THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE

Après l’esprit de discernement, ce qu’il y a au monde de plus rare, ce sont les diamants et les perles.

La Bruyère, Les caractères.

Pearls occur in species of mussels found in the streams and lakes of Europe, in some of which the fisheries have been of considerable local interest. It appears that these resources were exploited by the Romans, then by the Goths and the Lombards, and later the natives continued to draw forth the treasures which lay hidden about their homes. These pearls have attracted attention up to the present time; and while they do not compare with those of the seas, either in quality or in aggregate value, yet they are prized on account of their intrinsic worth as well as because they are a product of the fatherland. In the densely populated valleys, the rivers are so polluted by refuse and sewage that the mollusks have been greatly depleted; but in the streams of clear, cool water, draining the mountain regions of France, Germany, Austria, and also in the rivers of Norway, Sweden, Russia, etc., the fisheries are not unimportant.

The most celebrated of the pearl fisheries in France are those of the Vologne, a small river in the extreme eastern part of the country, in the department of Vosges. Its sources are in Lake Longmere in the Vosges mountains on the Alsace frontier, and it flows into the Moselle at Jarmenil, between Remiremont and Épinal. While the pearl-mussel occurs to some extent in nearly the whole length of this river, and, indeed, is to be met with in the wild brooks and forest streams of nearly all the mountainous parts of France, it is most abundant in the vicinity of Bruyères, where the Vologne receives the waters of the Neuré. These resources were described in 1845 by Ernest Puton,[[202]] and in 1869 by D. A. Godron;[[203]] to whom—and especially to Godron—we are indebted for much of our information.

The fisheries of the Vologne have been celebrated for nearly four centuries. Writing in 1530, Volcyr stated: “In the river Vologne between Arche and Bruyères, near the ancient castle of Perle, beautiful pearls are found. In the opinion of jewelers and artists they closely resemble the oriental.”[[204]] A few years later Francis Reues wrote: “There is near the Vosges mountains in Lorraine a river fertile in pearls, yet they are not very brilliant. The strange thing is that the quality which they lack by nature is supplied by the aid of pigeons, which swallow them and restore them purer than before.”[[205]] In a publication of 1609, this little river is represented in the frontispiece by the figure of a nymph bearing many pearls, while beneath is the emblem: Vologna margaritifera suas margaritas ostentat.[[206]]

In his paper above noted, Godron recites several orders issued from 1616 to 1619 by the Duke of Lorraine, who then had jurisdiction over the present department of Vosges, showing that a high value was attached to these pearls and that the resources were well looked after. Writing in 1699, Dr. Martin Lister alluded to the many pearls taken from the rivers about Lorraine and Sedan. A Paris merchant showed him a fresh-water pearl of 23 grains, valued at £400, and assured him that he had seen some weighing 60 grains each.[[207]]

In 1779 Durival gave an extensive account[[208]] of the Vologne fishery. He records that for sixty years pearls had been abundant, but at the time he wrote they were very scarce.

Puton states that, in 1806, when taking the baths at Plombières in the Vosges, Empress Josephine formed a great liking for the Vologne pearls, and at her request some of the mussels were sent to stock the ponds at Malmaison. It does not appear that any favorable result followed this transplanting.

Owing to the extensive fisheries, the mussels became so scarce that in 1826, when the Duchesse d’Angoulême was visiting in the Vosges, it was impossible to secure enough pearls to form a bracelet for her. This scarcity has continued up to the present time; and yet in the aggregate many pearls have been secured, so that there are few prominent families in the neighborhood who do not possess some of them. They are especially prized as bridal presents to Vosges maidens.

While the Vologne pearls are of good form and of much beauty, they do not equal oriental pearls in luster. The color is commonly milky white, but some of them have a pink, yellow, red, or greenish tint. In size they rarely exceed 4 grains. The Nancy museum of natural history possesses one which weighs 5¼ grains and measures 6½ mm. in diameter.

In western France, according to Bonnemere,[[209]] the pearl-mussel is widely diffused, and in the aggregate many pearls are secured therefrom. They are somewhat numerous in the river Ille near its union with the Vilaine at Rennes; though small, these are commonly of good color and luster. In the department of Morbihan and that of Finistère, many pearls have been secured, especially in the Steir, the Odet, and in the Stang-Alla near Quimper. Small pearls, frequently of some value, are found in the Menech near the town of Lesneven, a few miles northeast of Brest, the great naval port of France.

GREAT CAMEO PEARL, ACTUAL SIZE 22 INCHES
Sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1776 for 180,000 florins. Note great baroque pearl forming body of the swan at the base, diameter 1.37 inches

The Unio sinuatus (pictorum), the mulette of the artists, which has a shorter and smaller shell than the pearl-mussel, has also yielded many small pearls of good quality, as well as shells for manufacturing purposes. This species has been regularly exploited in the Adour, in the Charente, in the Gironde and its tributaries—the Garonne and the Dordogne and their affluents, and in some other streams in western France.

There is a pearl fishery in the Charente River near the western coast of France, and likewise in the Seugne, a small tributary entering it from the south. The mussel is known locally under the name of palourde. In an account of this fishery,[[210]] Daniel Bellet states that in the Seugne, where the water is shallow and clear, the mussel is secured by entering the pointed end of a wooden staff or stick between the valves of the open shell as the mollusk lies feeding on the bottom; as the shell is immediately closed tightly upon the intruding stick, it is easily removed from the water.

In the deeper waters of the Charente, the fishery is prosecuted on a larger scale. Until recently, the palourdes were caught by means of a dredge towed by a small boat, which was raised from time to time and the catch removed. Ten or fifteen years ago the scaphander or diving apparatus was introduced, requiring seven men for its operation, and by its use large catches have been made. The mussels are taken to the bank and there boiled for a time to cause the shells to open, so that the contents may be easily removed.

The shells are examined one by one to find any pearls that may adhere thereto, and then the flesh of the mollusk is crushed between the fingers to locate pearls contained in the mass; this is done largely by children, working under competent supervision. Many pearls of fairly good size and luster are obtained. The flesh of this mollusk is edible and well-liked in southwestern France; and the shells are also of value in the manufacture of buttons and similar objects.

In Germany the pearl fisheries are most important in streams of the southern districts, in Bavaria, Saxony, and Silesia. The pearl-mussel in these waters is not so abundant as formerly; yet, owing to the care which has been given to these resources, it is probably as numerous here as in any other part of the continent. The mussel rarely occurs singly, generally in small beds or banks contiguous to each other, and in some favorable regions these are extensive.

The pearl fisheries of Bavaria have been prominent since the sixteenth century. They exist principally in the districts of Upper Franconia (Oberfranken) and Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz), the several tributaries of the Danube between Ratisbon and Passau, and in those tributaries of the Main and the Saale which rise in the Bavarian mountains, such as the Oelsnitz, the Lamnitz, Schwesnitz, Grünebach, Vils, and the Perlbach; also in the district of Lower Bavaria, where in nine districts alone there are one hundred pearl-bearing streams and lakes, of which the most important are the Regen, the Isar, and the Ilz.[[211]]

Early in the sixteenth century, the river Ilz had the reputation of yielding the choicest pearls in Lower Bavaria. The right to them was reserved to the bishop of Passau, and a decree was made in 1579 that persons convicted of poaching on these reserves should be hanged.[[212]] Since that time there have been few decades in which the gems have not been found in the woodland brooks and mountain streams that flow through the ravines and past quaint, interesting castles of the wonderful Bavarian highlands. Most of the prominent families in this beautiful region have collections of native pearls, and there is still some trade in them in picturesque Passau, at the junction of the Danube, the Ilz and the Inn.

