Long. 150° W., and has an area of approximately 410 square miles and a

population of 11,000, nearly one half of whom live in Papeiti, the principal
town. This is one of the most agreeable of the “Summer Isles of Eden,”
Nature furnishing food in abundance, and climate and social customs
requiring little in the way of dress and habitation. Notwithstanding its
importance as the headquarters of the pearling industry, few pearl-oysters
are caught at Tahiti, most of them coming from the archipelagoes of
Tuamotu, Gambier, and occasionally Tubai.
The Tuamotu Archipelago is the scene of the principal pearl fisheries of
the South Seas; and from the local importance of this industry the group is
sometimes called the Pearl Islands. These coral-formed islands are strung
out for a distance of 900 miles in a northwest and southeast direction, and
extend from Lat. 14° to 23° S. and from Long. 136° to 149° W. They
number about seventy-eight, many of them made up of small atolls only a
few feet above the surface of the ocean, and with an aggregate area of about
360 square miles. The total population is approximately 6000, with many
visitors from Tahiti and other neighboring islands during the pearling
season. The principal products are pearl shell and pearls, copra, and
cocoanut oil; and nearly one half of the islands yield nothing but shell and
pearls. The chief port is Fakarava on an island of the same name, and the
trade is almost entirely with Tahiti.
As the Tuamotus are of coral formation, they produce little vegetable
growth, and the people seem often on the brink of starvation, forming a
striking contrast with those of the neighboring Society Islands. Drawing
their subsistence entirely from the sea, except for the native cocoanuts and
breadfruit, these people have, at times, been in great straits for food, and it
was doubtless severe hunger that drove them to the acts of cannibalism with
which they have been charged. And the sea which supplies them with food
has also visited them with great destruction. As recently as January, 1903, a
great storm swept over this group, drowning over 500 of the inhabitants,
and destroying a very considerable portion of the pearling fleet and other
property.
The pearl-oyster reefs of the Tuamotu Archipelago are very extensive,
only eight or ten of the islands failing to contribute to the supply. They
occur in the protected lagoons of the atolls, where the bottom is well
covered with coral growth, with numerous elevations and depressions of
various sizes; and it is about the bases and in the recesses of these coral

growths that the best shells are usually found. Most of them are of the
black-edged variety of Margaritifera margaritifera, which here attains a
great size, reaching a diameter of twelve inches in extreme cases.
While pearl-oysters are found about nearly all of the Tuamotu Islands,
the reefs are richest at Hikueru or Melville Island. When that lagoon is open
it is the scene of the greatest operations, and it is credited with nearly one
half of the total product of the archipelago. At the opening of the season,
this is the resort of fishermen from all over the group, even from a distance
of five hundred miles, and thousands of natives camp in temporary leaf-
thatched huts among the cocoanut-palms on the beach, those from the
different islands congregating in isolated settlements. As many as five
thousand persons are sometimes brought together in this way.

THE PEARLING REGIONS IN OCEANIA AND
MALAYSIA

The volcanic-formed Gambier Islands, with high peaks reaching, in one
instance, an altitude of over 1200 feet, present a striking contrast to the
Tuamotu atolls. This group consists of five large and several small islands,
surrounded by a coral reef of an irregular triangular figure. The 1100
inhabitants of the Gambier Islands derive a large percentage of their support
from the pearl fishery. The patches of pearl-oysters are located between the
islands and the barrier reefs. They are numerous about the island of
Mangareva, which is well surrounded by them on the north, east, and
southeast. Oysters from the reef of Tearae, which extends from the eastern
point of Mangareva to the small island of Aukena, a distance of two miles,

