383 CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES.
singular
circumstances connected with the pearl banks and the oysters, which are
known as facts, but cannot be yet satisfactorily explained, that while
oysters from the comparatively small Modaragam-par have seldom any
appreciable growths of coral or sponge on them, those from the much
more extended Cheval-par are largely coated with those foreign growths.
It is surely a curious circumstance that while the pearl mussel cannot
really flourish except when anchored by its byssus to a fragment of
coral, the shell so situated should be made the base for very
considerable coverings and erections of coral. Some shells are so built
up with coral as to have only a very small orifice left through which
to receive food, while yesterday I saw one entirely built into a mass
of coral. The masses of soft red matter on the shells now being fished
I have ascertained to be' algte. They abound and are vari-coloured, but
a very beautiful pink-coloured species seems to predominate. It fades
after a time of course, and the heaps of oysters in the " kotoos" look
very much like large potatoes or yams covered with black earth. In
passing those heaps it gives one "a turn" to notice the movements of
the unhappy bivalves, which are literally " fishes out or water." A
number of oysters with mouths agape, will suddenly bring the separated
valves together and slide down, as if conscious (which undoubtedly they
somehow are) of a presence with which they associate danger. I was not
surprised to find that Mr. Twynam's observations in this direction had
sometimes given him uncomfortable feelings with reference to the
possible amount of pain felt by these creatures however low in the
scale of being they are. But the pearl oysters are not swallowed alive
as are their edible congeners : indeed the being good to eat in any
shape is not amongst the merits of the pearl mussel. And as to pain,
people now-a-days trust more to what science has discovered than what
Shakspeare imagined when he wrote:—
The poor beetle that we tread upon
In mortal sufferance feels a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
Not
so, for the lower vitality is, the less feeling exists, and we have
before quoted the case of the dragon-fly which ate a considerable
portion of its own body when its tail was turned to its mouth, without
apparently being aware of what was happening. In any case the
sufferings of the pearl oyster are not greatly extended. Most are dead
on the second day after being taken out of the. water, I should say,
and during this period I ought in fairness to state that the odour of
the oyster heaps, breathes pleasantly of the sea and of healthy iodine.
Although the word " kotoo" is retained, the enclosures now in use are
simply pallisades. The fences would remind one of an elephant kraal,
but for the slighter saplings used and the absence of supports sloping
outwards. The Government " kotoo" is a large oblong square of doubled
pallisades, a space for police guard-houses and the movements of the
men being between the two rows. The oysters when lodged in the interior
are carefully locked up and watched as their value justifies. As soon
as the divers' shares are removed, the sale takes place, there being
no limit to the number a man who makes a satisfactory bid, can have.
The sale over and the money paid, order s are issued, and before the
evening of next day, the Government " kotoo " ough t to be clear and
ready for a new supply. The sticks for the enclosures having to be
brought ten miles, are expensive, and I could not help feeling that the
non-existence of bamboos near at hand is a misfortune. Mr. Twynam has
suggested wire netting for the enclosures, not only for the sides but
to cover in the top, so that crows could not so frequently, as they now
do, carry away oysters, perhaps some from which great things in the way
of pearls were expected. Wherever an opportunity of mischievous theft
presents itself, there the crows are sure to be, I saw one of
them today bully and drive away a big hawk. The offence of the hawk
seemed to be that he sat on one of a series of pillars which are as
conspicuous, close at hand here as one. of the trigonometrical towers
is at some distance off. The tall pillars of brick and mortar, many of