Tavernier wrote about 1670: “As for the pearls of Scotland, and those which are found in the rivers of Bavaria, although necklaces are made of them which are worth up to 1000 écus (£225) and beyond, they cannot enter into comparison with those of the East and West Indies.”[[213]]

The official returns for the Bavarian fisheries, dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century, were examined by Von Hessling in 1858. He noted many gaps in the statements of the yearly returns, partly on account of the loss of the records and partly because the pearls were delivered directly into the hands of the princes. The results of the first fisheries are recorded in the district of Hals for the years 1581–99, in Viechtach for 1581–83 and 1590–93, and in Weissenstadt and Zwiesel for 1583. The range of the fisheries was enlarged through the discovery of new areas during the first half of the seventeenth century; but this was offset by the bad seasons and by disturbed conditions during the Thirty Years’ War. From 1650 to 1783 the pearls in the forest lands of the Palatinate were exploited regularly and uninterruptedly, with the exception of the district of Wetterfeld and that of Neunburg vor dem Wald, where they were prosecuted for a few years only. From 1783 to 1814, they were almost entirely neglected, and the take was confined to a few streams in Upper Palatinate and in the Bavarian forests. In the former episcopal principality of Passau, where, according to general accounts, the waters were rich in pearls, the records were scanty previous to 1786; this was probably owing to the fact that the head gamekeeper was obliged to transmit the catch of pearls directly to the prince-bishop. The records for the fisheries in the districts of Rehau and Kulmbach began with the year 1733.

From these fragmentary returns—making no estimate for the years for which there were no figures available—Von Hessling found that from 1600 to 1857 there were taken 15,326 pearls of the first class, which were clear white in color and of good luster; 27,662 pearls of the second class, which were somewhat deficient in luster, and 251,778 pearls of the third or poorest class, or “Sandperlen,” which, though of poor quality, had sufficient whiteness and luster to be used as ornaments. Had the records been complete, these figures would probably have been at least fifty per cent. greater, or a total of about 445,000 pearls in the 257 years. In the last forty-three years of this period, for which the records are fairly complete, the annual average was 208 pearls of the first, 395 of the second, and 3091 of the third class, a total each year of 3694 pearls of all grades. This was divided among the districts as follows:

ANNUAL AVERAGE
DistrictFirst classSecond classThird classTotal
Upper Franconia13345299
Upper Palatinate3877207322
Lower Bavaria15728428323273
Total20839530913694

Probably the most interesting of the pearl fisheries in Germany are those prosecuted in the extreme southwestern part of the kingdom of Saxony, in the picturesque region known as Vogtland. This is not on account of their extent, for the output rarely exceeds $2000 in value in any season; but because for nearly three hundred years they have been conducted with the utmost care and regard for the preservation of the resources. Indeed, a record exists of practically every pearl obtained for nearly two centuries.

The waters in which the Saxon Vogtland fisheries are prosecuted are the Elster River, from the health resort of that name to a short distance below Elsterberg; its tributaries, the Mülhaüser, Freiberger, and Marieneyer brooks; the Hartmannsgrüner and the Triebel brooks, the Trieb, the Meschelsgrüner, the Teil, and Loch brooks, and twenty-five or more small ponds.

For most of the data relative to these fisheries, we are indebted to J. G. Jahn’s “Die Perlenfischerei im Voigtlande,” Oelsnitz, 1854; to Hinrich Nitsche’s “Süsswasserperlen, Internationale Fischerei-Ausstellung zu Berlin,” 1880, and to O. Wohlberedt’s “Nachtrag zur Molluskenfauna des Königreiches Sachsen,” “Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft,” Frankfurt-am-Main, 1899, pp. 97–104.

In the year 1621, the electoral prince, Johann Georg I, reserved the pearl fishery of the Vogtland in Saxony as a royal privilege, and appointed Moritz Schmerler as superintendent and fisherman. From that time until the present, this fishery has remained a royal prerogative; and, remarkable to state, except at the close of the seventeenth century when the father-in-law of a Schmerler enjoyed the privilege, all the superintendents of the fishery—twenty-four persons in number—have been direct descendants of the second pearler, Abraham Schmerler, who, in 1643, succeeded his brother Moritz. The present superintendent Julius Schmerler has been in charge since 1889.

This fishery is conducted in accordance with regulations of the chief inspector of forests for the district of Auerbach. The present regulations date from June 15, 1827. In compliance therewith an inspection is made of the waters each spring to remove all obstructions and debris that would injure the resources; and, if necessary, entire beds of mussels are removed from one locality to another which appears more favorable. No mussels are opened at that time, for the real search for pearls does not begin until the season is far advanced and the fishermen can wade up to the waist in the water without discomfort.

Dr. Nitsche states that the whole pearling district is not searched over every year, but is divided into 313 sections, each one constituting a day’s work for three fishermen, and rarely are more than twenty or thirty of these fished in any one year. Thus each section or district is permitted to rest and recuperate for ten or fifteen years before it is again invaded. Every mussel is opened carefully by hand, with the aid of a peculiarly constructed iron instrument. By inserting the edge of this between the nibs of the shell and turning it at right angles, the valves are opened sufficiently to determine whether a pearl is contained therein. If none is observed, the instrument is released and the mussel returned uninjured to the water; but if a pearl is found within, the shell is forced open and the find removed. In case small pearls are observed which give promise of growing larger in time, they are not removed, but the year is marked upon the shell with the opening implement and the mussel returned to the water. It often happens that good pearls are later removed from shells marked in this manner.

Complete records exist of the yield of this fishery during each year since 1719, when the Vogtland passed to the electorate of Saxony. The following is a summary of these records arranged in series of twenty years each.

DOWAGER CZARINA OF RUSSIAGRAND DUCHESS VLADIMIRGRAND DUCHESS MARIE PAVLOVNA
YearsClear pearls
No.		Half clear pearls
No.		Sand pearls
No.		Damaged pearls
No.		Total
No.		Average per year
No.
1720–17391,8097271,2015524,289214
1740–17591,4125784842812,755138
1760–17791,0422724272191,96098
1780–17991,2612433571792,040102
1800–18191,6032613252032,392120
1820–18391,6593403263262,651133
1840–18591,8846103875053,386169
1860–18791,6186824505143,264163
1880–1899471394863731,32466
1900–190579161228634858
Total in 186 years12,8384,2684,0653,23824,409
Average per year69232217131

In recent years the development of manufacturing industries in Saxony and the resultant pollution of the water has greatly reduced the abundance of the mollusks and consequently the output has been much restricted. The average annual yield in the twenty years ending in 1879 was 163 pearls; in the twenty years ending in 1899 it was 66 pearls, and in the six years ending in 1905 the annual average was 58 pearls. Owing to high water, there was no fishing in 1888; and with a view to permitting the resources to recuperate, the fishery was suspended from 1896 to 1899, inclusive. Omitting these five years, the average yield during each season in the two decades ending 1899 was 88 pearls.