are especially rich in pearls. On this reef, where the water is from one to
four fathoms in depth, the mollusks are small, rarely exceeding five or six
inches at maturity, but the shell is very thick and coral covered; these yield
many pearls. In greater depths, the oysters attain a larger size, but they yield
few pearls.
The first white man to attempt the exploitation of the pearl resources of
the Tuamotus appears to have been Mörenhout. In a voyage to the Oceanic
Islands in 1827, he learned of the great wealth of pearl shell, and applied to
Queen Pomaré at Tahiti for permission to employ the natives in the fishery.
With an eye to business, she required a fee of $5000 for herself before
granting the desired authority.[241] Considering this excessive, Mörenhout
attempted to deal with the natives without permission of the dusky queen,
but under these adverse conditions he found the trade unsatisfactory and
soon abandoned it.
In 1830, and the years immediately succeeding, desultory pearling
voyages were made from Valparaiso, Chile, and these were followed by
expeditions from America and elsewhere. An interesting account of the
trade at that time is contained in Lucatt’s “Rovings in the Pacific from 1837
to 1849,” published in London in 1851.
The Mormon influx in 1846 resulted in a further development of the
pearl fishery; and Grouard, the local leader of that denomination, is credited
with making a fortune in the business.
From the beginning of the industry up to 1880, when control of the
islands passed to the French government, it is estimated that about 15,000
tons of pearl-oysters were secured. The extent of the fishery during the few
years preceding 1880 made such drains upon the productiveness of the reefs
that many of them gave signs of exhaustion. With a view to adopting
methods for conserving the industry, so essential to the welfare of the
natives, the French Ministry of Marine and Colonies in 1883 inaugurated an
investigation of its condition, and of the possibilities for improvement. This
was made under the immediate direction of G. Bouchon-Brandely, whose
interesting report[242] contains much data on this subject.
As a result of these investigations and recommendations, a restricted
season for fishing was adopted, and only a portion of the reefs was thrown
open each year, a decree of the governor, published in the “Journal Officiel”
of the colony, determining the islands in which the fishery might be

prosecuted. This interdiction, known locally as rahui, is for the purpose of
permitting the oysters to develop, and thus prevent the exhaustion of the
reefs.
By decree of January 24, 1885, a restriction was made against taking
shells measuring less than 17 centimeters in diameter on the interior nacre,
or weighing less than 200 grams per valve. But this was repealed in 1890,
and since then there has been no restriction on the size of the oysters that
may be fished.
The pearl fishery and the isolated leper station are the principal claims
which attract the attention of the outside world to the island of Penrhyn or
Tongareva, one of the Manahiki group, in Lat. 9° S., and Long. 158° W.
This desolate atoll island consists of a ring of land a few hundred yards in
width, inclosing a lagoon nine miles long and five miles wide, and it
produces little else than pearls and pearl shell. The white gravelly shore
yields little vegetation except cocoanuts, which share with fish in furnishing
sustenance to the semi-amphibious natives.
At Penrhyn the pearl fishery is carried on in the clear, limpid waters of
the atoll where the oysters are undisturbed by storms. The shells belong
mostly to the golden-edged variety, and are of good quality, the value in
London ranging from £100 to £250 per ton. Relatively few pearls are found,
amounting in aggregate value to only about one fourth of the value of the
shells. These are the principal objects of the fishery; the finding of pearls is
incidental, but careful search is always made for them, and some choice
specimens have been secured.
On the coast of New Caledonia, pearling is of recent origin, dating as an
industrial enterprise from 1897, although previous to that time some shells
and pearls had been secured by native beach-combers. This island is 220
miles in length and 30 in width, situated 850 miles southeast of Australia,
and about the same distance from New Zealand. It is a French colony, and
has been used by that government as a penal settlement since 1864.
In 1897, rich beds of pearl-oysters were discovered off the west coast of
this island. They are most numerous between the shore and the barrier reefs
on the west coast from Pouembout River to Gomen Bay, and especially
about the small island of Konienne at the mouth of the Pouembout River.
They are also abundant among the Loyalty Islands off the eastern coast of
New Caledonia, and especially at the island of Lifu.[243] The shell is similar

