Alvarado1
at 12,000 dollars per year; but this was disputed by Jacob Baegert, a
Jesuit priest. Baegert spent seventeen years in Mexico and, returning
to Europe on the expulsion of his order from that country in 1767,
published a report in 1772, containing rather an unfavorable view of
the fishery. He stated that each summer eight, ten, or twelve poor
Spaniards from Sonora, Sinaloa, and elsewhere on the mainland, crossed
the gulf in small boats to the California shore for the purpose of
obtaining pearls. They carried supplies of Indian corn and dried beef,
and also a number of Indians who served as divers, the Spaniards
themselves showing little inclination to engage in the work when native
fishermen could be employed so cheaply. Provided with a sack for
receiving the oysters which they removed from the bottom, the fishermen
dived head first into the sea, and when they could no longer hold their
breath they ascended with the gathered treasure. The oysters were
counted before opening ; and, when the law was complied with, every
fifth one was put aside for the king's revenue. Most of the oysters
yielded no pearls ; some contained black pearls, others white ones, the
latter usually small and ill-shaped. If, after six or eight weeks of
hard labor and deducting all expenses, a Spaniard gained a hundred
American pesos, he thought he had made a little fortune, but this he
could not do every season. "God knows," said Baegert, "whether a fifth
of the pearls secured in the California sea yields to the Catholic king
an average of 150 or 200 pesos in a year, even without frauds in the
transaction. I heard of only two persons—with whom also I was
personally acquainted—who had accumulated some wealth, after spending
20 or more years in the business. The others remained poor
notwithstanding their pearl fishing."2
Father
Baegert's statement of the returns seems to be substantiated by the
reports of the royal fifth a few years later. For the period from 1792
to 1796 this was placed at "2 lbs. 2 ozs." by some writers; and
according to others, from 1788 to 1797 it amounted to only "3 lbs. 9
ozs.," which is the quantity assigned by some accounts to 1797 alone.3 These
returns apparently indicate that a great decrease had occurred since
the days of Osio ; but it seems very doubtful whether, under the
conditions existing in Mexico at that time, the royal treasury received
its due share of the proceeds.
Shortly
following the independence of Mexico in 1821, and after a period of
little activity, several attempts were made to exploit the pearl
resources. The great prosperity in England, ensuing upon the
1 Pedro Alvarado, "Historia California," 'Arch. Cal. Prov. St. Pap. xvi. Ben. Mil.
Vol. I, p. 10.
xvi, xvii, xviii.
* Baegert, "Nachrichten von der Amerikanischen Halbinsel Californien," Mannheim,
1772.