At the end of each season, the pearls secured are turned over to the director of forestry for the district of Auerbach; by him they were formerly sent to the royal cabinet of natural history, or to the royal collection at Dresden, but since 1830 they have been sent to the royal minister of finance, by whom they are sold each year. The total proceeds from these sales now amount to about 55,000 marks.

In former times, according to Dr. Nitsche, it was customary to use these pearls in making royal ornaments. This was the origin of the famous Elster necklace, consisting of 177 pearls, now in the art collection in the Grüne Gewölbe in the palace at Dresden. Another assortment in that collection consists of nine choice, well-matched pearls, weighing 140 grains. For a necklace of Saxon pearls, the property of a duchess of Sachsen-Zeitz, the sum of 40,000 thalers ($28,400) is said to have been refused.

In Prussian Silesia the pearl-mussel is found in the upper tributaries of the Oder, especially in Bober River from Löwenberg to the sources among the foot-hills of the beautiful Riesengebirge, in the Lusatian Neisse to Görlitz, the Queiss above Marklissa, and in the Juppel as far as Weidenau. The Queiss has been famous for its pearls since the sixteenth century, and even yet specimens of great beauty are obtained therefrom. As long ago as 1690, Ledel complained of the diminution of the number of mollusks owing to their wilful destruction by children; and in 1729 the government issued a rescript in Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) recommending the care of the young mollusks.[[214]]

Pearls are also found in the White Main a short distance from its source, in the head waters of the Saale, and in numerous other mountain-draining streams of middle Germany. Indeed, references could be made to the discovery of pearls in nearly every stream of Germany at some time during the last three or four centuries.

The records of pearl fisheries in the province of Hanover were traced by Von Hessling as far back as the sixteenth century, when they were prosecuted in the Aller, Ovia or Om, Lua or Low, and in the Seva in the district of Lüneburg. During the reign of Christian Ludwig (1641–65) and in that of George William (1666–1705), pearl fishing was carried on by the state, and old records of the former district of Bodenteich note the customs and practices of that period and of earlier times, and the implements employed. In 1706, for instance, 265 clear and 292 imperfect pearls were taken by three official fishermen from the Gerdauerbach. Gradually, however, owing to indifferent management, the brooks yielded less and less; the government seems to have entirely abandoned supervision of them, so that, according to Taube’s “Communication,”[[215]] slight results were obtained in 1766; indeed, only a few pearls could be shown as curiosities.[[216]]

Regarding the condition of the Hanoverian pearl-brooks, especially of those in the vicinity of Uelzen, Möbius wrote: “Uelzen lies at the confluence of eleven small rivulets, three of which, the Wipperau, the Gerdau and the Barnbeck, contain pearl-mussels. Fishing has been pursued here for centuries, and there exists an old regulation of the sixteenth century in regard to the pearl fisheries in the Ilmenau. Even at the present day, hundreds of pearls are found here which command a good price when they are bright and of good form. These either have a silvery sheen or they are of a reddish color. The season for fishing is during the months of July and August. The pearls are usually found in deformed shells. Their shape varies greatly; most of them are flat on one side. Naturally those which are spherical are the best, but the pear shapes are highly prized.” Möbius frequently failed to find one pearl in a hundred shells, but at other times he came across six or eight in this quantity. Most of the mussels are found in the deepest places, especially near the banks of the streams. One end of the shell usually projects out of the sand. The fisherman is represented as feeling about the bottom with his feet, and when he finds a shell, he seizes it between his toes, picks it out, and then places it in the basket suspended from his neck.[[217]]

MITER OF PATRIARCH NIKON
Presented by the Czar Alexis Mikhailovitch and the Czarina Marie Illiinichna. Decorated largely with European fresh-water pearls. Now in the treasury of the Patriarchs, Moscow.

In Baden and in Hesse are small pearl fisheries. In 1760, Elector Maximilian III sent to Mannheim, then in the Palatinate, eight hundred living pearl-mussels from the Bavarian forests, and again in 1769, he sent four hundred mussels from Deggendorf on the Danube, so that they might be established in the Palatinate. The mussels were placed in the Steinbach not far from Heidelberg, where they thrived so well that fishing was instituted in 1783. Soon, however, most of the mussels became buried in the sand, and the remainder were transplanted into a quieter portion of the Steinbach, between Kreutzsteinach and Schönau, about five miles northeast of Heidelberg. Here they seem to have been forgotten, and were left undisturbed until, about 1820, a fine pearl valued at two louis d’or was found near Schönau. This discovery soon led to such reckless exploitation that the government reserved the fishery as a state monopoly. The mussels were examined and sorted, and a portion of the brook was specially prepared for their reception. However, the cost of supervision was greater than the proceeds of the fishery, and the business was rented to private parties for a very small amount. This was paid as late as 1840 by the Natural History Society of Mannheim, the annual rate then being ten florins.

An effort was made nearly two hundred years ago to develop the pearl fisheries in Hesse. In 1717, Landgrave Prince William requested his cousin, Duke Moritz of Saxony, to send a pearl fisherman “to examine some streams in his territory where mussels have been found and to determine whether they are fitted for pearl fishing and whether fisheries can be established.”[[218]] In the following year, a member of the famous Schmerler family from the Saxon fisheries was sent to Cassel, but with what result is unknown.

When the pearling excitement developed at Schönau about 1820, Landrath Welker, of Hirschhorn on the Neckar, requested the grand duke of Hesse to place him in charge of the fishery, and when the proposition was declined, he formed a small company for pearl-culture. In 1828 his company had 558 mussels, 88 of which showed pearl formations; in 1833, out of 651, 98 contained such objects, and in 1851, 117 mussels were found with pearl formations out of 867 examined.[[219]] Owing to the policy of the company in selling the pearls only among the members thereof, the profits were altogether insufficient to cover the expenses, and gradually the fishery dwindled down until it was prosecuted only as a pastime.

Pearls are found in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, which formerly belonged to Denmark, but since 1866 has been a part of the kingdom of Prussia. Möbius relates that the Bavarian soldiers in 1864 collected large quantities of pearls from the streams of this province and sold many of them to jewelers in Hamburg.[[220]] Most of them were of good form and luster; milky white was the prevailing tint, but some were pink and others were rose-tinted.

