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280 THE BOOK OF THE PEARL
ture
is not concentric or interwoven, as it is in the conch pearl, while the
luster is more like that of the shell than that of the pearly nacre.
Streeter
relates that many years ago an ingenious American turned out some bits
of conch shell into the shape of pearls and placed them in the conch
shells. A slight secretion formed over them, but it was not the true
pearly secretion, and the layer was very thin, so that the deception
was easily detected.
Not
the least interesting of the American pearl fisheries is that which has
the abalones (Haliotis) for its object. These occur in many inshore
tropical and semi-tropical waters, and particularly in the marginal
waters of the Pacific. They attach themselves to the rocks by means of
their large muscular disk-shaped foot, which acts like a sucker or an
exhaust-cup.
On
the California coast the abalones are gathered in large quantities for
the pearls, for the shells, and especially for the flesh, which is
dried and used for food. The principal fishing grounds are at Point
Lobos in Monterey County, and along the shores of Catalina and Santa
Rosa islands in Santa Barbara County, with smaller quantities from
Half-moon Bay and from the rocks along the shores of Mendocino County.
At low tide the fishermen wade out in shallow water, and, by means of a
knife, separate the mollusk from its resting-place. Unless this is done
quickly and before the mollusk has time to prepare itself for the
attack, it closes down on the rock by means of its sucker-like foot,
from which it cannot be removed without breaking the shell. A story is
told at Santa Barbara of a Chinese fisherman having been drowned off
one of the outer islands by having his hand caught underneath the shell
of an abalone.
A
few years ago, Japanese fishermen introduced the use of diving-suits in
taking these mollusks in three fathoms of water ; but in March, 1907,
the California legislature interdicted this form of fishery. That
legislature also interdicted the capture of black abalones measuring
"less than twelve inches around the outer edge of the shell, or any
other abalone, the shell of which shall measure less than fifteen
inches around the outer edge."
The
animal is removed from the shell by thrusting a thin blade cf soft
steel between the flesh and the shell, and thus loosening the great
muscle. The flesh is salted and boiled, and then strung on long rods to
dry in the open air. When properly cured, the pieces are almost as hard
and stiff as sole leather. Most of it is packed in sacks and exported
to China, but large quantities are sold on the Pacific coast at from
five to ten cents per pound. The catch is much less than it was forty
years ago.
Many pearly masses are obtained from the abalones, and a few of
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