Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-27
MEXICAN PEARLS.
The Fisheries of Lower California
Paris the Great Market for Pearls
Black Pearls Found.

The Fisheries of Lower California
Paris the Great Market for Pearls
Black Pearls Found.
The pearls Of Mexico command a higher
price in Europe than those from any other
portion Of the world save India, says a
letter from La Paz, Lower California, to
the ItoO Republics. Since my arrival here
1 have made one or two excursions over
the pearl fisheries OF the coast of Cape
San Lucas.
The fields extend from Cape San Lucas
up TO Maleje Bay, a distance Of 250miles.
The coast washed by these waters is desc
late. For miles the sand, imprinted with
footsteps, stretches along. Huge rocks.
some OF them high above the reach of the
tide, are the only visible tenants of this
unending sweep of sand. The Mexican
sun beats pitilessly on the beach that
stretches back with undulatiOns toward
the mountain ranges that are a continual
ton Of the San BernardinO range. 1t is
all or nearly all such a coast as one
would people with castaways in some Sc
cluded nook on the wide ocean.
Lying of the coast, however, are a
thousand islands, great and little, but all
more or less picturesque and beautiful.
Round these islands and OF that bleak
and barren beach lie the celebrated pearl
fisheries.
Round the coast Of Lower California for
a thousand miles can be found pearl Oys-
tiers in detached beds, intercalated at in
Teryals, but along the $50 miles | men,
toned before can be found the best shells.
These oysters prefer well sheltered bays
or harbOrs where fresh water empties,
and in such localities, north of the cape,
the best and the brightest pearls can be
found.
North above the island of the Guardian
Angel hurricanes have been known to
wash to the beach quantities of shells;
but, singular to say, none bearing the pre-
ciOus fruit so eagerly sought for suffer
themselves to be stranded, but cling te-
naciously to the corals and the rocks at
the bottom Of the gulf till the divers seek
them. In future letter, after / return
from trip to the fisheries, l will give
your readers some descriptive details Of
these divers, great muscular fellows with
a hundred pounds of armor, clad cap-a-
pie for the conflict with the terrOrs of the
deep. 1t is estimated that One-quarter of
the Mexican territory of Lower California
is supported by these industries.
have caught the first murmurs Of dis
content over the new law going into eff
feet the LIST Of June whereby the govern
ment rents for a nominal price these beds
law that portiOned them into four zones
and made it possible to propagate pearls
that are the pride of the Spanish regalia,
and brilliant yet, though stolen from the
seas before the Napoleonic invasion of
Mexico.
The regular season for fishing is from
May to November. At the commence
ment of the season the rains fall. Even
though the pearls lie fifteen fathoms un-
der the surface Of the water, still these
rains affect the business. The sweet
waters of the rains, by one of those mys-
FERROUS operations of nature not under
stood by many, kill the roots of the grass
growing on the bottom of the sea; as soon
as the grass dies it comes to the salty
surface of the sea and is blown ashore by
the first strong wind that comes that way.
This leaves the bottom of the gulf clear OF
| the tall grass, and divers can find the
pearl oysters without having to work
| their way through the grasses. Pie
water of the gulf remains clear after these
/ rams from July to November. enabling
work to be vigorously prosecuted.
Though the pearls of Lower California
| are small and irregular in shape on the
/ average, they are possessed of a lustre no
/ pearls In the world can equal save the
! peerless c0nches of the East Indies. The
| Mexican pearls are also unequaled for
/ their durability. and while pearls from
Panama, Tahiti, and other parts of the
world turn pale after fifteen or twenty
| years, the Mexican stones preserve Their
| lustre much longer.
The products of the fisheries are diff.
| cult to approximate. The fishers place a
mere nominal value on the pearls in theil
consular invoices before sending them to
| Europe, so that a beautiful gem plucked
from the red Ihand of the coral in the
waters of the California gulf is sometimes
rated at $500, when in Paris it will bring
from $4,000 to $4,000; still the annual pro
duct of those fisheries is estimated al
5000, 900 on the spot, and sometimes more
while five times that amount would more
truly represent their value. Last year,
am told, several black pearls were found
in this famous yield; they are very popu'
lar at Paris and on the continent, and are
worn by people in mourning.
Paris, as everyone knows, is the bes
market in the world for pearls, and those
from the waters that kiss the coasts of M
| native land are among the most welcome