Pearls
remained in the possession of his son and successor the late Sultan
Buderoodin, who died in March, 1884, and these were sold by him in
1882, to defray expenses on his trip to Mecca. His mother, who is still
living (1886) and is the most influential personage in the country,
retains a number of these Pearls, and can with difficulty be persuaded
to show any of them.
Whenever
she is induced to offer a Pearl for sale—a most unusual event—she sets
a higher price on it than it would be worth in London, and she abates
but very little from it. She does not wish to sell at all and always
remarks "Why should I sell my Pearls ? if the Spaniards come to attack
us I can put my Pearls into my handkerchief and go into the hills, but
if I have dollars I should need a number of men to carry them." Where
the stolen portion of the box went, still remains a mystery.
The native population of Sooloo may be divided into two classes—the hillmen {tan gimba) the tillers of the soil, and the coast people {tan Bajati) the
toilers of the sea. The former cultivate rice, tapioca and other food
plants, and breed horses, cattle and water-buffaloes. There are twenty
varieties of rice from the island of Sooloo now at the Royal Botanic
