once
again become of much importance. The fact that the pearl-bearing
oysters are found there in large quantities, notwithstanding that they
have been poached without restriction by the natives, indicates that
only proper management and policing are necessary to make them valuable
and productive.
On
the lower coast of Portuguese East Africa, pearl fishing has been of
some local importance. The reefs are most extensive about the Bazaruto
Islands, previously referred to as about 150 miles south of Sofala. In
1888, when famine prevailed on this coast, the inhabitants of this
archipelago, of both sexes and of all ages, fished for the large
pearl-oysters (known locally as mapalo), selling their catch at
Chi-loane to Asiatic traders, who gave them a handful of rice for a
large basket of the mollusks. It was estimated that during two months
of that year, pearls to the value of eighty contos ($83,500) were taken.1 In
1889 three British subjects attempted to renew the fishery by using
dredges, but without success, owing, it is said, to the great weight of
the implements.
The
Kafirs of Bazaruto continue to fish irregularly, but their catch is not
of importance. These pearls are carried by traders to Zanzibar, Muscat,
and Bombay. The American consul writes that some years ago the
Portuguese government granted a concession to a company of American
fishermen to exploit the Bazaruto reefs, but the attempt to work the
concession failed through "bad management, lack of funds, heavy
expenses, and political difficulties," a combination apparently
sufficient to wreck a similar attempt in the most favorable locality.
The
American consul at Tamatave states that in 1907 the government of
Madagascar awarded two grants for pearl fisheries, covering the entire
western coast, a distance of one thousand miles, excepting two hundred
miles, for which two grants were given in 1906. Apparently no effort
was made to develop the earlier grants ; the later ones may be
operated, perhaps jointly. These concessions are personal, and may not
be sold or transferred without the governor-general's consent. The use
of divers, machinery, dredges, and other apparatus, and the building of
necessary stations are allowed, if there be no interference with
navigation, fishing, or coast travel. An annual tax is to be paid, with
a stated increase each year, and revised according to the success of
the enterprise. A report must be sent yearly to the governor-general.
The grants may be revoked if work is not begun within a stated period ;
if the work is needlessly abandoned during one year, or if the tax is
not paid. AVhenever the interests of the colony or of the public
service require it, the privilege may be withdrawn without indemnity.
1 Lisbon Geographical Society Report, January, 1903.
