Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-07-01
The Perils of Pearl Fishing,
london Telegranh.


Such is the value of the pearl that life
Will be always risked for its attainment,
and if the sharks would only SOW the
banks with pearls they might confident
~ re- " on a regular harvest of men. As
it Is, they levy grim tax from the div
ers, and but for the hustle and noise
along the oyster beds during the ''fish-
cry, which frighten off the less daring
monsters, the percentage of deaths
would be much greater. The Bahrein
and CeylOn fisheries, are of course, the
largest and most valuable; but China
and Japan, South America and Australia
as well as some of the islands off the
African coast, produce the precious
oyster i'll abundance. The number of
shells IS not any guide as to the number
of pearls, and even the toughest aver
age which the diver may make Of the
value Of the seasons collection is there
fore, liable to be utterly wrong. The
shells themselves are, however, of great
commercial value, and often yield a
larger revenue than the seasons find of
gems, so that the diver really never goes
down in vain Nor is the smallest "seed
pearl valueless, for it is pretty natural
fact that only pearl powder will polish
properly polish pearls, and, more
over, the gems ground up command a
ready market in the east, where they
are supposed to have a surprising
efficacy in restoring exhausted vitality
and renewing wasted vigor.
The diver, therefore, has always Ell
couragement in his perilous labor; and
l., H. L., I, L I
dive to the waiting shark, he has still
the facinatiOn before him of a possible
prize that shall send him home to live
at care for the resi- of his life. So he
calls out the shark charmer to charm
his best, and, with the delusivc spell
ringing III his ears plunges down to
| death. But the monster of the deep
that has been lying waiting for him far
under the shadow of the boat cares lit
| tie for exorcism or enchantment, and so
| the diver IS never seen again. His
comrades in the boat feel the rope sud
denly shaken and as suddenly raised;
| the lessened strain tells the grim story
at once, and then the empty bucket
comes floating up to the surface, II mes
| sage that the diver is dead. In the vast
llltJOI4ty VI Cdoto; uONGNci, llIC OINCIS
grow old at their toll, neither meeting
with sharks and kings ransom's in their
groupings along the shell-strewn banks,
and the Bahrein speak Of it as a mo-
notonous and laborioos means Of iveli-
hood and an in which they seldom earn
a competence.
The surroundings of their works are
squalid, almost revolving; for the shore
is heaped with decaying masses of oys-
sters, and the sea breeze perpetually
blows the smell of them across the en-
campment of the fishers, which lie
sweltering under a terrible sun and
but poorly provided with the few things
that go to make the Oriental comfort
able. In Ceylon matters are little bet
ter, as far as the divers are personally
concerned, and in China and Japan the
industry is one that attracts only the
lowest orders. From these sources most
of the gems of our markets are derived,
but the pearl oyster is of such extensive
Distribution creature Ofevery shore,
that nearly all countries contribute
pearls to the general stock.