rising
to the surface, the fisher empties his bag into one of the waiting
surf-boats, which crafts, under careful guard, deliver their loads to a
well-armed schooner, the latter vessel running into shore at nights to
discharge the accumulated cargo. Occasionally, during all the time he
is under water, a man may not send up a single shell containing a
pearl; at other times there may be $10,000 worth in twenty shells. A
very strict police system is necessary to prevent serious thefts,
which, despite the utmost vigilance, are of daily occurrence. On land
the cargo is turned over to keepers, and the mass is surrounded by
guards armed to the teeth. The shells are pried open with a flat knife,
and the mussel is separated from each shell. A gristly substance
attaches the body of the oyster to the shell, and covers about
one-fourth of its area, the remainder being occupied by the
pearl-bearing membrane, a black, jelly-like coat, and of course a part
of the living shell-fish. (See Illustration.) The shells are handed
over to another man, while the opener takes the separated fish, and
examines the inside of the black membrane for the pearls he is in
search of, and finally closes his fist over the fish to squeeze out any
pearl which may be lodged in the interior, after which the pearls found
are examined by experts, their value estimated, and a settlement made
at once with the divers. Usually their wages amount to twenty-five per
cent, of the total find, and they are paid by an allotment of the
pearls taken during the day. On the outside the shells are covered with
seaweed or other submarine growths, and look not unlike a Tam O'Shanter
cap. All this growth is removed, and the shells are cleansed and
picked, finding a ready market in Liverpool, London, and Hamburg at
prices of from ten to twenty cents a pound. The profit from these
fisheries is not as large as might be imagined, because the expenses
are very heavy, and there is always involved a very considerable
element of chance.
About
1863 a company organized in New York City for the purpose of gathering
pearls and pearl shells on the Pacific Coast, and secured the use of a
submarine boat, the peculiarities of which were that it carried a large
supply of fresh air condensed within its walls and was provided with a
means of puri-