In Austria, pearl fisheries are most important in the province of Bohemia, where they are prosecuted in the headwaters of the Moldau from Krumau, a few miles above Budweis, to below Turenberg, and to a much less extent in its tributary, the Wottawa, on the northeastern slopes of the Böhmer Wald or Bohemian Forest mountains. From very early times the right of fishery belonged to those domains and estates through which the streams flow, as for example, the cloister of Hohenfurth, the domain of Rosenberg, of Krumau, etc. The Schwarzenberg family formerly drew a considerable revenue therefrom. Over a hundred years ago the fishery was actively prosecuted by Count Adolph Schwarzenberg, who exhibited at the Bohemian Exposition, held in Prague in 1791, an interesting collection of shells, apparatus employed in the fishery, and many beautiful pearls obtained from his domains. The fisheries of the Wottawa were noted in 1560 by the Swiss naturalist Konrad von Gesner,[[221]] and again in 1582 by the district treasurer, Wolf Huber von Purgstall. In 1679, Balbinus referred to the excellent qualities of the pearls, estimating the value of many of them at twenty, thirty, and even one hundred golden florins each. He described the methods by which they were taken, and also complained of the destruction of the reefs by depredations of poachers.[[222]]

The Wottawa or Otawa River has long had linked with its name the epithet “the gold- and pearl-bearing brook.” Formerly, along its shores gold washing was more or less carried on, as well as the fresh-water pearl-mussel industry. At the present time, every third or fourth year, these mussels are gathered, by means of small, fine-woven nets, from the bed of the river, and a goodly number of pearls are collected.

The reefs in the Moldau from Hohenfurth to Krumau were almost entirely ruined in 1620 by the troops who were cantoned there when the Bohemian Protestants were overthrown near the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, and they never regained the reputation they formerly enjoyed. According to the Vienna “Handels- und Börsenzeitung,” the output of the pearls fifty years ago in the upper Moldau, in the Wottawa, and in the Chrudimka—a tributary of the Elbe—reached in some years the sum of one million florins in value, and as much as eighty and sometimes even one hundred and twenty florins were paid for an individual specimen.[[223]] These pearls closely resemble those from Passau in Bavaria, and some approach the oriental gems in luster.

In the archduchy of Austria, pearls occur in several of the tributaries of the “beautiful blue Danube.” They are especially important in streams within the former district of Schärding, such as the Ludhammerbach, the Ranzenbergerbach, the Glatzbachenbach, the Brambach, the Schwarzbergerbach, the Mosenbach, and the Hollenbach; those in the former district of Waizkirchen, including the Pirningerbach, the Kesselbach, and many of their tributary brooks, and the Michel, the Taglinsbach, the Fixelbach, and the Haarbach, in the domain of Marbach.[[224]] Fishing in the Pirningerbach and the Kesselbach was prosperous about 1765, and Empress Maria Theresa received a beautiful necklace and bracelets of the pearls therefrom. In the district of Marbach, the fishing was prosecuted as long ago as 1685 for the account of the archbishop of Passau.

In Hungary from time immemorial, the native pearls have been popular with the Magyar women, and very many yet exist in the old Hungarian jewelry worn with the national costume. A century ago there was scarcely a family of local prominence which did not possess a necklace of pearls, although these were frequently not of choice quality or of considerable size. With a falling off in the output of the native streams there has been a great increase in the quantity of choice oriental pearls purchased by the wealthy families, and some of the most costly necklaces in Europe are now owned here.

In the kingdom of Denmark no pearl fisheries are now prosecuted, but three centuries ago the gems were taken in the Kolding Fjord in the province of Veile, Jutland. The great Holberg, who ranks first in Danish literature, wrote that the governor of the castle at Kolding employed as a pearl fisherman a Greenlander who had come to Denmark in 1605 or 1606, and who “had given the governor to understand that in his native land he was accustomed to fish for pearls.” Being required to work continuously, both winter and summer, he fell ill and died, and as no one else wished to pursue the occupation, the fishery ceased.[[225]]

In many of the Norwegian brooks, pearl fishing has been carried on for two or three centuries, and often with satisfactory results. It appears from ordinances dated November 10, 1691, May 14, 1707, and May 28, 1718, that the fisheries were under special supervision as a royal prerogative of the queen of Denmark.[[226]] Jahn notes that in 1719 and in 1722, Saxon pearl fishermen were sent for. In 1734 Charles VI of Denmark requested the elector of Saxony to send one of the pearl fishermen of Vogtland to examine the brooks of Norway in reference to the pearl resources, and to determine the practicability of establishing fisheries there. In response to this request, C. H. Schmerler was sent to Copenhagen and thence to Christiania, where he began an investigation of the Norwegian waters, the governor himself attending at the beginning of the work. So great was the estimation of its importance, that Schmerler was soon afterward received in audience by the king and queen of united Denmark and Norway at Frederiksborg palace near Copenhagen, and was awarded a gift of one hundred ducats and a life-pension.[[227]]

In 1751, according to Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, the Norwegian pearl fisheries were placed under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Christiansand. Among the principal pearling regions at that time were the Gon, Närim and Quasim rivers in the Stavanger district or amt; the Undol, Rosseland and other brooks in the Lister and Mandal province; and several streams in the district of Nadenäs.[[228]]

The returns from the Norwegian fisheries gradually decreased. After 1768 the rights were leased, and the revenue therefrom was paid into the royal treasury. Owing to small returns, this source of revenue received less and less attention, and about a century ago it was altogether neglected, although from time to time choice finds were made. Due to unusually low water in 1841, a number of valuable pearls were found near Jedderen in the province of Christiansand, some selling as high as $300 each; several of these were shown at the London Industrial Exhibition by the diocese of Christiania.

PANAGIA OR ORNAMENT WORN ON THE BREAST OF A BISHOP IN RUSSIA

The pearl fisheries of Sweden were noted, nearly four centuries ago, by Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala.[[229]] The gems were sought for by expert fishermen in the interior districts, and were brought in large quantities to the coasts for sale, the women and girls of all classes, rich and poor, using them extensively in personal decoration.

The celebrated Linnæus left a detailed account of the method by which mussels were caught in Sweden nearly two centuries ago. He wrote: “In the summer season, if the water is shallow, the fishermen wade in the stream and gather the mussels with their hands. Should the water be deeper, they dive for the mussels and place such as they find in a vessel made of birch bark, which they carry with them. Sunny days are selected, because then they can see deeper into the water. But, should this not suffice, they traverse the river on rafts which are painted white beneath so that the bed of the stream may be illumined by the reflected light. The men lie prone on the rafts and look down into the depths so that they may immediately seize with wooden tongs the mussels which they discover. Or else, hanging by their hands to the rafts, they seize them in the water with their toes. If the water is too deep even for this, they dive and feel around on the bottom with their hands until it becomes necessary to rise again to the surface in order to breathe. However, out of a hundred mussels, scarcely one contains a good pearl; but sometimes as many as twenty pearls of the size of a grain of sand are found in one shell. Many of the larger pearls are reddish or dark, but occasionally a beautiful white pearl is hidden under such a covering; although, naturally, it is rare that this is altogether perfect. It has been noted that mussels seven years old contain pearls; and in each of two mussels eighteen years old, a pearl was found attached to the shell.”[[230]]

The list of streams in Sweden from which pearls were taken, as noted by Olaf Maimer, J. Fischerstein, and Gissler[[231]] a century and a half ago, seems to cover nearly all the rivers and brooks which flow from the mountains of this beautiful country.

In Russia the love for the pearl has been almost as great as in Persia and India. During the Middle Ages, pearls were worn upon the clothes of nearly all well-to-do Russians. The great head-dresses of the women were ornamented with them; and they were used in decorating the stoles, vestments, crosses, and the priceless relics in the churches.

