The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-23
IN CEYLON'S SPICY ISLE
THE JEWELS OF OPHIR.
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

Colombo. Ceylon-From Ophir the navy
OF Hiram. king of Tyre, brought TO King
solomon gold and silver, ivory and apes
ana peacocks, almug trees ana precious
stones Many archaeOlOgists believe Inat
the island OF Ceylon was the Ophir OF Sol
onions time. The ancient Romans calleu
i Taprobane, and Milton, as well as Ovld,
Strabo and Pliny, referred 20 II by that
name. In another form the name IS
Tamba-panni" in the old Sinhalese
chronicles. The Arabs called II 'Seren-
Gib.' In India. twenty or twenty-five
centuries ago, it was known as Lanka,
which means the Respondent, a name
to which native Tamils and Slnhalese stlll
cling. The Siamese called Ceylon Iewa
Lankai meaning divine Lanka- 10 the
Chinese il was the isle OF jewels TO the
the ruby" and to the Indian Buddhist the
pearl upon the brow Of India To al OF
the nations Of old whose ships traded at
It's ports CeylOn was treasure house OF
precious stones. and it remains so even
TO this day.
Besides elephants, for which Ceylon has
been famous from the dawn OF history,
and which it now furnishes to the Indian
raJahs who have not taken to the motor
car as more practicable conveyance, the
island drove a large trade IN pearls ana
ether gems in the tenth century. When
Marco Polo visited CeyiOn, returning from
his sojOUrn at the court of kubla Khan,
the king Of the Sfnhalese possessed ruby
Ieputed to be the largest in the world
DO DGauNlIQl was LllS stone ltldl INC lii
nese emperor sent an embassy to CeyiOn
begging the king to sell it to him, and
offering to let the owner name his price.
The monarch did not sell the ruby. but
let IL leak out to Kubla khan's represen-
tatives that upon Adams Peak was the
sepulchre Of the first man, and that some
of his hair and teeth and a dish from
which he ate were still in a good state OF
preservation. The Chinaman was so in
terested that he sent a second embassy,
loaded with gifts, and finally persuaded
the CeylOn king to sell him brace OF
Father Adams grinders, a wisp Of hair
and green pOrphyry dish for king
ransom. To judge from the facility with
which some of the Sinhalese merchants Of
the present time palm off fraudulent jew
els upon the innocent some of the blood
Of the .swindler of Kubla Khan has de
scended TO certain soft-vOiced residents
of Colombo town.
The pearl fisheries of Ceylon are the
Oldest in the world, and 1t is not improb-
able that pearl fishing in the gulf of
Mannar is one of the Oldest industries of
the earth. At any rate it gave employ
ment thousands Of years ago to ancestors
of the pearl divers who exploit the ocean
bed today. Then, as now, the rich rajahs
of India were the heaviest purchasers of
the products of the pearl banks. Tradi-
tons Of the first pearl fisheries go back
into the misty past The history of the
enterprise dates from the sixth century
before Christ. In the year $50 b. c.. Wi
java, the first Sinhslese king, made
present Of CeylOn pearls to his father-in-
law. the Pandyan king Of Madura. In
Pliny's time the Gulf of Mannar was the
place from which the finest pearls were
brought to Rome TO adorn the brOws of
the patrician women of the eternal city,
and Pliny refers to the fisheries as the
most productive in the world. Ptolemy
knew Of their existence and during his
reign Mediterranean shippers had sailing
charts by which the banks were reached.
Since 1895 corporation has leased the
rights to fish for pearls, paying the Cey-
Ion government the round sum OF 100000
a year and selling stock in London to fur
nish the enterprise with funds. Just why
JOnn Bull holds and leases pearl banks
which are beyond the three-mile limit.
supposed to mark the point at which the
content of the ocean become international
public property, is not quite clear, but in
asmuCh ds the British government pro
poses to shoot first and litigate the ques-
ton later, in the event Of ''poaching,"
acres Of pearl-bea~ing oysters lying upon
the ''paars'' are safe from outsiders
When the Dutch and Portuguese fought
for the control Of CeylOn 1t was etiquette
for the cOnQuerOr to destroy the records
as well as the buildings that marked the
occupancy of the conquered. Because of
this the early history Of the pearl fish
cries is somewhat obscure. Tt is known,
that between 1866 and 1896. under
the Dutch, the business flOurished and
brought in rich revenues.
When the English replaced the Dutch
pearls were harvested rather regularly till
1893 when a series of unaccountable fail
ures were recorded. From prehistoric
times occasional unproductive years had
been accepted as inevitable. but the Brit
ish governor Of CeylOn, Sir West Ridge
way, was from Missouri" He believed
that the pearl oyster could be made to
work for the BritOn six or seven days I'm
the week every year If properly treated,
With corps Of marine biologists he set
to work to learn something about the
habits of the crustaCean, and why he
on at Nu1 fn nd 1.T4
himself, gem laden, to John Bull. One
result was a work in five volumes dis
cussing the oyster. Another was the or
ganiZatiOn Of a company which offered
to lease the pearl banks and attempt
pearl culture for a period of twenty years
This was in conformity with the theory
Of the marine biologists that the oysters
need something to hold to in order that
they may not be driven away by rough
weather or strong currents. Masses of
rubble are now being planted as foot
holds for the pearl oysters which have a
cable-like tentacle for anchOring to the