to that from Torres Straits, and the yield of pearls is very large. Several
concessions have been obtained to exploit these beds, one of them covering
130 miles in length. The industry is carried on by means of scaphanders, in
a manner similar to that of Torres Straits. Virtually all of the catch is sent to
France.
The natives of the South Sea Islands, and particularly of Penrhyn and the
Tuamotu group, are doubtless the most expert divers in the world. This can
be readily appreciated by those who have read of Hua Manu in C. W.
Stoddard’s thrilling narrative, or have heard the story of the brown woman
who swam for forty hours in a storm with a helpless husband on her back.
Accustomed to the water from infancy, these human otters swim all day
long as readily as they would walk, go miles from shore without a boat in
search of fish which they take by means of baited hook and line, and boldly
attack a shark single-handed. Seemingly fabulous stories are told of their
descending, unaided, 150 feet or more beneath the surface, and remaining at
lesser depths for nearly three minutes, far surpassing any modern records of
the divers of India.
The water in the South Seas is wonderfully clear, enabling the fishermen
to detect small objects at considerable depths, and especially so when using
the water-telescope, similar to that employed in the Red Sea fisheries. By
immersing this to a depth of several inches and cutting off the light from the
upper end as he gazes through it down into the waters, the fisherman can
readily inspect the bottom at a depth of fifteen fathoms, and thus locate the
shells before he descends.
The diving is quite unlike that in Ceylon and Arabia. The men do not
descend on stones, but swim to the bottom. The diver is stripped to his
paréu or breech-clout, his right hand is protected by a cotton mitten or by
only a wrapping of cotton cloth, and in his left hand he carries a pearl shell
to assist in directing his movements and in detaching the oysters at the
bottom. In preparing for a deep descent, he sits for several minutes in
characteristic attitude with hands hanging over knees, and repeatedly
inflates his lungs to the fullest capacity, exhaling the air slowly through his
mouth. After five or six minutes of “taking the wind,” the diver inhales a
good breath, drops over the gunwale into the water to give him a start, and
descends feet foremost. At a distance of twelve or fifteen feet below the
surface, gracefully as an otter or a seal, he bends forward and turns head

downward and, with limbs showing dimly in frog-like motion, he swims
vertically the remaining distance to the bottom. There he assumes a
horizontal position and swims slowly just above the ground, searching
critically for suitable oysters, in this way traversing a distance possibly of
fifty feet or more. When he has secured an oyster, or his breath is
approaching exhaustion, he springs from the ground in an erect position and
rapidly swims upward, the buoyancy of his body hastening his ascent so
that he pops head and shoulders above the surface, and falls back with
laboring pulse and panting breath. In case the dive has been unusually
extended, a few drops of blood may trickle from the nose and mouth. His
find—consisting frequently of nothing and rarely of more than one oyster—
is carried in a cocoanut fiber sack suspended from the neck, or is held in the
left hand, or may be hugged beneath the left arm.
Ordinarily in actual fishing operations, the fishermen do not descend to
greater depths than fifteen fathoms, and remain from sixty to ninety
seconds. Writing in 1851, a trader who had spent several years in collecting
pearls and pearl shells among the Tuamotus stated: “I timed several by the
watch, and the longest period I knew any of them to keep beneath the water
was a minute and a quarter, and there were only two who accomplished this
feat. Rather less than a minute was the usual duration. It is unusual for them
to attempt deep diving; and let the shells be ever so abundant, they will
come up and swear there are none.”[244]
However, in mutual contests or in special exhibitions, reports of twenty,
twenty-three, and even twenty-five fathoms are numerous, and they have
repeatedly been timed two and a half to three minutes. Bouchon-Brandely
speaks of a woman at Anaa, one of the Tuamotus, who would go down
twenty-five fathoms and remain three minutes under water.[245] This seems
very unusual, but there are numerous reports of two and a half minutes at
about seventeen or eighteen fathoms. In October, 1899, at Hikueru Island,
another of the Tuamotu group, a young native made an exhibition dive for
the officers of the United States Fish Commission steamship Albatross. He
reached bottom at a depth of 102 feet under the boat’s keel, and remained
submerged two minutes and forty seconds. The water was so transparent
that he was clearly seen from the surface. After he touched bottom at that
great depth, he calmly picked over the coral and shells to select a piece to
bring up.[246] The diver was ready to go down again only a few minutes after
he came up.

