ual
specimens high prices are received. It is the largest of the
mother-of-pearl shells, single half-shells of "bold" size average one
and one half pounds in weight, while some attain a weight of six
pounds. The body of the shell furnishes the most beautiful of all
mother-of-pearl, yet the necessity for discarding the yellow rim, or,
rather, for using it separate from the rest, makes it unpopular with
manufacturers. The annual product is estimated at 200 tons, valued in
London and New York at $200,000, and of pearls about $30,000 worth.
The
Sulu pearls are frequently large and of choice quality, but they are
far more inclined to a yellowish tint than those from Australian
waters, 1300 miles southward. The sultans accumulated the finest
collection of them, and some of these found their way into the markets
from time to time as the condition of the exchequer ran low or royal
emergency required, as in 1882, for instance, when it was necessary to
defray the expense of Sultan Buderoodin's pilgrimage to Mecca. During
the last six or seven years, much has been heard of the present
sultan's collection, which he largely inherited, and some fairly good
specimens have been presented to prominent Americans.
Pearl-oysters
are among the important resources of the inshore waters of the Dutch
East Indies, including the surrounding seas of Sumatra, Java, Borneo,
Celebes, the Aru Islands, the Moluccas or Spice Islands, and Papua or
New Guinea. For very many years the natives have gathered pearl shell
and pearls from these waters, and especially on the coast of the Aru
Islands, at Gilolo or Halmahera, and the islands thereabout, on the
east coast of Celebes, and about the Sunda group. The collections were
made in the shallow waters by beach-combing and by nude diving, and
were bartered with the Chinese and Arab traders sailing from Singapore,
Macassar, and other ports. Occasionally a pearling vessel from
Singapore or from Torres Straits would try its luck in these waters ;
but, except for the work of the natives, the reefs were practically
untouched previous to 1883.
As
the Australian fleet increased in size and the oysters became scarce in
Torres Straits and on the northwest coast, some of the vessels
occasionally visited the Aru Islands, the coast of Papua, etc. These
met with considerable success and the number of trips increased,
especially in 1893, when oysters were unusually scarce in Australia.
The
following year, 1894, the government restricted the fishery to
inhabitants of the Netherlands and of Netherlands India, or to
companies established in those countries and operating under the Dutch
flag. Owing to the activity of Dutch capital in coffee, tobacco and
other plantation enterprises, the pearl resources received very little
attention from them. The success of the Australian fishery encouraged
the formation in 1896 of an Amsterdam company to exploit the Aru
