over
to skilled natives, who remove the valuable objects by breaking the
shell with hammers, and then with files and other implements remove the
irregular pieces of attached shell and otherwise improve the appearance.
In
no fishery in the world is the average size of the pearls secured
smaller, nor is the relative number greater than in that of Ceylon. It
is rare that one is found weighing over ten grains, and the number
weighing less than two grains is remarkable. For roundness and orient
they are unsurpassed by those of any region. However, Ceylon pearls
worth locally Rs.iooo ($400) are by no means abundant. The most
valuable one found in the important fishery of 1904, is said to have
been sold in the camp for Rs.2500. The fishery of 1905 yielded one
weighing 76-1/2 chevu, and valued at Rs. 12,000.
The
quantity of seed-pearls obtained in the Ceylon fishery exceeds that of
any other—probably all other parts of the world. The very smallest—the masi-tul,—for which there is no use whatever in Europe, have an established value in India, being powdered for making chu-nam for chewing with betel. Those slightly larger,—tul pearls—for
which also there is no market in Europe, are placed in the mouth of
deceased Hindus of wealth, instead of the rice which is used by poorer
people.
The
great bulk of the Ceylon pearls are silvery white in color, but
occasionally yellowish, pinkish, and even "black" pearls are found,
although the so-called "black" pearls are really brown or
slate-colored. In some seasons these are relatively numerous, as in
1887, for instance.
Notwithstanding
the large product at the fishery camp, it is difficult to purchase
single pearls or small quantities there at a reasonable price, the
merchants objecting to breaking a mudichchu, or the lot resulting from washing a definite number of oysters.
The
shells obtained in the Ceylon fisheries do not possess sufficient
thickness of lustrous nacre for use as mother-of-pearl, and are mostly
used for camp-filling. A few are burned and converted into chunam, i.e.: prepared
lime for building purposes, or to be used by natives for chewing with
the betel-nut. Forty or fifty years ago, before the large receipts of
mother-of-pearl from Australia and the southern Pacific, there was a
good market for the shell for button manufacture and the like, but
since 1875 on^Y the choicest have been used for this purpose, and these are worth only about $25 per ton delivered in Europe.
It
will be observed that up to the close of the season of 1906, the Ceylon
fisheries were operated by the colonial government as a state monopoly.
In 1904, proposals were made to the British colonial office by a London
syndicate with a view to leasing the fisheries for a term