In his work on French Oceanica, Chartier states: “There are three women
well known in the archipelago [of Tuamotu] who have no equals elsewhere;
they explore the depth at twenty-five fathoms and remain not less than three
minutes before reappearing at the surface.”[247] However, these unusual
depths and extensions of time are dangerous, and care must be taken or
serious results follow. Most of the catch is obtained in about ten fathoms of
water.
At the request of the writer, Mr. Julius D. Dreher, American Consul at
Tahiti, made inquiries among the South Sea Islands in regard to the record
of the best divers, and wrote as follows:
Mr. J. L. Young, who has lived in these islands for thirty years, informs me that he has never seen a
diver remain under water longer than 80 seconds, and that at a depth of twelve to fifteen fathoms. At
one time he tested a man who claimed to be able to stay under for three minutes, yet this man could
hold his breath on land less than 80 seconds by the watch.
Elder Joseph F. Burton, who has spent many years as a missionary in these islands, states that once
in Hikueru, of the Tuamotu group, he went out in a boat with the divers to time them. The best record
made was 107 seconds, but he was informed that there were better divers on the island than those he
tested. He thinks the water was ten to twelve fathoms in depth. A native of Takaroa, named Metuaro,
told Mr. Burton that he could stay under water three minutes or longer. When these divers come up
they take a breath and immediately put their head under water to prevent headache.
Mr. J. Lamb Doty, formerly Consul and now Vice-Consul at Tahiti, who has spent eighteen years
here, is willing to be quoted as affirming that he once timed a diver who remained under water 2
minutes 35 seconds.
Mr. Henry B. Merwin, a leading trader with the Tuamotu Islands, is willing to be quoted as saying
that he saw a diver remain under water 4 minutes 45 seconds by the watch. This is generally
regarded, so far as my inquiries go, as improbable; but most persons interviewed believe that men do
remain under water 2½ to 3 minutes. A native of Takaroa, named Tai, assured me in the presence of
others that there were twenty men in that island who could remain under water 2½ to 3 minutes at a
depth of twenty fathoms. He claimed to be able to stay 3 minutes at that depth.

Pearl-divers of the Tuamotu Archipelago; men, women and
children dive in these waters

Settlement of pearl fishermen at Hiqueru, Tuamotu
Archipelago

Diving-suits, or scaphanders, have been used at most of the South Sea
Islands, but in a very irregular manner. In 1890 the use of scaphanders was
restricted in the Tuamotu group, and by decree of December 28, 1892, it
was interdicted altogether with a view to preserving the industry to the
natives, as it represents their principal means of livelihood. The suit
commonly employed at Penrhyn consists of a helmet and a jumper, neither
boots nor trousers being worn. Owing to the absence of weights on the feet,

it rarely but nevertheless sometimes happens that a diver turns upside down,
and the unwieldy helmet keeps him head downward while the air rushes out
under the bottom cord of the jumper and he is suffocated. Also, when a
good patch of shells has been located, the temptation to remain down too
long is great, and paralysis often results. On the whole, these diving-suits
have proven very dangerous to the light, graceful swimmers of these
southern seas, to whom they are about as much of an impediment as was
Saul’s armor to the shepherd lad who slew the giant with the simple pebble
from a sling.
And there are dangers also in nude diving, even to those who have spent
a lifetime about the water. Sharks and sting-rays and devil-fish there are in
abundance, and many of them know the taste of diver’s flesh; on the other
hand many a daring South Sea Islander could tell of a fierce combat more
thrilling than even those pictured by Victor Hugo. One of the chief
advantages of the diving-suit is that in case a shark comes along, the diver
can bide his time until the fish is ready to leave, or he can frighten it away
by ejecting air bubbles from the sleeve of his suit or by other
demonstrations; whereas a nude diver is obliged to seek the air without
delay, and in the retreat is seized by the fish who, human like, has his
appetite increased by the visible retreat of the object of his desire.
Not Schiller nor Edgar Allan Poe ever conjured up a picture more ghastly than that of a Penrhyn
diver caught like a rat in a trap by some huge, man-eating shark or fierce kara mauua, crouching in a
cleft of the overhanging coral, under the dark green gloom of a hundred feet of water, with bursting
lungs and cracking eyeballs, while the threatening bulk of his terrible enemy looms dark and steady,
full in the road to life and air. A minute or more has been spent in the downward journey; another
minute has passed in the agonized wait under the rock.... Has he been seen?... Will the creature move
away now, while there is still time to return? The diver knows to a second how much time has
passed; the third minute is on its way; but one goes up quicker than one comes down, and there is
still hope.... Two minutes and a half; it is barely possible now, but—the sentinel of death glides
forward; his cruel eyes, phosphorescent in the gloom, look right into the cleft where the wretched
creature is crouching, with almost twenty seconds of life still left, but now not a shred of hope. A few
more beats of the laboring pulse, a gasp from the tortured lungs, a sudden rush of silvery air bubbles,
and the brown limbs collapse down out of the cleft like wreaths of seaweed. The shark has his own.
(Beatrice Grimshaw in the “Graphic.”)
At the end of the day’s work, the catch is opened by means of a large
knife, and carefully searched for the much prized pearls. Usually the
fisherman finds none; occasionally he discovers a small round one or a
large baroque, and at long intervals—possibly once in two or three years—
his search is rewarded with a fine pearl for which he may receive $50 or
$60, and there is always the chance that the very next oyster will disclose a

