The
pearl fisheries of the Red Sea are at Lohia. At the lower end of the
Red Sea, at Massawa on the African side, and at Lohia on the Arabian
side, are a number of small barren islands; the banks lie in shallow
water between them. The industry is financed by merchants, principally
natives of Bombay, India, who in partnership with the Bedouin
boat-owners, control the fishing. The Bedouin captain takes with him a
few Arabs to man the boat and a number of black slaves as divers. The
shells have a market value for mother-of-pearl but the quality is
inferior. They have a greenish-gray edge and are fairly heavy and
formerly they were much in demand.
Of
late years the fresh-water unio shells have replaced them to a certain
extent for cheap material but the shells are yet about ninety per cent,
of the value of the fishings. Returns show exports of pearls averaging
one hundred thousand dollars per annum but as a large
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