PEARL FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS
Sea-girt isles, That, like to rich and various gems, inlay The unadorned bosom of the deep.
Milton.
\ATHERING
pearl shells and pearls is the principal industry of the
semi-amphibious natives of the hundreds of palm-' crowned and
foam-girdled islands of the southern Pacific, 
- commonly known as the South Sea Islands. Among these the most
prominent for pearl fishing are the Tuamotu Islands or Low Archipelago,
the Society Islands, the Marquesas, the Fiji Islands, Pen-rhyn or
Tongareva, and New Caledonia. These are under the protection of the
French government except Fiji and Penrhyn, which belong to Great
Britain.
Almost
ever since the South Sea Islands have been known to civilization they
have contributed pearls ; and the fishery has been one of the principal
industries, not only for the natives, but also for the not
inconsiderable number of sailors who, preferring the lotus on shore to
the salt pork and monotony of ship life, have yielded to the insular
attractions and formed domestic ties. The industry has been especially
extensive during the last seventy years, when there has been a
profitable market for the shells. Most of the natives—men, women, and
children—follow it for a living. Domestic duties rest very lightly upon
the women, and many of these, and even young girls, find employment in
diving, in which at moderate depths these dusky mermaids are nearly, if
not quite as expert as the men and boys.
Tahiti,
the largest of the eleven Society Islands, is the center of the
pearling industry of French Oceanica. It is situated in about Lat. iy° S. and Long. 1500
W., and has an area of approximately 410 square miles and a population
of 11,000, nearly one half of whom live in Pa-peiti, the principal
town. This is one of the most agreeable of the "Summer Isles of Eden,"
Nature furnishing food in abundance, and climate and social customs
requiring little in the way of dress and habitation. Notwithstanding
its importance as the headquarters of
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