gem which will make him independent for the remainder of his life; and if
no pearls whatever are found, there are the shells, the sale of which
furnishes sufficient to purchase tobacco, knives, fish-hooks, the gaudy
cotton cloths, the flour and other simple articles of food, and especially
rum, that fatal gift of civilization which has been the curse of so many
primitive peoples.
Some of the individual pearls secured have been remarkably large,
weighing 100 grains and over. Returning visitors from Tahiti, with views
magnified doubtless in proportion to the distance of the objects of their
description, credited Queen Pomaré with the possession of some
sufficiently large to be used for billiard-balls. Sixty years ago superb pearls
could be obtained from the natives for a few gallons of rum or a small
number of pieces of cheap calico, and several shrewd traders made great
profits in the business. But as trade at the islands was open to vessels of all
nationalities, the competition increased, with the result that the natives
gradually learned the high estimation in which pearls are held, and in recent
years it has not been unusual for one of medium grade to sell higher in
Oceanica than it would in Europe.
It is difficult to form a reliable estimate of the value of the pearling
industry of the South Sea Islands. The Tuamotu group, with 4000
fishermen, yields, in an average season, about 450 tons of mother-of-pearl,
worth about £65,000 in London, where most of it is marketed. The yield at
the remaining French islands is less than that of the Tuamotus. Probably the
total yield of mother-of-pearl in all the South Sea Islands is not far from 900
tons, worth about $700,000.
No statistics whatever are available regarding the yield of pearls, and the
estimates sent from the islands are small compared with those made by
London and Paris firms who import the pearls. A large number of persons
living in Papeiti and many traders visiting the islands depend very largely
on pearl-dealing for a livelihood. From the yield of pearl shell and estimates
made by dealers, we are inclined to put the value of the pearls secured in an
average season from all the South Sea Islands at about $125,000, only a
small portion of which goes to the fishermen themselves, the greater part
representing profits of the traders.

PEARL FISHERIES OF AUSTRALIA
Ocean’s gem, the purest
Of nature’s works! What days of weary journeyings,
What sleepless nights, what toils on land and sea,
Are borne by men to gain thee!

Unknown.

As regards area of distribution the most extensive pearl-oyster grounds of
the world are situated on the northern and western coasts of Australia.
These are located within the jurisdictions of Queensland, Western Australia,
and South Australia; and extend in irregular patches from near Cooktown
on the northeast almost to Fremantle at the southwest, a distance of nearly
3000 miles. Those in Queensland are commonly known as the Torres Straits
fisheries, as they are especially important there; but they extend a
considerable distance beyond each end of the strait, and pearling
expeditions are made from the limits of the Great Barrier coral reef
northward to the vicinity of New Guinea.[248] Those of Western Australia are
commonly spoken of as the Northwest fisheries.
The fisheries of Queensland and of Western Australia are approximately
equal in extent, as regards number of vessels, boats, and men employed,
and the quantity and value of the catch, with the advantage slightly in favor
of the Northwest fishery in the last four or five years. In 1905, according to
the official figures, the Queensland fishery gave employment to 348 vessels
and 2850 men, and yielded shell and pearls worth £135,000, which was the
smallest output since 1890. The Western Australia fishery, exclusive of
Sharks Bay, employed 365 vessels in 1905, and about the same number of
men as in Queensland, and yielded £196,000 worth of shell and pearls. The
fishery of South Australia employed about 60 vessels and 375 men, and
yielded about £25,000 worth of shell and pearls. This makes for the whole
of Australia, except Sharks Bay hereinafter noted, a total of 773 vessels,
6075 men, and an output worth £356,000. It should be understood that the
South Australia fishery is not prosecuted on the southern coast of the
continent, but on the northern coast, in what is known as the Northern
Territory of South Australia.

