Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-06-07
THE GREAT PEARL FISHERIES.
ceyIon is First, With Lower California
Second.

The oldest and richest pearl fisher
les in the world are those Of Ceylon.
It's beds are under government super
vision, and when one is to be fished
over the fact Is published beforehand.
The season usually begins the first
part of March and continues from
four to six weeks.
Boats and divers from the neighbor-
ing coasts and pearl merchants from
lall over India assemble before the day
set. AS many as $4,000 persons Of
ten gather on the fishing grounds. At
the boats start for the banks in groups
of fifty to seventy, SO as to arrive
there before sunrise.
Each boat carries from ten to
twelve divers, says the Bulletin Of the
Bureau of American Republics. They
work in pairs, one diving while the
other tends the signal line, and reliev-
ing each other from time to time. At
sunrise a signal gun is fired and the
fishing begins.
The diver usually carries a stone or
other weight of about fifty pounds at
tached to the haul line to facilitate his
rapid descent, and i'm addition carries
| basket made fast to the girdle about
mis- waist in which ne places the oys-
terS as found.
Some divers working in Shallower
water use no weight i'm descending,
but while at the bottom make good
use OF both hands and feet to seize
upon and wrench loose any Oyster
seen within the limited area over
which they can work. The diver
| lNNh IN Eit iNTin 70 rms
ana who is called a head diver"
working in from thirty-five to forty
five feet of water, which is the aver
age, can make from forty to fifty de-
scents in Il morning and can bring up
from fifteen 10 thirty oysters each
trip.
Al the firing of another signal gun
about noon the diving is suspended
and the boats race ashore and beach,
ready for unloading. On their arrival
there the oysters are carried into the
government corral and there piled
into three heaps, each boats load be-
ing kept separate, the government
taking two heaps, or twO-thirdS of the
lcatch, and the remainder being divid-
ed among the divers and the crew, the
divers usually receiving the largest
portion. There are about 4,500 divers
at work, the daily catch averaging
100000 oysters, which are often
found clustered closely together.
The governments share is then auc-
toned off by the inspector in lots of
1000 and usually bought up by small
merchants, divided into smaller lots
land resold. The price obtained de-
pends largely on the average run of
the pearls found, which can be closely
estimated by experts. However, chance
plays great part, and the lucky
merchant quickly pockets any valu-
liable find to prevent a possible rise In
price and returns to buy more from
the same lot.
The true Indian diver never de-
scends without first providing for at
tack against sharks or other danger
Gus fish by invoking immunity
through the shark charmer's incanta-
tionS, hereditary endowment among
the East Indians, one of these charm
ers usually accompanying each boat.
Aside from this danger, which In
these waters, however, is compare
lively small, the diver, working un-
der a tropical sun and exposed to
rheumatism and often paralysis, is
usually short lived.
Up until a few years ago this was
the method employed In gathering
pearls, and the British government
of India derived a revenue of from
100000 to $750,000 annually from
the product of these fisheries, but for
the last few years they have been
loperated by an English corporation
under a twenty year lease for a stipu-
lated sum a year in addition to the
proper care and cultivation of the
beds under government supervision.
The world has never known richer
pearl fisheries than those Of Ceylon.
l'rhe pearls of finest orient and color
lCOme from these waters, and the
mother of pearl shell is the largest
and most iridescent. 1t was from here
that La Pellegrina came, said to be
the finest and most perfect pearl In
Iexistence and which weighs 112
grains, as we'll as most Of the crown
pearls of Europe. For centuries the
Indian princes have amassed great
wealth in pearls, and those OF the
Rama of Dholpur were valued at
I$7,5O0,000.
The most extensive pearl oyster
grounds of the world are situated on
the northern and western coasts of
Australia. These are located within
1.-THE jurisdictions Of Queensland, Wes-
tern Australia and South Australia
and extend in irregular patches from
Inear Cooktown on the northeast al
most to Freemantle on the southwest
a distance of nearly 5000 miles.
In 1906 these fisheries employed a
total Of 773 vessels, with 6,075 men,
land had an output valued at 356,OOO
pounds sterling Here is found the fin
est mother of pearl, which exceeds
the value of the pearls by more than
800 per cent. The city of Singapore,
one of the largest pearl markets of
the world, is the headquarters for fur
nishing labor and supplies for the
Queensland fisheries.
} The richest pearl fisheries in the
Americas at the present time are
Those of the Gulf of California center
ing around La Paz and along the out
er coast of Lower California in MeXi-
leo. These fisheries were discovered
by fernando CorteZ when he march
ed across Mexico in 1926. Up to thir-
ty years ago only head divers were
employed. but on the revival of the
fisheries about this time modern div
ing apparatus was introduced and to-
day they are being worked under con-
cession by San Francisco firms. who
lemplOy from 500 to 1000 men and
number run schoOners, which COL
lect the oysters from the smaller boats
working on the beds and carry them
to the companies sheds on shore,
lwhere they are opened and the pearls
lsorted by passing them through small
lbrass sieves of graded sizes.
Most of the diving is done by di-
lvers using the most improved appara-
ltus, helmet and air pumps, and Is car
ried on in from 40 to 120 feet of wa
lter an average depth being 60 to 80
feet. The work can only be continu-
ed from three to three and one-half
hours at a time, due to the tide, which
lalong this coast has maximum Vari-
lation of over 20 feet, creating cur
lrents that make it impossible to work
flor more than an hour and half be-
fore and an hour and half after the
turn of the tide.
The divers take little or no food IN
to their stomach before commencing
work, as this would hinder deep
breathing and make them more liable
to cramps. A diver wearing twenty
live pounds of lead on each shoe. rub
lber garments, and brass helmet 10
which are attached air tubes, signal
cord and life line, can remain at the
bottom from one-half to three hours
laccording to the depth at which he Is
| unrkinp The prpSSurp is so great at