always subject to the limitations and delays inseparable from the use of primitive labor.
The
natives, after taking into their lungs as much air as they can hold,
plunge from their small open boats into the sea, holding to a
stone-weighted line, which quickly takes them to the bottom. There they
grab as many oysters as they can and rise at once to the surface. The
shells thus brought up are collected, taken ashore, and parceled out
at sunset: one-fifth, I believe, to the Government, in lieu of taxes,
two-fifths to the owners of the boats and gear, and two-fifths to the
divers.
These
divers always go down in pairs for mutual protection, and while one
works, the other keeps close watch on the life-lines which connect them
with the boat above.
When
at the end of the day's fishing the fleet returns to port spoil-laden
and to the accompaniment of music and song, and the division has taken
place under the supervision of all concerned, the shells are auctioned
off in lots of so many hundreds. The bidding by the motley crew of
dealers from all parts of Ceylon, India, China, and Europe is brisk and
spirited, but the buyer is purely a gambler, for he knows not whether
the shells be empty or contain something worth while. Not one in a
thousand shells holds even seed-pearls or small baroque, and of all
grades of pearls found in the whole catch, there is no more than 5 per
cent, that matters.
In
that part of the world a wise Government has ordained a close season,
lasting four years between fishings. But for this provision, the beds
would long since have been denuded of every living pearl-oyster, for
the greed of the natives has no thought for the morrow, urged on as it
is by the competitive prices offered by the dealers. The starfish in
these and other waters cannot, however, be checked by legislation, and
their appetite for oyster meat is never restrained. In Ceylon waters
especially, the havoc wrought by starfish among the oyster beds is
truly appalling.
Pearls are like girls. Once you get really fond of them, you cannot tell where they may lead you.
They led me, at least, whither I never dreamed I should go,