The pearl-mussel is found in very many of the Russian streams. It occurs throughout Archangel, in most of the rivers which flow into the White Sea, into Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega, and the Baltic Sea; and likewise in the Volga watershed. Von Hessling states that east of the Volga its southern boundary extends to Lat. 56°, while on the west it extends further southward, so that in the region of the Dnieper it reaches Lat. 51°. The extreme southern limit is near the mouth of the Don, about 47° north latitude.[[232]]

In northern Russia pearls are secured in the provinces of Livonia. Esthonia, and Olonetz, and in the grand duchy of Finland, where they have been sought after for three centuries or more. Most of them are bluish gray in color and they attain a maximum weight of about twelve grains. Although not equaling the oriental gems, these pearls are of good quality and are highly esteemed, not only by the peasants but by the nobility and by the royal family of Russia. For reference to most of the historical data relative to the fishery in Livonia, we are indebted to an account written by H. Kawall.[[233]]

So long ago as 1612, Dionysius Fabricius compared the pearls of Livonia with those of India. Said he: “Nor should I omit to mention that there are rivers in Livonia wherein large pearls are produced in shells; and I myself have seen some as large as the oriental, especially when they are well grown. But because the peasants of this region are too ignorant to determine with certainty when they mature, they are unable to collect them properly, and therefore the pearls have become rarer.”[[234]]

According to Mylius,[[235]] in the seventeenth century, when Livonia belonged to Sweden, the pearl resources received attention from the government. Charles IX of Sweden decreed October 22, 1694, that the pearls therefrom should not be exported but should be sold to officers of the crown at a definite price. In 1700, an inspector of the fishery in Livonia, whose name was Krey, reported that the peasants collected pearls secretly from the small rivers and brooks, and forwarded them to Moscow for sale. As the peasants objected to selling them to the king’s commissioners at the prices fixed, the fishery soon dwindled in extent. However, on the annexation of Livonia to Russia in 1712, and the removal of these restrictions, it revived and became of local importance during the last years of the reign of Peter the Great.

In 1742 the Livonian fishery was reorganized at the suggestion of a Swede named Hedenberg. Furnished by the government with funds and an escort, he began an exploration of the pearl-bearing waters, commencing with Lake Kolk, where he secured many pearls of value, some of which were presented to Empress Elizabeth.[[236]]

The fishery then came into great favor. To the nobility of Livonia, in whose domains the brooks were situated, the crown accorded sixty rubles for each half ounce of choice pearls secured, and for every half ounce of the second class, thirty rubles; but the nobles were obliged to renounce their rights to the fisheries and to permit the lakes and brooks to be guarded by imperial soldiers. Owing to the very great destruction of mussels which yielded no pearls, a reward was offered to any one who would discover a method of determining from external characteristics those individual shells which contain gems of value.

In 1746, when the Empress Elizabeth passed the summer in Livonia, large quantities of pearls from the neighboring brooks were presented to her. But, owing to the cost of supervision, the expenditures soon exceeded the revenues and the government abandoned the guard and dismissed the fishermen. Little by little the search decreased, and by 1774 relatively few pearls were found.[[237]]

According to Hupel, the Schwarzbach River, near Werro, was celebrated for its pearls, which were noted for their size and beauty; one of the tributaries of this river is named Perlenbach (Pearl Brook). The Ammat and Tirse streams, and forty other brooks and lakes also yielded them. Pearls of slight value were likewise produced in the Palze and the Rause, near Palzmar; the Paddez, a tributary of the Evest which empties into the Düna, and the Voidau and the Petribach, each of which flows into the Schwarzbach. Near the Tirse was a very old road house, patronized by the peasants, which from time immemorial had borne the name Pehrlu-kroghs (Pearl Tavern).

Formerly some of the brooks of Esthonia on the Gulf of Finland, and principally those near Kolk and the adjacent lakes, furnished beautiful pearls. From these waters came the beautiful necklace which is yet an heirloom in the Kolk family. The choicest of these weighed from five to ten grains, and the color was grayish blue. The Emperor Alexander I is said to have received a present of pearls collected in the vicinity of Tammerfors, in the government of Tavastehus, in the grand duchy of Finland. The development of manufacturing in that region, however, has destroyed most of the mussels.

Von Hessling notes that in the province of Olonetz, pearls are found in the Poventshanka, in the Ostjor, and in the Kums, where they are secured by the neighboring peasants who sometimes make valuable finds.[[238]] When the brooks dry up, the mussels are easily secured; old inhabitants note that on one occasion of this kind many superb pearls were found in the Poventshanka, and a necklace of them was presented to the Empress Catherine Alexievna. These pearls rarely leave the province in which they are collected, as the inhabitants are fond of using them for personal decoration. Young girls attend to the fishing, and workmen pierce them for about two copecks each. Choice ones sell for thirty to one hundred rubles apiece.

In the government of Archangel pearls have been collected for centuries from the streams flowing into the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean. An extended account of the fisheries of this region was given by Von Middendorff.[[239]] He states that the Unio margaritifera inhabits all the rivers in which the descent is not too rapid, and especially in the Tjura, the Tuloma, the Kovda, Kereda, the Kanda, etc. The fisheries have been conducted exclusively by the shore Laplanders; but they have been neglected in recent years owing to the small returns. Von Hessling notes that the pearls are dull in color; in the opinion of the fishermen this is caused by the mysterious influence of the copper money which they carry with them. The Tuloma was formerly a productive river; its pearls were sold in Kola, whence they were carried to Archangel, 335 miles distant, where they were pierced by expert workmen. The Tjura also yielded many pearls; but since a Laplander was drowned while fishing for them, a legend has spread that the spirit of the river guards the pearls, and the natives hesitate about seeking them.

Probably the occurrence of so many in the home streams had much to do with developing in Russia that great love for the pearl which has made it the national ornament, all classes finding pleasure in its possession. While the superb gems treasured by the nobility are mostly from oriental seas, a considerable percentage of those worn by the peasantry are from the native waters. An interesting account of this fondness among a certain class of Russian women—the Jewesses of Little Russia—was given sixty years ago by the German traveler Kohl.