Three species of pearl-oysters are found in Australian waters. The largest
species, Margaritifera maxima, which is by far the most important and
widely distributed, occurs to a greater or less extent throughout the whole of
this region. This yields the standard motherof-pearl of commerce. Although
the pearls which it yields are among the largest and finest in the world, this
mollusk is sought more particularly for the shell, the value of which from
season to season averages three or four times as much as that of the pearls.
Ordinarily this shell is uniformly white over the entire inner surface, and is
commonly known locally as “silver lip”; but some “golden-edged” shell
occurs on the muddy grounds in narrow passages between the islands on the
northwest coast.
While this species is gregarious, it is not located in densely covered beds,
but is scattered in patches over the reefs. Some of these are miles in length
and contain scores of tons, but visually they are very much smaller. The
oysters occur principally on rocky bottom, and also on clay and sand when
well covered with seaweeds, but are rarely found on muddy ground. They
are most numerous in the channels where the current is strong. The small
oysters are generally loosely attached by the byssus to rock, gravel or other
shells; while the mature ones lie loosely on the bottom or slightly turned in
the sand.
The second species of the Australian pearl-oysters, Margaritifera
margaritifera, is smaller, rarely exceeding eight inches in diameter and a
weight of two pounds. The distinguishing characteristic is the black edge
bordering the inner surface of the shell, whence it acquired the local
designation “black lip.” This variety is not rare in Queensland, and in
Western Australia its range extends as far as Champion Bay in Lat. 29° S.
However, the catch is small compared with that of the Margaritifera
maxima, amounting to only two or three per cent. in Queensland. In 1905,
the export of “silver lip” and “golden-edged” from Thursday Island was 527
tons, and of “black lip” only 11 tons; in 1904, these figures were 778 and 7
respectively. In Western Australia the percentage of yield is much larger
than this.
The third species, Margaritifera carcharium, is confined almost entirely
to the limits of Sharks Bay, on the extreme western coast of Australia. At
maturity it is the smallest of the three, averaging three or four inches in
diameter, and about equals in size the Lingah pearl-oyster of the Persian

Gulf. The percentage of pearls therefrom is relatively greater than from the
larger variety; but, owing to its small size and lack of thickness, the shell is
of little commercial value. The value of the output in recent years has
approximated two or three thousand pounds sterling, which is very much
less than formerly, the value of the shell having greatly decreased since the
introduction of the Mississippi shell in button manufacture.
The pearl fishery on the coast of Australia originated about 1861. It
appears that an American sailor named Tays was the pioneer in the
business; and on his death by drowning, the business was conducted by his
partner named Seubert.[249] This was on the northwest coast, and the output
reached the market by way of Singapore. At first the oysters were so
abundant in shallow water that they could be picked up at low tide, and
beach-combing was profitable, especially when carried on with cheap
native labor. As the beach-beds became exhausted, the natives were
encouraged to wade out to greater depths, and soon they became
accustomed to “bob under” for those oysters visible from the surface. The
Australian blacks were thus taught to dive, and in 1867 diving from boats in
two or three fathoms was attempted with such success that in the following
year the practice was generally adopted, the depth in which they worked
gradually extending to six or eight fathoms. In diving from a boat, the men
imitated “bobbing under” which they had practised in shoaler water; they
slipped off the gunwale feet foremost, and when six or eight feet below the
surface, turned and swam downward.
Owing to the close labor relations existing between the natives and the
sheep-raisers of northwestern Australia, the latter were brought into the
business, and for a number of years pearling and sheep-raising were closely
associated. The blacks were employed in various duties in connection with
raising and shearing sheep, and it was important to find some occupation
for them when ranch-work was slack, not only for their own subsistence but
for the protection of the herdsmen and their property. Fortunately, this
opportunity was furnished by the pearl fishery, for which these men were
well qualified.
The profits of the business soon attracted many outside capitalists, and it
became difficult to procure divers. Not only did the pearlers—and
particularly new-comers—resort to impressing the blacks into service, but

