Chapter VIII: Introduction (7)

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_.

The 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).

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