RUSSIAN BOYARD LADIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, SHOWING CAPS AND OTHER ORNAMENTS OF PEARLS

In Alexandria, a small city in the government of Kherson in South Russia, a Jew kept a café, and his charming daughter served us with coffee. We paid her compliments on her beautiful eyes and teeth. But she seemed to be much less vain of these natural ornaments than of the acquired ones in the magnificent glittering pearl-cap which she wore upon her head. For all the women through South and Little Russia even as far as Galicia wear a certain stiff, baggy cap which is very disfiguring, and is covered all over with a great number of pearls, upon a foundation of black velvet. It is called a “mushka.” This cap, with very unimportant modifications, has almost always the same form; the only difference is that, in the case of the wealthy, the pearls are larger, and sometimes a number of small pearls and precious stones are suspended here and there, set in the same way as the earrings of our ladies. It is common for them to wear half their fortune on their heads in this way. For these caps generally cost from five hundred to one thousand roubles, and many are worth five or six thousand and even more; they wear them every day, holidays as well as ordinary days, and strut around the kitchens and cellars with their “mushka.” They spend their last penny in order to secure such a pearl-cap, and even when they are clad in rags their head is covered with pearls. In order to furnish the requisite material for this wide-spread fashion, the commerce in pearls of Odessa, Taganrog and some other places in southern Russia is not unimportant. There may live in the region where the pearl-caps of which I speak are worn at least 2,000,000 Jewesses. Let us estimate that among them there are but 300,000 adults, and that only half of these, 150,000, wear pearl-caps (only the most indigent and the most aristocratic do not wear the “mushka”); let us then estimate the average value of such a cap at only five hundred roubles—these are the lowest minima and fall far short of the real figures—and we have a total capital of 76,000,000 roubles, which the Jewesses of this region wear upon their heads. Naturally the annual diminution of this capital is small, since these pearls are transmitted from the mothers to their daughters and granddaughters. Still, if we estimate that they last for a century, the necessary yearly contribution amounts to nearly one million. It is, however, probable that a much larger capital is employed in the commerce of pearls. They are, for the most part, oriental and come by way of Turkey and Odessa or else by way of Armenia and Tiflis. We inquired of our beautiful Jewess whether she was not in perpetual dread on account of her pearl-cap, and how she protected it from thieves. She answered that she wore it on her head all day and at night placed it in a casket which rested under her pillow. So that the whole short life of these Jewesses of the steppes revolves around their pearl-cap as the earth does around the sun.[[240]]

Several species of marine mollusks on the coasts of Europe yield pearly formations, but none of much ornamental or commercial value. Probably the most interesting of these are from the Pinna on the Mediterranean coasts, and especially on the coast of Sardinia and the shores of the Adriatic. An interesting collection of these Pinna pearls was furnished to the writers by Alexandro Castellani of Rome.

IX

ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS, AUSTRALIAN COASTS, MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

IX
PEARL FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS

Sea-girt isles,

That, like to rich and various gems, inlay

The unadorned bosom of the deep.

Milton.

Gathering pearl shells and pearls is the principal industry of the semi-amphibious natives of the hundreds of palm-crowned and foam-girdled islands of the southern Pacific, commonly known as the South Sea Islands. Among these the most prominent for pearl fishing are the Tuamotu Islands or Low Archipelago, the Society Islands, the Marquesas, the Fiji Islands, Penrhyn or Tongareva, and New Caledonia. These are under the protection of the French government, except Fiji and Penrhyn, which belong to Great Britain.

Almost ever since the South Sea Islands have been known to civilization they have contributed pearls; and the fishery has been one of the principal industries, not only for the natives, but also for the not inconsiderable number of sailors who, preferring the lotus on shore to the salt pork and monotony of ship life, have yielded to the insular attractions and formed domestic ties. The industry has been especially extensive during the last seventy years, when there has been a profitable market for the shells. Most of the natives—men, women, and children—follow it for a living. Domestic duties rest very lightly upon the women, and many of these, and even young girls, find employment in diving, in which at moderate depths these dusky mermaids are nearly, if not quite as expert as the men and boys.

Tahiti, the largest of the eleven Society Islands, is the center of the pearling industry of French Oceanica. It is situated in about Lat. 17° S. and Long. 150° W., and has an area of approximately 410 square miles and a population of 11,000, nearly one half of whom live in Papeiti, the principal town. This is one of the most agreeable of the “Summer Isles of Eden,” Nature furnishing food in abundance, and climate and social customs requiring little in the way of dress and habitation. Notwithstanding its importance as the headquarters of the pearling industry, few pearl-oysters are caught at Tahiti, most of them coming from the archipelagoes of Tuamotu, Gambier, and occasionally Tubai.

The Tuamotu Archipelago is the scene of the principal pearl fisheries of the South Seas; and from the local importance of this industry the group is sometimes called the Pearl Islands. These coral-formed islands are strung out for a distance of 900 miles in a northwest and southeast direction, and extend from Lat. 14° to 23° S. and from Long. 136° to 149° W. They number about seventy-eight, many of them made up of small atolls only a few feet above the surface of the ocean, and with an aggregate area of about 360 square miles. The total population is approximately 6000, with many visitors from Tahiti and other neighboring islands during the pearling season. The principal products are pearl shell and pearls, copra, and cocoanut oil; and nearly one half of the islands yield nothing but shell and pearls. The chief port is Fakarava on an island of the same name, and the trade is almost entirely with Tahiti.

As the Tuamotus are of coral formation, they produce little vegetable growth, and the people seem often on the brink of starvation, forming a striking contrast with those of the neighboring Society Islands. Drawing their subsistence entirely from the sea, except for the native cocoanuts and breadfruit, these people have, at times, been in great straits for food, and it was doubtless severe hunger that drove them to the acts of cannibalism with which they have been charged. And the sea which supplies them with food has also visited them with great destruction. As recently as January, 1903, a great storm swept over this group, drowning over 500 of the inhabitants, and destroying a very considerable portion of the pearling fleet and other property.

The pearl-oyster reefs of the Tuamotu Archipelago are very extensive, only eight or ten of the islands failing to contribute to the supply. They occur in the protected lagoons of the atolls, where the bottom is well covered with coral growth, with numerous elevations and depressions of various sizes; and it is about the bases and in the recesses of these coral growths that the best shells are usually found. Most of them are of the black-edged variety of Margaritifera margaritifera, which here attains a great size, reaching a diameter of twelve inches in extreme cases.

While pearl-oysters are found about nearly all of the Tuamotu Islands, the reefs are richest at Hikueru or Melville Island. When that lagoon is open it is the scene of the greatest operations, and it is credited with nearly one half of the total product of the archipelago. At the opening of the season, this is the resort of fishermen from all over the group, even from a distance of five hundred miles, and thousands of natives camp in temporary leaf-thatched huts among the cocoanut-palms on the beach, those from the different islands congregating in isolated settlements. As many as five thousand persons are sometimes brought together in this way.

THE PEARLING REGIONS IN OCEANIA AND MALAYSIA

The volcanic-formed Gambier Islands, with high peaks reaching, in one instance, an altitude of over 1200 feet, present a striking contrast to the Tuamotu atolls. This group consists of five large and several small islands, surrounded by a coral reef of an irregular triangular figure. The 1100 inhabitants of the Gambier Islands derive a large percentage of their support from the pearl fishery. The patches of pearl-oysters are located between the islands and the barrier reefs. They are numerous about the island of Mangareva, which is well surrounded by them on the north, east, and southeast. Oysters from the reef of Tearae, which extends from the eastern point of Mangareva to the small island of Aukena, a distance of two miles, are especially rich in pearls. On this reef, where the water is from one to four fathoms in depth, the mollusks are small, rarely exceeding five or six inches at maturity, but the shell is very thick and coral covered; these yield many pearls. In greater depths, the oysters attain a larger size, but they yield few pearls.

The first white man to attempt the exploitation of the pearl resources of the Tuamotus appears to have been Mörenhout. In a voyage to the Oceanic Islands in 1827, he learned of the great wealth of pearl shell, and applied to Queen Pomaré at Tahiti for permission to employ the natives in the fishery. With an eye to business, she required a fee of $5000 for herself before granting the desired authority.[[241]] Considering this excessive, Mörenhout attempted to deal with the natives without permission of the dusky queen, but under these adverse conditions he found the trade unsatisfactory and soon abandoned it.

