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PEARLS FROM ASIA 149
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Probably
the most interesting of the abalone fisheries is that on the shores of
Quelpaerd Island, about sixty miles south of the Korean coast, which is
prosecuted largely by the women. Dressed only in a scanty garment,
these women swim out to the fishing grounds, distant several hundred
yards in some cases, carrying with them a stout knife and a small sack
suspended from a gourd. On reaching the reefs, they dive to the
bottom—sometimes to a depth of six or eight fathoms —and by means of
the knife, remove the abalones from the bottom and place them in the
sack. They may remain out an hour, diving repeatedly until the sack is
filled, when they swim back to the shore. Pearls are found only rarely;
in one lot of one hundred shells, only five were found bearing pearls ;
two with three pearls each, two with two pearls each, and one with a
single pearl. The flesh of this mollusk after it has been cleaned and
dried, is quite popular as an article of diet. Although white when
fresh, the color changes to a dark red. The pieces of dried flesh, in
the form of flat reddish disks four or five inches in diameter, are
fastened on slender sticks—about ten to each stick—and displayed in the
grocery shops in Seul and other cities.
In
the Gulf of Siam on the Asiatic coast, pearls are obtained from a small
oyster with a thin shell, presumably a variety of the Lingah oyster.
The beds have not yet been thoroughly exploited, as the Siamese do not
especially value pearls, attributing some superstitious sentiments of
ill luck to them. However, from time to time Chinese traders have
bought them from the Malay divers and sold them at great profit in the
Singapore market. The known beds occur chiefly in the northern part of
the gulf, on the west coast, and extend in a narrow belt for a distance
of about one hundred miles. The fishing is prosecuted by nude divers in
shallow water. A recent letter from Dr. K. Van Dort, a mining engineer
of Bangkok, Siam, states that in 1906 in six weeks, with the aid of
half a dozen divers he was able to collect 720 grains' weight of
pearls, mostly small ones, but including one of 20 grains, one of 14
grains, two of 12 grains each, and seven over 9 grains in weight. He
reports that the total value of the large ones in Bangkok was $1500,
but the small ones could not be sold to any advantage, as they are
little prized by the Siamese. The shells are of no commercial value, as
they are too thin for industrial use other than for inlaid work. Some
fine old specimens of marquetry in which these shells were used exist
in the Buddhist temples at Bangkok. This art of inlaying is almost lost
among the Siamese, and there is said to be only one man in the king's
palace who can lay any claims to proficiency in working mother-of-pearl
shell.
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