skilled fishermen were brought over from the Malay Archipelago, and in
some cases the methods used in securing them were by no means regular.
In 1871 the Northwest pearl fishery gave employment to 12 vessels of 15
to 50 tons each, and yielded about 180 tons of mother-of-pearl. During the
same year, in Torres Straits, where the industry had extended about 1868,
there were 10 vessels—mostly from the port of Sydney—and the catch of
mother-of-pearl approximated 200 tons, valued at £60,000 in London.[250]
Each vessel was commonly manned by two or three white men and from
ten to fifty divers, who worked from dinghys, in gangs of six or eight each
with an overseer in charge.
As the fishery increased rapidly in extent, the problem of securing nude
divers became a serious one, and “nigger hunting” became rather common,
the Australian black man representing the cheapest form of labor, working
for his food, tobacco, and the simplest articles of clothing. There was no
complaint that the men thus impressed were treated with inhumanity; on the
contrary they were well fed and cared for; yet, with a view to protecting
them and preventing even a suspicion of wrong-doing, the Australian
government enacted regulations restricting pearling contracts with the
natives. Nearly every year these regulations became more stringent,
affecting the hours for diving, and limiting the work to depths of six and a
half fathoms, so that the employment of Australian aborigines in the fishery
became extremely troublesome and annoying.
The government of the Netherlands also placed severe restrictions on the
employment of natives of the Dutch Indies, requiring security of £20 per
head for the repatriation of each man; and the local chiefs or rajahs also
expected a rake-off before permitting their men to ship. These Malays—
from the islands of Solor, Allor, Adonare, etc.,—also expected much better
pay and better provisions than the Australian blacks.
The following interesting account by Henry Taunton gives a graphic
description of the fishery as carried on at that time:
The work was far from easy. It was exhausting and perilous for the divers, and full of privation,
exposure, and danger for the white men. Only the hope of a prosperous season reconciled one to the
life. When shells were plentiful and the weather fine, the work was exciting and interesting enough;
but during rough weather, when one had to be constantly straining at the oar to keep the dinghy from
drifting too rapidly, or when hour after hour might pass without the men bringing up a single shell,
the discouragement was great. The rays of the vertical sun beating down on one’s shoulders at such
times seemed as if it would never reach the western horizon, which was the signal for returning on
board.