In 1830, and the years immediately succeeding, desultory pearling voyages were made from Valparaiso, Chile, and these were followed by expeditions from America and elsewhere. An interesting account of the trade at that time is contained in Lucatt’s “Rovings in the Pacific from 1837 to 1849,” published in London in 1851.

The Mormon influx in 1846 resulted in a further development of the pearl fishery; and Grouard, the local leader of that denomination, is credited with making a fortune in the business.

From the beginning of the industry up to 1880, when control of the islands passed to the French government, it is estimated that about 15,000 tons of pearl-oysters were secured. The extent of the fishery during the few years preceding 1880 made such drains upon the productiveness of the reefs that many of them gave signs of exhaustion. With a view to adopting methods for conserving the industry, so essential to the welfare of the natives, the French Ministry of Marine and Colonies in 1883 inaugurated an investigation of its condition, and of the possibilities for improvement. This was made under the immediate direction of G. Bouchon-Brandely, whose interesting report[[242]] contains much data on this subject.

As a result of these investigations and recommendations, a restricted season for fishing was adopted, and only a portion of the reefs was thrown open each year, a decree of the governor, published in the “Journal Officiel” of the colony, determining the islands in which the fishery might be prosecuted. This interdiction, known locally as rahui, is for the purpose of permitting the oysters to develop, and thus prevent the exhaustion of the reefs.

By decree of January 24, 1885, a restriction was made against taking shells measuring less than 17 centimeters in diameter on the interior nacre, or weighing less than 200 grams per valve. But this was repealed in 1890, and since then there has been no restriction on the size of the oysters that may be fished.

The pearl fishery and the isolated leper station are the principal claims which attract the attention of the outside world to the island of Penrhyn or Tongareva, one of the Manahiki group, in Lat. 9° S., and Long. 158° W. This desolate atoll island consists of a ring of land a few hundred yards in width, inclosing a lagoon nine miles long and five miles wide, and it produces little else than pearls and pearl shell. The white gravelly shore yields little vegetation except cocoanuts, which share with fish in furnishing sustenance to the semi-amphibious natives.

At Penrhyn the pearl fishery is carried on in the clear, limpid waters of the atoll where the oysters are undisturbed by storms. The shells belong mostly to the golden-edged variety, and are of good quality, the value in London ranging from £100 to £250 per ton. Relatively few pearls are found, amounting in aggregate value to only about one fourth of the value of the shells. These are the principal objects of the fishery; the finding of pearls is incidental, but careful search is always made for them, and some choice specimens have been secured.

On the coast of New Caledonia, pearling is of recent origin, dating as an industrial enterprise from 1897, although previous to that time some shells and pearls had been secured by native beach-combers. This island is 220 miles in length and 30 in width, situated 850 miles southeast of Australia, and about the same distance from New Zealand. It is a French colony, and has been used by that government as a penal settlement since 1864.

In 1897, rich beds of pearl-oysters were discovered off the west coast of this island. They are most numerous between the shore and the barrier reefs on the west coast from Pouembout River to Gomen Bay, and especially about the small island of Konienne at the mouth of the Pouembout River. They are also abundant among the Loyalty Islands off the eastern coast of New Caledonia, and especially at the island of Lifu.[[243]] The shell is similar to that from Torres Straits, and the yield of pearls is very large. Several concessions have been obtained to exploit these beds, one of them covering 130 miles in length. The industry is carried on by means of scaphanders, in a manner similar to that of Torres Straits. Virtually all of the catch is sent to France.

The natives of the South Sea Islands, and particularly of Penrhyn and the Tuamotu group, are doubtless the most expert divers in the world. This can be readily appreciated by those who have read of Hua Manu in C. W. Stoddard’s thrilling narrative, or have heard the story of the brown woman who swam for forty hours in a storm with a helpless husband on her back. Accustomed to the water from infancy, these human otters swim all day long as readily as they would walk, go miles from shore without a boat in search of fish which they take by means of baited hook and line, and boldly attack a shark single-handed. Seemingly fabulous stories are told of their descending, unaided, 150 feet or more beneath the surface, and remaining at lesser depths for nearly three minutes, far surpassing any modern records of the divers of India.

The water in the South Seas is wonderfully clear, enabling the fishermen to detect small objects at considerable depths, and especially so when using the water-telescope, similar to that employed in the Red Sea fisheries. By immersing this to a depth of several inches and cutting off the light from the upper end as he gazes through it down into the waters, the fisherman can readily inspect the bottom at a depth of fifteen fathoms, and thus locate the shells before he descends.

The diving is quite unlike that in Ceylon and Arabia. The men do not descend on stones, but swim to the bottom. The diver is stripped to his paréu or breech-clout, his right hand is protected by a cotton mitten or by only a wrapping of cotton cloth, and in his left hand he carries a pearl shell to assist in directing his movements and in detaching the oysters at the bottom. In preparing for a deep descent, he sits for several minutes in characteristic attitude with hands hanging over knees, and repeatedly inflates his lungs to the fullest capacity, exhaling the air slowly through his mouth. After five or six minutes of “taking the wind,” the diver inhales a good breath, drops over the gunwale into the water to give him a start, and descends feet foremost. At a distance of twelve or fifteen feet below the surface, gracefully as an otter or a seal, he bends forward and turns head downward and, with limbs showing dimly in frog-like motion, he swims vertically the remaining distance to the bottom. There he assumes a horizontal position and swims slowly just above the ground, searching critically for suitable oysters, in this way traversing a distance possibly of fifty feet or more. When he has secured an oyster, or his breath is approaching exhaustion, he springs from the ground in an erect position and rapidly swims upward, the buoyancy of his body hastening his ascent so that he pops head and shoulders above the surface, and falls back with laboring pulse and panting breath. In case the dive has been unusually extended, a few drops of blood may trickle from the nose and mouth. His find—consisting frequently of nothing and rarely of more than one oyster—is carried in a cocoanut fiber sack suspended from the neck, or is held in the left hand, or may be hugged beneath the left arm.

Ordinarily in actual fishing operations, the fishermen do not descend to greater depths than fifteen fathoms, and remain from sixty to ninety seconds. Writing in 1851, a trader who had spent several years in collecting pearls and pearl shells among the Tuamotus stated: “I timed several by the watch, and the longest period I knew any of them to keep beneath the water was a minute and a quarter, and there were only two who accomplished this feat. Rather less than a minute was the usual duration. It is unusual for them to attempt deep diving; and let the shells be ever so abundant, they will come up and swear there are none.”[[244]]

However, in mutual contests or in special exhibitions, reports of twenty, twenty-three, and even twenty-five fathoms are numerous, and they have repeatedly been timed two and a half to three minutes. Bouchon-Brandely speaks of a woman at Anaa, one of the Tuamotus, who would go down twenty-five fathoms and remain three minutes under water.[[245]] This seems very unusual, but there are numerous reports of two and a half minutes at about seventeen or eighteen fathoms. In October, 1899, at Hikueru Island, another of the Tuamotu group, a young native made an exhibition dive for the officers of the United States Fish Commission steamship Albatross. He reached bottom at a depth of 102 feet under the boat’s keel, and remained submerged two minutes and forty seconds. The water was so transparent that he was clearly seen from the surface. After he touched bottom at that great depth, he calmly picked over the coral and shells to select a piece to bring up.[[246]] The diver was ready to go down again only a few minutes after he came up.

