There
are jade quarries in Burma, situated in the Mojaung district, at the
head waters of the Churdwen, about 90 miles from Bhamo. They are leased
to two companies for £6,000,' and the trade is entirely in the hands of
the Chinese;
The
imports of jade into India are to the value of £30,000 to £40,000, In
India jade vases are often ornamented with jewels, or carved and
wrought so as to form elegant devices. The old Delhi work in cut and
gem-encrusted > jade is priceless. The Chinese had cut jade
for ages, but never ornamented it, except by sculpture ; but when it
was introduced into India, the native jewellers, with their quick eye
for colour, at once saw what a perfect ground it afforded for mounting
precious stones, and they were the first to" encrust them on jade. The
Indian Museum at South Kensington possesses the choicest and grandest'
specimens of this work known, of the best Mogol period. (Sir G.
Birdwood on "The Industrial Arts of India.")
Blocks
of green stone, axes, meres, charms, and other articles of jade were
shown in the New Zealand Court of the late Colonial Exhibition,
evidencing the patient skill of the Maoris in working this hard
material, second in this respect to the diamond, although nevertheless
somewhat fragile.
Passing
now from land to sea, we shall find the busy industry of search-as
actively carried on. In the coral fishery of the Mediterranean nearly
600 boats are employed, manned by about 6,000 men, the number to a boat
varying from 6 to 12 hands. They are sent out from Torra del Greco,
Leghorn, Liguria, Sardinia, and the Algerian ports. It is a curious
sight to see a fleet of these boats, ranging in size from 3 to 14 tons,
employed on the banks with their wooden windlass amidships, hauling up
what is termed the " engine," a kind of' cross-shaped dredge for
tearing off the branches of coral from the rocks. About 400,000 pounds
of rough coral are brought in annually to Italy, and the shaping and
the working of this into the varied forms it assumes for commercial
purposes, gives employment to hundreds in the chief cities. The value
of the coral shipped from Europe used to reach about £600,000 annually.
But with the change of fashion this has declined considerably. Not long
ago there was quite a rage for the pale flesh-coloured coral for
jewellery. Coral ornaments may again come into fashion, even if they do
not fetch the high prices at which they were formerly sold. Coral has
the hardness and brilliancy of agate; it polishes like gems and shines
like garnet, with the tint of the ruby. In Russia, Northern Africa, and
India coral is still much in demand. The imports into India last year
were to the value of ,£20,000.
Amber
was one of the most valuable jewels of antiquity. It was endowed with
manifold sympathetic effects as a talisman against rheumatism,
toothache, and other complaints. The Turks still believe it to be an
infallible guard against the injurious effects of nicotine, hence its
extensive use for the mouthpieces of pipes. Amber is esteemed for
ornaments by many. The cloudy, or milk-white, and the opaque
lemon-coloured, are the varieties most valued by connoisseurs. The
imports to this country are to the value of about £3,000 to. £4,000,
but it is largely shipped also to Austria, France, Turkey, and the
Eastern nations. It is principally obtained on the Prussian coast of
the Baltic, from Dantzic to Memel. At one establishment near Memel
dredging is carried on day and night by "shifts" of men, 400 being so
engaged. At another, in Konisgsberg, 2,350 persons and nineteen
steam-engines are employed. The pits are 3:0 feet deep, arid 100 carts
are employed on the works. In other localities divers are employed,
two to each boat, with submarine clothing and air-pumps.
The
fishing for pearls and mother-of-pearl shells is carried on in very
many quarters: in Lower California, the coast of Mexico, the Bay of
Panama; in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Ceylon, Borneo, New Guinea,
the Sooloo Isles, Fiji, the Society and other of the Pacific Islands,
and on the east and west coasts of Australia. The pearl fisheries on
the coasts of Central Africa furnish about .£100,000 worth of pearls, and employ about 1,000 divers. Oar