As may well be imagined, when three or four white men had to control and compel some thirty or
forty natives to carry on work which they detested, a very strict discipline had to be maintained. It
was the rule that no talking was allowed amongst the divers when in the dinghy, nor were they even
permitted to address the white man, unless, maybe, to answer a question as to the nature of the
bottom, whether nanoo (sand) or bannin (shelly bottom), etc., or unless some urgent necessity arose.
Sometimes, indeed, I have pushed off from the vessel’s side of a morning and have not heard a word
spoken until we returned on board at night, unless chance might take me within hail of some other
dinghy, when felicitations or condolences would be exchanged, as good or bad luck might happen. At
times, when the “patch” was small, the dinghys of the whole fleet might be congregated on a very
small area, in which case the scene was animated enough. On all sides you could see divers slipping
into the water and others just coming to the surface, puffing, blowing, and coughing to clear their
eyes, ears, and mouth from the salt water—some with, others without shells. Others would be
swimming to regain their dinghy or squatting in their places for the few minutes’ rest permitted, and,
if the wind were at all fresh, shivering with cold; for although the weather might be extremely hot,
the constant plunging in and out for many hours at a time tended to reduce the bodily temperature
considerably. The white men would be seen standing up in each dinghy. They were lightly clad, with
shirt sleeves and trousers rolled up, in all varieties and colours of costume, from the regulation shirt,
trousers, and felt hat, with leather belt sustaining sheath-knife and pouch, to the more comfortable
pyjama suit, or even the Malay sarong. Some would be straining hard at the end of the scull-oar,
forcing the boat against wind and tide in the endeavor to keep it as long as possible on the “patch,”
which was marked by the discoverer’s buoy, which also might be observed nodding on the surface,
and canted over by the swiftly rushing tide. Others, their men all being below, just kept the dinghy’s
head to wind until, by judicious use of the oar and well-calculated drifting, all the divers reappear on
the surface within a short distance from their own boat. This is the secret of saving the divers from
wasting their powers and time uselessly.... As may be supposed, where the tide sweeps the divers
along the bottom at the rate of three or four or even six miles an hour, they have to be very smart in
seeking and grabbing any shell within reach. I have never tested them with a time-keeper; but by
counting seconds on many occasions, from the moment a diver’s head sank below until it again came
above the surface, I estimated the average time under water was fifty-seven seconds. Part of this is of
course expended in swimming to the bottom, where they can remain only a very few seconds, as time
must be allowed for reaching the surface before letting go their breath. Practice in ever-varying
depths enables them to gauge this limit of time to a nicety. But sometimes they cut things too fine,
and then a catastrophe was inevitable, unless much watchfulness was exercised by the white man,
who has to keep his eyes turned in all directions once his men are down. So long as a diver can hold
his breath the pressure forces him to the surface at a speed which seldom requires accelerating by
strokes with the hands or feet; but the moment he lets go his breath—if under water—his upward
course is arrested and his body commences to sink. Now, when the white man sees this, either he
must plunge in to the rescue himself, or direct such divers who may be on the top to do the needful.
On a calm day, when one can see far into the blue clear depths below, I have often seen one of my
men shooting rapidly upwards until within perhaps a foot or two from the surface, when a sudden
gush of bubbles from the man’s mouth would tell its own tale. Instantly he would begin to sink gently
downwards, and only quick action could save this diver who had miscalculated his time. However, as
it was not infrequent for divers to go down and never come up at all, one may conclude that, where
the time to be allowed is comprised in so few seconds, even the most experienced make fatal errors.
[251]

The difficulties in securing labor at length resulted in experiments with
the scaphander or diving dress, and gradually its adoption by most of the
pearling fleet. The labor problem and the exhaustion of the oysters in

medium depths developed more quickly in Torres Straits than on the
northwest coast, and diving outfits were introduced there about 1879, while
this was delayed about five years longer on the northwest coast. The outfit
did not immediately supplant nude diving in either locality. In 1883, only
80 of the 206 Queensland vessels were supplied with scaphanders, the
others continuing to use nude diving, and even yet nearly one third of the
vessels depend on that form of fishery. Of the 353 vessels fishing in 1904,
108 depended on nude divers and 245 were supplied with armored
equipment.
In 1881 the Queensland government took cognizance of the rapidly
developing industry, and enacted a license system and other regulations. For
every boat under two tons an annual license fee of £1 (in 1886 this was
reduced to ten shillings) was enacted, and for every vessel of ten tons or
under, the sum of £3, with an additional amount for vessels in excess of that
measurement; but not exceeding £20 in any case.[252] In 1886 it was required
by the Queensland government that every person employed “as a diver, and
using a diving apparatus,” must be licensed annually, for which a fee of £1
is exacted.[253] And in 1891 it was required that “every diving dress and air-
pump and all air-tubes and gear used in the fishery in connection with
diving must be submitted to an inspector for examination once at least in
every period of six months.”[254] The license system was adopted in Western
Australia in 1886, a fee of £1 per annum being exacted for each vessel
engaged in the fishery.[255] In 1891, South Australia adopted the license
system, requiring that every boat of two tons or under should pay ten
shillings, and that each boat over that measurement should pay twenty
shillings.
With a view to protecting the reefs, the government of Queensland in
1891 enacted a law forbidding the sale or removal—except for cultivation
purposes—of any pearl shell “of the kind scientifically known as
Meleagrina margaritifera, and of either of the varieties commonly known
as ‘golden-edged’ and ‘silver lip,’ of which the nacre or mother-of-pearl
measures less than six inches from the butt or hinge to the opposite edge or
lip, but this does not apply to the variety commonly called ‘dwarf-
shell.’”[256] Owing to the difficulty in enforcing this regulation, the size
restriction was reduced in 1897 to five inches from the hinge to the opposite
lip, or six and one half inches exteriorly, shells of this size weighing
approximately one pound. It is claimed that many oysters less than five