In his work on French Oceanica, Chartier states: “There are three women well known in the archipelago [of Tuamotu] who have no equals elsewhere; they explore the depth at twenty-five fathoms and remain not less than three minutes before reappearing at the surface.”[[247]] However, these unusual depths and extensions of time are dangerous, and care must be taken or serious results follow. Most of the catch is obtained in about ten fathoms of water.

At the request of the writer, Mr. Julius D. Dreher, American Consul at Tahiti, made inquiries among the South Sea Islands in regard to the record of the best divers, and wrote as follows:

Mr. J. L. Young, who has lived in these islands for thirty years, informs me that he has never seen a diver remain under water longer than 80 seconds, and that at a depth of twelve to fifteen fathoms. At one time he tested a man who claimed to be able to stay under for three minutes, yet this man could hold his breath on land less than 80 seconds by the watch.

Elder Joseph F. Burton, who has spent many years as a missionary in these islands, states that once in Hikueru, of the Tuamotu group, he went out in a boat with the divers to time them. The best record made was 107 seconds, but he was informed that there were better divers on the island than those he tested. He thinks the water was ten to twelve fathoms in depth. A native of Takaroa, named Metuaro, told Mr. Burton that he could stay under water three minutes or longer. When these divers come up they take a breath and immediately put their head under water to prevent headache.

Mr. J. Lamb Doty, formerly Consul and now Vice-Consul at Tahiti, who has spent eighteen years here, is willing to be quoted as affirming that he once timed a diver who remained under water 2 minutes 35 seconds.

Mr. Henry B. Merwin, a leading trader with the Tuamotu Islands, is willing to be quoted as saying that he saw a diver remain under water 4 minutes 45 seconds by the watch. This is generally regarded, so far as my inquiries go, as improbable; but most persons interviewed believe that men do remain under water 2½ to 3 minutes. A native of Takaroa, named Tai, assured me in the presence of others that there were twenty men in that island who could remain under water 2½ to 3 minutes at a depth of twenty fathoms. He claimed to be able to stay 3 minutes at that depth.

Pearl-divers of the Tuamotu Archipelago; men, women and children dive in these waters

Settlement of pearl fishermen at Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago

Diving-suits, or scaphanders, have been used at most of the South Sea Islands, but in a very irregular manner. In 1890 the use of scaphanders was restricted in the Tuamotu group, and by decree of December 28, 1892, it was interdicted altogether with a view to preserving the industry to the natives, as it represents their principal means of livelihood. The suit commonly employed at Penrhyn consists of a helmet and a jumper, neither boots nor trousers being worn. Owing to the absence of weights on the feet, it rarely but nevertheless sometimes happens that a diver turns upside down, and the unwieldy helmet keeps him head downward while the air rushes out under the bottom cord of the jumper and he is suffocated. Also, when a good patch of shells has been located, the temptation to remain down too long is great, and paralysis often results. On the whole, these diving-suits have proven very dangerous to the light, graceful swimmers of these southern seas, to whom they are about as much of an impediment as was Saul’s armor to the shepherd lad who slew the giant with the simple pebble from a sling.

And there are dangers also in nude diving, even to those who have spent a lifetime about the water. Sharks and sting-rays and devil-fish there are in abundance, and many of them know the taste of diver’s flesh; on the other hand many a daring South Sea Islander could tell of a fierce combat more thrilling than even those pictured by Victor Hugo. One of the chief advantages of the diving-suit is that in case a shark comes along, the diver can bide his time until the fish is ready to leave, or he can frighten it away by ejecting air bubbles from the sleeve of his suit or by other demonstrations; whereas a nude diver is obliged to seek the air without delay, and in the retreat is seized by the fish who, human like, has his appetite increased by the visible retreat of the object of his desire.

Not Schiller nor Edgar Allan Poe ever conjured up a picture more ghastly than that of a Penrhyn diver caught like a rat in a trap by some huge, man-eating shark or fierce kara mauua, crouching in a cleft of the overhanging coral, under the dark green gloom of a hundred feet of water, with bursting lungs and cracking eyeballs, while the threatening bulk of his terrible enemy looms dark and steady, full in the road to life and air. A minute or more has been spent in the downward journey; another minute has passed in the agonized wait under the rock.... Has he been seen?... Will the creature move away now, while there is still time to return? The diver knows to a second how much time has passed; the third minute is on its way; but one goes up quicker than one comes down, and there is still hope.... Two minutes and a half; it is barely possible now, but—the sentinel of death glides forward; his cruel eyes, phosphorescent in the gloom, look right into the cleft where the wretched creature is crouching, with almost twenty seconds of life still left, but now not a shred of hope. A few more beats of the laboring pulse, a gasp from the tortured lungs, a sudden rush of silvery air bubbles, and the brown limbs collapse down out of the cleft like wreaths of seaweed. The shark has his own. (Beatrice Grimshaw in the “Graphic.”)

At the end of the day’s work, the catch is opened by means of a large knife, and carefully searched for the much prized pearls. Usually the fisherman finds none; occasionally he discovers a small round one or a large baroque, and at long intervals—possibly once in two or three years—his search is rewarded with a fine pearl for which he may receive $50 or $60, and there is always the chance that the very next oyster will disclose a gem which will make him independent for the remainder of his life; and if no pearls whatever are found, there are the shells, the sale of which furnishes sufficient to purchase tobacco, knives, fish-hooks, the gaudy cotton cloths, the flour and other simple articles of food, and especially rum, that fatal gift of civilization which has been the curse of so many primitive peoples.

Some of the individual pearls secured have been remarkably large, weighing 100 grains and over. Returning visitors from Tahiti, with views magnified doubtless in proportion to the distance of the objects of their description, credited Queen Pomaré with the possession of some sufficiently large to be used for billiard-balls. Sixty years ago superb pearls could be obtained from the natives for a few gallons of rum or a small number of pieces of cheap calico, and several shrewd traders made great profits in the business. But as trade at the islands was open to vessels of all nationalities, the competition increased, with the result that the natives gradually learned the high estimation in which pearls are held, and in recent years it has not been unusual for one of medium grade to sell higher in Oceanica than it would in Europe.

It is difficult to form a reliable estimate of the value of the pearling industry of the South Sea Islands. The Tuamotu group, with 4000 fishermen, yields, in an average season, about 450 tons of mother-of-pearl, worth about £65,000 in London, where most of it is marketed. The yield at the remaining French islands is less than that of the Tuamotus. Probably the total yield of mother-of-pearl in all the South Sea Islands is not far from 900 tons, worth about $700,000.

No statistics whatever are available regarding the yield of pearls, and the estimates sent from the islands are small compared with those made by London and Paris firms who import the pearls. A large number of persons living in Papeiti and many traders visiting the islands depend very largely on pearl-dealing for a livelihood. From the yield of pearl shell and estimates made by dealers, we are inclined to put the value of the pearls secured in an average season from all the South Sea Islands at about $125,000, only a small portion of which goes to the fishermen themselves, the greater part representing profits of the traders.