one, known under the name of pintadine (Mekagrina vmrgaretifera), is
found in China, India, the Red Sea, the Comoro islands, North-Eastern
Australia, the Gulf of Mexico, and especially in the Tuamotu and
Gambier archipelagoes; the other, more commonly called the pearl oyster ('Mekagrina radiata), comes
from India, the China seas, the Antilles, the Red Sea, and Northern
Australia. The sheli of the former is harder, more tinted, more
transparent, and reaches greater dimensions than the latter. Some have
been found which have measured thirty centimetres in diameter and
weighed more than ten kilogrammes, while the Mekagrina radiata rarely
exceeds ten centimetres at the most, and never weighs as much as 150
grammes. Both varieties supply pearls, those of one kind being at one
time more favoured, at another time those of the other. This depends on
fashion; but, on the whole, those found in the great pintadine are more
beautiful, and the colour more transparent, than those of its congener.
The amount of the trade from Taliiti in pearls cannot be stated with
accuracy, as there is much clandestine traffic, but M. Braadely puts it
down approximately at 300,000 francs, England, Germany, and the United
States being the chief markets for the fine pearls. The great pintadine
is found in great abundance in the Tuamotu and Gambier islands. The
situation there is very favourable to them; in the clear and limpid
waters of the lagoons they have full freedom for development, and are
undisturbed by storms. Mother-of-pearl is found in almost every one of
the eighty islands which form the archipelagoes Tuamotu and Gambier.
These belong to France, having been annexed at the same time as Tahiti
and Moorea, and have a population of about 5,000 people, all belonging
to the Maori race. M. Brandely gives an interesting description of
these little-known islands and people. The latter appear to hover
always on the brink of starvation, as the islands, which are composed
mainly of coral-sand, produce hardly anything of a vegetable nature.
While the neighbouring Society islanders have everything without labour
and in abundance, the unfortunate inhabitant of Tuamotu is forced to
support existence with coconuts, almost the only fruit trees which will
grow on the sandy beach, with fish and shell-fish which .ire poisonous
for several months of the year, and often they have to kill their dogs
for want of other animal food. There are no birds, except the usual
sea-birds; no quadrupeds, except those brought by man; no food
resources necessary to European life, except what is brought by ships.
Although the people are gentle and hospitable, they practise
cannibalism, and M. Brandely suggests that it is pitiless hunger alone
which has driven them into this horrible custom. These miserable people
are the chief pearl divers of the Pacific; indeed it is their only
industry, and women and even children take part in it. There is at
Anaa, says the writer, a woman who will go down twenty-five fathoms,
and remain under water for three minutes. Nor was she an exception. The
dangers of the work are great, for the depths of the lagoons are
infested by sharks, against which the divers, being unajale to escape,
are forced to wage battle, in which life is the stake. No year passes
without some disaster from sharks, and when one happens, all the divers
are seized with terror, and the fishing is stopped for a time. But
gradually the imperious wants of life drive them back to the sea again,
for mother-of-pearl is the current coin of the Tuamotu. With it he buys
the rags which cover him, the little bread and flour which complete his
food, and alcohol, " that fatal present of civilization," for which he
exhibits a pronounced passion. Twenty or thirty years ago the trade in
mother-of-pearl in the Tuamotu archipelago was very profitable for
those engaged in it. For a valueless piece of cloth, a few hand-fuls of
flour, or some rum, the trader got half a ton of mother-of-pearl worth
one or two thousand francs, or even fine pearls of which the natives
did not know the value. The archipelagoes were frequented by vessels of
all nationalities: mother-of-pearl was abundant, and pearls were less
rare than they are now. The number of trading ships increased; there
was competition amongst them,
