eyght
degree on the southe syde of the firme lande in the provynce of golden
Castyle or Beragua. (Arber, "The First Three English Books on America,"
Birmingham, 1885.)
In
addition to the gems noted by Oviedo, these waters furnished many other
beautiful pearls in the sixteenth century, and added largely to the
collections of the Spanish court and of the cathedrals of Seville,
Toledo, etc. The Italian traveler, Gemelli-Careri, who visited the
Panama fisheries in 1697, reported that they yielded pearls equal to
those of Ceylon. He mentioned one weighing 60 grains, for which the
owner—a Jesuit priest—refused 70,000 pesos.1
In 1735, the Spanish admiral, Antonio de Ulloa visited the Panama pearl fisheries and wrote an extended description of them.2
According to his account the pearls were then found in such plenty
that there were few slaveholders in the vicinity who did not employ at
least a portion of their Negroes in the fishery. These were selected
for their dexterity in diving, and were sent to the islands in gangs of
from eight to twenty men each, under the command of an overseer. They
lived in temporary huts on the shore, and visited the pearl reefs in
small boats. Anchoring in eight or ten fathoms of water, the Negroes
would dive in succession to the bottom, returning with as many oysters
as possible. It was laborious work, attended with danger owing to the
numerous sharks.
Every
one of these Negro divers is obliged daily to deliver to his master a
fixed number of pearls ; so that when they have got the requisite
number of oysters in their bag, they begin to open them, and deliver
the pearls to the officer, till they have made up the number due to
their master ; and if the pearl be but formed, it is sufficient,
without any regard to its being small or faulty. The remainder, however
large or beautiful, are the Negro's own property, nor has the master
the least claim to them, the slaves being allowed to sell them to whom
they please, though the master generally purchases them at a very small
price. . . . Some of these pearls, though indeed but few, are sent to
Europe, the greater part being carried to Lima, where the demand for
them is very great, being not only universally worn there by all
persons of rank, but also sent from thence to the inland portions of
Peru.3
During
the hundred years following, the pearl reefs of Panama were not very
productive, and relatively little attention was paid to them. The
development of a market for the shells in the mother-of-pearl trade,
about 1840, enhanced the profits of the few natives engaged in
1 Gemelli-Careri, "Giro del Mondo," Vene- s
"Ulloa's Voyage to South America,'" zia, 1719, p. 240. translated by J.
Adams, London, 1758.
2 Ulloa, "Relacion historica del viage a la America meridional," Madrid, 1748.
